Redhead jokes are not harmless Recently there was an…
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Redhead jokes are not harmless
Recently there was an incident at the World Cup where an English player slapped an Argentinian player after the game. Some people say the Argentinian was at fault or something, I don't really know. The important thing here is he had red hair.
Take a look at any of the threads covering this and you'll see many of the top comments saying something to the effect of 'he hit him because he was a ginger, duh', and people agreeing, jokingly or otherwise.
I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that this discrimination is on-par with other major types, be it skin color, sex, or otherwise. It's not. But let me tell you, having been an anxious teen with bright red hair, this shit makes my blood boil.
My nicknames on the soccer team in high school always had something to do with the color of my pubes. Some coaches even joined in on that occasionally. I had to hear people throw around the phrase 'red-headed stepchild'. Kick a ginger day was/is a thing? What the fuck?
I was bullied so much that to this day I still subconsciously view my having red hair as a negative. I genuinely wish I grew up with some version of blonde hair like my siblings.
I am "fortunate" enough that my hair has darkened to the point of being near brunette, so I haven't had to deal with this since my early 20s. I even like my hair now most of the time. One day recently my wife was telling her coworkers that I had red hair, and they were surprised she would stoop so low as to marrying one until they saw my hair wasn't *that* red. I'm being dramatic with the subtext there, but the reaction was not dissimilar.
At the end of the day, I do get that we are going to be the subject of jokes, as would any pronounced physical trait that is somewhat rare. But I hope people can at least understand that jokes where red heads are made out to be less-than, or the punchline is 'well of course he would hit a ginger' are not harmless.
#conversation
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Recently there was an incident at the World Cup where an English player slapped an Argentinian player after the game. Some people say the Argentinian was at fault or something, I don't really know. The important thing here is he had red hair.
Take a look at any of the threads covering this and you'll see many of the top comments saying something to the effect of 'he hit him because he was a ginger, duh', and people agreeing, jokingly or otherwise.
I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that this discrimination is on-par with other major types, be it skin color, sex, or otherwise. It's not. But let me tell you, having been an anxious teen with bright red hair, this shit makes my blood boil.
My nicknames on the soccer team in high school always had something to do with the color of my pubes. Some coaches even joined in on that occasionally. I had to hear people throw around the phrase 'red-headed stepchild'. Kick a ginger day was/is a thing? What the fuck?
I was bullied so much that to this day I still subconsciously view my having red hair as a negative. I genuinely wish I grew up with some version of blonde hair like my siblings.
I am "fortunate" enough that my hair has darkened to the point of being near brunette, so I haven't had to deal with this since my early 20s. I even like my hair now most of the time. One day recently my wife was telling her coworkers that I had red hair, and they were surprised she would stoop so low as to marrying one until they saw my hair wasn't *that* red. I'm being dramatic with the subtext there, but the reaction was not dissimilar.
At the end of the day, I do get that we are going to be the subject of jokes, as would any pronounced physical trait that is somewhat rare. But I hope people can at least understand that jokes where red heads are made out to be less-than, or the punchline is 'well of course he would hit a ginger' are not harmless.
#conversation
source
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