# I'll slap you like a redhead stepchild! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 4, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-slap-you-like-a-redhead-stepchild/292999 "2005-03-04T23:56:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-slap-you-like-a-redhead-stepchild/292999/1 "2005-03-04T23:56:01Z")
What, exactly, is meant by the threat, “I’ll slap you like a redhead stepchild”? And what does the poor kid’s hair color have to do with it? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-slap-you-like-a-redhead-stepchild/292999/2 "2005-03-05T00:15:06Z")
Red hair is certainly attractive on many adults. However, there is a certain look that some redheaded children have that makes them stand out among other people. Think bright red/orange hair with freckles and pale skin. Combine that with long-standing stereotype of stepparents abusing their stepchildren (Cinderella) and you can see the imagery of a brutal stepparent singling out the child that looks different. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-slap-you-like-a-redhead-stepchild/292999/3 "2005-03-05T00:15:20Z")
At one time and in certain quarters, red hair was considered highly undesirable and a stepchild was more of a burden than a loved relation. Think negative synergy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-slap-you-like-a-redhead-stepchild/292999/4 "2005-03-05T00:36:14Z")
I am a redheaded stepchild, and I agree with **Shagnasty** and **Carnac**. The saying is combining two stereotypes for “outcast child.” When I was a youngster in the '50s, the saying sometimes had an additional cruel element to it. I remember hearing “as welcome as a redheaded, crippled stepchild.” Sensitivity to the feelings of the handicapped has caused this form of the saying to become quite rare. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-slap-you-like-a-redhead-stepchild/292999/5 "2005-03-05T00:44:49Z")
Thanks - that all makes sense. **pinkfreud** , I’ve never heard that version before. Why and where was red hair undesirable? I looooooooove red hair! That may just be my Scottish blood combined with the fact that I lost my virginity to a redhead, though 😉 I’ve also got redheads in my family, though none of them are stepchildren. My grandmother, my aunt, my cousin - wait, my cousin was a stepchild - and my niece. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-slap-you-like-a-redhead-stepchild/292999/6 "2005-03-05T01:59:37Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > I am a redheaded stepchild… :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-slap-you-like-a-redhead-stepchild/292999/7 "2005-03-05T02:37:39Z")
IMO, I think it also meant that even if you \*thought \* the kid was yours, it’s not, because it’s got red hair and you don’t. I’d always heard it as “a red-headed child”, leaving out the stepchild part. That part was assumed.