KEY POINTS:
Do you think redheads have been given a raw deal? Or has the constant teasing made them more resilient than blondes and brunettes?
Here is the latest selection of Your Views:
Mongo
Gingers have been placed on this earth to provide amusement for all that behold
Ali (Auckland)
Well, I'm a redhead and my 10-year-old son is too and you know what makes me laugh, people "assume" that redheads have a bad temper. Neither me nor my son do! In fact my son is a really laid-back kid; his teacher even said she wished all the kids she taught were like him. He hasn't encountered any name calling and I really hope he never does, as when I was growing up I got teased quite a bit, and to this day I still sometimes find it hard to accept compliments, as I think people are just winding me up, when in fact they're not. I will say though, that it taught me never to discriminate against others and to me, those that name call etc are just covering up their own insecurities. Also, the likes of TV programmes don't help when they cast redheads as the bad person, especially on kids programmes! Methinks that maybe the rest of the world feels threatened by us ;)
Jodi
I'm the same as Welly below. Brown eyes and darkening ginger hair. (Mix of Scottish, Irish & Maori) Oh how I wish my hair was as red as it was when I was little! I get lots of compliments along with the insults, especially at the hairdressers when people ask me who did my colour. I delight in telling them it's natural. I wouldn't change being a redhead for anything!
Jill Cox
I spent my early formative years bemoaning and hating the fact of my red hair and over abundance of freckles. Sick of comments 'Got left out in the rain', Ginger, ginger what a whinger', 'Spotty Muldoon', etc, etc, I took the first opportunity I could, out of the reach of parental control, to die my hair blonde, and plastered inches of makeup on to hide the tell tale freckles. The constant visits to hairdressers and the painful processes of 'touching up the roots' soon led me to abandon this exercise. Now in my later years, when my hair has naturally faded to a interesting blonde, with very little evidence of red hair, apart from the freckles I bemoan the fact of my lost hair colour. So to all you redheads enjoy and celebrate the fact of your difference, it lasts such a short time.
Captain Charisma
Some of the most beautiful and sexy women I've ever known have been redheads, and so for the life of me can't understand why anyone would want to hurl abuse at red-haired people. My hair's brown, but these people never single me out for having hair that is the colour of poo. What's even more baffling is that if we were to identify these people and shout obscenities at them, they'd react with more indignation than any redhead ever would. Sad, isn't it?
Rob's Dad
I remember my red-headed mother once telling me that she had seen a school file which listed her Disabilities: Red Hair. She grew up on the "West" Island. With two "Ginga" grandparents at least one of my son's had to have red hair. Indeed Rob has the most vibrant dark orange hair, and reasonably olive complexion. As a baby he was abducted by Japanese tour parties for their photo albums. As a toddler he grew to resent people cross the street to touch his head because of the magic way it shone. This was an invasion of his space that thankfully has not carried forward to his pre-teens. How much of this is caused by his surly expression, and how much of his surly expression has been caused by past admiring hands I have no idea. I hope in future he views it the way I view my Ginger beard when I grow it. We are Norse. If we don't burn down your nunnery, consider yourselves damn lucky.
Proud Mum (Auckland)
Our handsome 14-year-old son is a redhead who chooses to wear his hair longer as is the fashion again, which only highlights (no pun intended!) the gorgeous colour. He too is constantly called all the usual and oh so boring names (teenagers in a car even yelled out names as he cycled home one day!), and as with a comment I read below, chooses to fight anyone - also winning on a regular basis - as a way of teaching them a lesson! Not always a good thing from our point of view! Isn't there enough for our kids to deal with these days without dealing with this stupidity? It started for me when he was the most beautiful baby with pure white skin, huge green eyes with blood red lips and red hair - strangers would actually stop me at the shops to look at him in his buggy - and after confirming to themselves that the mother was dark-haired (and Dad is blonde), would say to me "Where on earth did he get his red hair from?" I thought people were supposed to comment on the beautiful baby! We love telling our lovely boy that his heritage is Scottish, Irish and Swedish and he is proud of this fact. He says he just "lives with it" but it annoys me that he should even have to! On a lighter note, more than one of our friends who joked about our wee redhead all those years ago, went on to have special redheads of their own!
BP Lewis
What I found astonishing regarding Gillian Anderson was that it took until the second season of X Files before anyone noticed she was stunning.
Red Hen
I'm not a red head, but I am married to one and so is my sister. One of my best friends is a red head and each and every one of these people are just fantastic. However, I think Robin from Auckland may have taken things a bit too much to heart, I can see that he or she may feel that they were given a raw deal by their work colleague, but imagine what happened to that person as a child to make them so stupid? Although I have a soft spot for Gingas, I do know that it doesn't matter what colour hair or skin you have, if your interesting, funny, stand out or just plain nice, you're someone that I would be happy to call friend. Gingas are real people too!
Sarah (Wellington)
As a redhead, I'm perpetually amazed by the number of people who pick on us in one breath and go out and dye their hair (a very unconvincing) red in the next. Not to mention the number of TV ads that have redheads in them to promote things while the news is running items about picking on us. We do live in quite a hypocritical society! And to be a little picky, Gillian Anderson, great as she was to espouse the redhead cause, is actually a blonde. The early X-Files show how they hadn't quite got the dye job right!
Sarah
As a child, I loved Anne of Green Gables - that is a truly inspirational TV series if you are a redhead and are getting teased/insulted. I am not a redhead but if I was, I would be proud.
Robin (Auckland)
I am a proud Ginger and I think it is a real point of difference. Over the years I have had hassles from my friends but never in a negative or hurtful way. I usually crack jokes about Gingers as I think it is quite funny! At least until I was at a work drinks recently and an individual in a management position could not believe that I wasn't ashamed of my hair. For the first time in my life I got upset that somebody was that ignorant. I was actually very insulted by her ignorance and embarrassed. I wasn't the only person upset by this and several others present suggested I lay a complaint at work - so I did. I actually felt it was racial discrimination and while I am not upset about it anymore it is proof that the recent ginger media and propaganda does have a negative social impact on those that have limited emotional intelligence and social awareness. It is now so socially acceptable to ridicule and discriminate against the ginger race, where is the boundary? I believe we need to fight back, all Gingers need to re-unite, be proud and stand as one. We need to get role models into the media and communities that will change the public perception of Gingers.
Gavin (Algies Bay)
It shocks me how nasty young people are toward my redhead teenage daughter! It seems that as they have been encouraged to be less racist, sexist and intolerant of other religions - they have a need to target a less "protected" group. Redheads are the target of choice. I know it hurts my daughter to have people she doesn't know chanting "ginga" at her, with no provocation on her part. She puts on a brave face, not wanting to give the taunters any more ammunition but inside she's angry! I've offered to "sort out" some of her regular abusers but she rightly declined knowing it would make it worse in the long run. I would ask that if you see people being abusive toward redheads, let them know it is offensive and immature, hopefully that could make a difference.
Welly
I am a redhead hybrid - started life as a true ginger but over the years have darkened, though I still retain that most intimate of redhead giveaways 'down there'. I also have brown eyes which means I can handle the sun, to a certain extent. It is the hardcore flouro redheads that I feel sorry for - they are the ones who get a really hard time. That said, I have no words of consolation other than to suggest the formation of a rapid-response redhead vigilante unit that can quickly and brutally deal with any taunts or snide comments. Let's take the fight to the streets.
John (Auckland)
I am a dark haired male 35 years of age and I find redheads very attractive. Even though I tan very easy I find tanned women looking a lot older and unhealthly looking. I have never been out with a redhead but wouldn't even think twice about it. They look great and hold there age very well.
Adrian
I went out with a ginger girl once. Not very nice when I found out the carpet matched the curtains. Put me right off in fact.
Flounder
Unfortunately I'm a red head who surfs a lot, so I brave the summer sun every year, and get absolutely burnt to a crisp. I don't hide from the sun, stuff what other people think. I was picked on when I was young, but so was everyone else, unfortunately though I've grown up with a bit of a temper, and quite shy because of the teasing, which lasted into my late teens.(some of my mates still give me a bit of jib today) It made sociallising in my mid teens harder because I was always thinking people will judge me because of my red hair, but that hasn't stopped me now from obtaining a great job, where I earn heaps, and a loving wife(who is not a red head). I guess I'm a lot stronger from all the name calling and abuse, my skin is a lot thicker. I can do anything, and usually do it better.
David Geraghty
In terms of open genetic discrimination, "ginger" seems the final frontier. It is still acceptable in these PC times for NZers (almost always Pakeha) to mock, taunt and deride redheads. As a white sub-grouping, we have the rare distinction of knowing what it feels like to be discriminated against by white folk.As a kid I responded by punching whoever was doing the taunting. (Luckily I was a strong little fella and always came off best.) As an adult I now use the teasing as a kind of "dickometer". When people start sneering about gingas, etc, I see them for the bigoted dicks they are and do not pursue that friendship. I recall one guy (in his 20s) earnestly telling me I was the first red head he had liked. He scored off the scale on the dickometer.For me, my red hair affirms my Irish/Scottish/Norwegian roots. Love it.
Lully (Rotorua)
I am a redhead and proud but sick of the carrot top name calling. Carrot tops are green you idiots not red.
Michel (Auckland)
An olive skinned with dark hair like me would die for a ginger. I have always found you, red heads, gorgeous and sexy. You are very special. I say this as a Frenchman! The few of you, I met in the past, had a preference for ginger men. So I settled for a blonde...:) but.... still look at you with great admiration.
Andy (Wellington)
I can trace almost every bad thing/adverse decision/raw deal in my life to our society's flagrant discrimination against redheads. For that reason, I chose to work only with redheads, will only date red heads and whereever possible prefer to deal with red headed shop assistants (any others just give bad advice as a joke on the red head). Clearly we need our own political party.