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.