Is red-hair bashing a particularly English thing? Because I grew up we teased about everything, but I don't recall red hair being one, nor coming across it in any other American context, except once recently (in a online context which made me suspect the meme came from somewhere else.) The worst I can remember is affectionate "carrottop" type nicknaming. Heck, red hair was practically a sign of all-Americanness, at least in boys: My Three Sons, Happy Days, any given Norman Rockwell painting.
It's a weird weird UK thing. Even at high school I was only harassed for a couple of years for my hair colour. I have the horrible impression it's spreading.
I really have no idea why this seems to have become so prevalent recently. Last night on the train, going home from the work Christmas party with another government drone, a couple of women in their early twenties randomly asked my coworker if he 'hated rangas', with a strong implication that he, a complete stranger to them and about twenty years their senior, should.
While I just stared, he noted that his partner was a red head and he thought the whole thing was stupid, and they proceeded to ask for extra details about how his partner looked naked, as though red heads had extra-special horrible gross organs or something.
"Do the cuffs and collar match?" aka "Is your pubic hair the same colour as the hair on your head?" To which the only possible answer is "MATCH THIS" *machine gun fire*
In an American context, it seems to me the cliche' is that red-haired women are particularly hot/attractive, and red-haired boys particularly cherubic/all-American. I wonder if in an English context it's coded anti-Irish/Celt hatred trying to disguise itself now that open racism is a little less popular.
Compare this with a line that I first heard in one of Brett Butler's stand-up routines: "I will slap you like a red-headed step child!" There seems to be some doublethink going on there.
I dyed my hair red a couple of months ago, because it's less startling than peroxide and covers the grey almost as well. (My natural colour is dark blond, but I've found that I can pass off any colour pretty well.)
One of the first reactions that I got from a colleague was, "Did you lose a bet?"
Personally, I don't understand the anti-ginger sentiment that is becoming more and more common, unless as tavella states it's a resurgence of anti-Irishness. I've always found redheads striking and (usually) attractive.
I think people are picking it up as a "joke" that's going around. In places where gingerism is uncommon, it must seem pretty harmless. I'm nervous that it won't stay that way, though.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-12-18 03:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-18 06:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-18 03:06 am (UTC)While I just stared, he noted that his partner was a red head and he thought the whole thing was stupid, and they proceeded to ask for extra details about how his partner looked naked, as though red heads had extra-special horrible gross organs or something.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-18 07:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-18 03:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-18 03:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-18 03:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-18 11:37 am (UTC)Compare this with a line that I first heard in one of Brett Butler's stand-up routines: "I will slap you like a red-headed step child!" There seems to be some doublethink going on there.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-18 11:35 am (UTC)One of the first reactions that I got from a colleague was, "Did you lose a bet?"
Personally, I don't understand the anti-ginger sentiment that is becoming more and more common, unless as
no subject
Date: 2009-12-19 11:26 am (UTC)