Gingers

Sorry, I didn't really know where this topic should go so I just put it here.

Ok, is anyone else thinking that the ginger thing has gone to far? It's completely offensive and horrible, it used to be a joke, but now it's getting serious. I recently saw a like page on facebook saying 'Like if you think gingers should be sent to concentration camps' and it had over a thousand likes. That's just disgusting. Also, my brother has red hair, and people can't take him seriously, and he's only seven and this 17 year old guy once came up to him and goes "Get out of my way you ginger shit".
There's ginger girls in my year and people call them 'Ginger Pubes'.

It's just gone too far.

I'm not in school, I guess, so I don't see it. I mean, I hear the jokes and such. But that's all they are, jokes. Like blonde jokes.

I didn't know that it was an insult to call somebody a ginger until a couple days ago. I was watching wrestling with my cousin, and I said that I wouldn't mind marrying the ginger who was on at the time. And he looked at me weird and said that's an insult. I felt so horrible after that, but I had no idea that it was an insult. I thought it was a compliment. That guy was really hot, too.

I think it has gone too far, though. They even tested it on What Would You Do? maybe a week ago.

^
I didn't know just saying "ginger" was an insult. I say it sometimes. Just like I say "blonde" or "brunette". Maybe it's a teenager thing?

^
Well, I think it's usually thought of an insult if you use it in a bad way. In a mocking way. In the What Would You Do? episode it was in, the boys that were mocking this boy with red hair were blowing spitballs at him and teasing him about it. I just had never thought that just addressing somebody as a ginger could be insulting.

But, I don't have red hair. So I guess I can't really say. People are just so mean to people who are different.

I don't see it as much of a problem, but then I don't really hear much in the way of prejudice about it at my school. Just affectionate humour.

We were talking about the connotation of hair colour in my Comp Lit tutorial and my tutor (who, incidentally, has red hair) said that red haired/ginger women are very often associated with threatening female desire/sexuality and for a long time red hair was considered a sign of moral depravity (Judas is typically painted with red hair too). At the same time being ginger is a sign of Celtic and to a lesser extent Jewish heritage so it does make one think of racism.

I died my hair red a lot in high school, but I never had any problems with bullying because of it.

^
Being a ginger is more than red hair though, isn't it? Like, freckles and pale skin and a specific shade of red hair?

I dye my hair red very often, but even with that orange/red hair I still wouldn't look like a ginger 'cause I have no freckles.

I wasn't aware that redheads get singled out and picked on. I've never seen it before, it didn't occur to me until last Sunday(?) when I was watching "What Would You Do?" and there was a scenario of a redhead getting picked on. I've known quite a few redheads, they weren't ever singled out.

I think it's absolutely ridiculous to make fun of someone simply because of their hair color, actually, I think it's ridiculous to pick on anyone at all. It shouldn't happen to anyone, ever. Personally, I think red hair is pretty.

Here in Australia, the lexicon teens use is 'ranga' as in Orangutan. They don't use it derogatorily most of the time, and it's just as bad/neutral as if one was calling someone a blonde.

wrecked up dru.:

^
Being a ginger is more than red hair though, isn't it? Like, freckles and pale skin and a specific shade of red hair?

I dye my hair red very often, but even with that orange/red hair I still wouldn't look like a ginger 'cause I have no freckles.

My tutor has darkish red hair and to freckles and he says he's a ginger so I doubt that.

I witnessed a thing once when this ginger guy asked my friend out. She said no and when I asked why, she just said "because he's ginger"

I'm very much naturally ginger and I have never, ever seen someone bullied for hair colour. Yeah, a few (well, a lot) jokes when messing around with my friends, but not any actual malice because of it!

Though maybe it's because I'm in Scotland so it's not terribly rare

Mr W. H.:

My tutor has darkish red hair and to freckles and he says he's a ginger so I doubt that.

Yeah, if it's not there, it's a cultural thing or something. 'Cause every site I've looked it up on now says it's the bright red hair, pale skin and freckles. It's not just being a redhead.

"Gingers have souls."

Everyone I knew laughed at that kid, but for some reason I actually felt like it was real. Gingers DO have souls. Hair colour distinguishes the..colour of someone's hair. That's it. It doesn't tell us how smart they are, how kind they are, or who they are. Racism has done a lot in this world, we don't need to go after the colour of someone's HAIR.

To be ginger is completly by chance, I find it horrifying that so many can be so critical over hair colour, especially when one has no control over his/her hair at birth.

^ I don't get why it's a bad thing either, though. Yeah, it's a chance thing that you have no control over but why is it 'unlucky' to be ginger? I love my hair; it's golden, what's not to like?

I don't have any people in my school that have naturally red hair, I know mine has a red tint to it. Honestly up until I was in like 9th grade I had no idea the term ginger was used for people with red hair until someone came up and asked me if I enjoyed being one. My hair isn't even red, it's brown with a red tint.

If it isn't used as an insult I have no problems with the word. Understandably even if it isn't used an an insult and someone gets offended I just don't use it around them or in reference to them.
------

What really gets to me is if someone points out a red haired person and says "They're a ginger so they must be left handed and homicidal." Yes, I heard that so many times when I was living with my father. It wasn't cool at all.

[/long pointless comment]

As a redhead, I've had a lot of problems with being picked on because of my physical appearance because of it. I don't know how many times I've been called "albino," because of my pale skin, or "deformed" because of the freckles. I don't personally find offense in calling a redhead a ginger, persay, but I definitely don't like the negative connotations that seem to come with it.

Well, it's still better than in Medieval times were red hair was due cause for being tried as a witch.