# Why do British people make fun of people with red "ginger" hair? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 13, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063 "2010-10-13T23:48:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/61 "2010-10-14T21:30:47Z")
Hey, it’s not _all_ bad for redheads in Britain! Sometimes they are offered jobs that involve nothing more than [copying the Encyclopedia Brittanica.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-Headed_League) Of course, sometimes the job is just a ruse to aid in a bank robbery, but, you know, nothing’s perfect. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![falcotron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ab097/32.png) [@falcotron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/falcotron)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/62 "2010-10-14T21:39:54Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > Britain has a robust sense of humour (unlike America, it would appear). It’s the extra “u”. Americans think it’s unnecessary, so we only have “humor”. Claude Shannon proved that redundancy is the key to robustness in the face of error, so your “humour” is more robust. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/63 "2010-10-14T21:46:49Z")
Don’t you mean Clade Shannon? ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/64 "2010-10-14T21:54:34Z")
There was a series of ads recently taking the piss out of redheads in Oz. > **[ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)](https://www.abc.net.au/news)** > > Trusted and independent source of local, national and world news. In-depth analysis, business, sport, weather and more. It doesnt amount to ‘racism’ and the responses were an overreaction but it can get old at times. Part of it over here is the ‘easily sunburnt so cant go to the beach’ aspect, ie the implication that you’re a social outcast. Not so much an issue in the UK. I would put most of it down to holdovers about being scots/irish where the original reason has been mostly forgotten. Edit: Lot more to it than that historically: > **[Red hair | Prejudice and discrimination against redheads](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_hair#Prejudice_and_discrimination_against_redheads)** > > Red hair was thought to be a mark of a beastly sexual desire and moral degeneration.\[citation needed\] > A savage red-haired man is portrayed in the Grimm brothers fable Der Eisenhans as the spirit of the forest of iron. > Theophilus Presbyter describes how the blood of a red-haired young man is necessary to create gold from copper, in a mixture with the ashes of a basilisk. > According to Montague Summers, red hair and green eyes were thought to be the sign of a witch, werewolf or vampire during t... Otara ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/65 "2010-10-14T21:55:31Z")
Before the Segway’s name was officially announced, it was referred to as “Ginger,” (after Ginger Rogers). Could that be why the Segway never become “more important than the Internet,” as had been announced? ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/66 "2010-10-14T22:09:23Z")
> [@Mertyn86](#): > > In the UK it really is just a case of light hearted fun, for example you hear of hate crimes based on race a lot, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard of someone being attacked for having ginger hair (I’m sure someone will dig an example up now…) As someone that lived the first twenty five years of his life in the UK and is a Ginger, let me tell you that you could not be more wrong. To be honest people like you, that dismiss it is light-hearted fun, are a huge part of the problem. Us gingers are expected to just accept it and taking any offence is a sign of our own lack of a sense of humour. Interesting article from the BBC about gingerism, from a couple of years ago. [BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Is gingerism as bad as racism?](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6725653.stm) ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/67 "2010-10-14T22:13:07Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > > [@Teacake](#): > > > > This is most definitely not true. I know many people from many places and backgrounds and of various ages who use ginger to mean gay, and have heard it used by random punters on buses etc in several parts of the UK. > > I have heard the term used this way occasionally on some UK TV show I was watching (don’t remember what), usually it’s just used to refer to someone with red hair, but > > > [@Colophon](#): > > > > (BTW when used as a term of abuse, “ginger” is pronounced to rhyme with “singer”, and with a hard initial G. I have no idea why.) > > this, I have \*never \*heard. Every single time I’ve heard the term on a UK show or movie, it’s been with 2 soft G’s. Ginga, with a hard G, was very common in the 80s and 90s. My theory is that it makes the word easier to spit out with a sense of hatred ---
**Author:** ![jeepus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeepus/32/3593_2.png) [@jeepus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeepus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/68 "2010-10-14T22:29:11Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KVN_0qvuhhw/hqdefault.jpg "Prejudice by Tim Minchin") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVN_0qvuhhw) ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/69 "2010-10-14T23:37:35Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > Britain has a robust sense of humour (unlike America, it would appear). If you show yourself to be sensitive to a particular criticism, you merely attract an additional stream of it (especially in the army). Wow, that is funny. Bullying is hilarious is all its forms! ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/70 "2010-10-14T23:47:53Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Giggsy writes: > > \> Red headed women in particular are known for their fiery temperament > > Again, this is prejudice. There’s no proof of any such thing. Bull dust you should meet my ex wife and my daughter! Both scorpios as well.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/71 "2010-10-15T05:24:42Z")
> [@robert\_andrews](#): > > > [@dangermom](#): > > > > Red hair used to be considered ugly, on this side of the pond as well. Remember Anne Shirley’s agonies over her red hair? > > Which makes me suspect that if it was ethnic prejudice, at least in L. M. Montgomery’s mind, it was anti-Irish rather than anti-Scottish, since that region of Canada is like 90% Scottish. Huh. Anne of Green Gables is from the same era as Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and I clearly remember Rebecca’s friend Huldah Meserve, who was a total social butterfly and boy magnet, and who had striking red hair. The impression given was that she had decided to own it, wearing bright, solid colors to showcase it, and wearing it in a style not unlike '80s mall bangs, IIRC. A bit over the top, but not “ugly” by any means. (Although it was also noted that overuse of whatever ghastly curling device was state of the art at that time was starting to turn the front of her hair pink. :eek: ) I think Anne was kind of a drama queen anyway. Rebecca calmly accepted that she was not beautiful, and worked on presenting a good personality. If Anne had been blonde, she’d probably have wished she was a redhead. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SantaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@SantaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SantaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/72 "2010-10-15T07:45:40Z")
Ginger? or Mary Anne? ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/73 "2010-10-15T10:51:45Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > > [@Colophon](#): > > > > (BTW when used as a term of abuse, “ginger” is pronounced to rhyme with “singer”, and with a hard initial G. I have no idea why.) > > this, I have \*never \*heard. Every single time I’ve heard the term on a UK show or movie, it’s been with 2 soft G’s. It’s common in Scotland - makes the phrase “ginger minger” into a handy rhyming insult. (minging = revolting, dirty, disgusting) When I was at school in the '80s, red-heads were seen as ugly (particularly the boys), and called names like Duracell, carrot-top, etc. Not particularly pleasant, but yes, the prejudice is true, and has been happening for decades before the Southpark episode. I think it’s connected to the prejudice against the Scots of Irish ancestry, anti-Catholic sentiment, or the older belief that red-heads are more likely to be witches, in league with the devil? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/74 "2010-10-15T11:51:14Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > > [@Mk\_VII](#): > > > > Britain has a robust sense of humour (unlike America, it would appear). If you show yourself to be sensitive to a particular criticism, you merely attract an additional stream of it (especially in the army). > > Wow, that is funny. Bullying is hilarious is all its forms! Bullying is always hilarious for the bullies, and they enjoy holding the victim at fault if anyone complains. Classic behaviour. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/75 "2010-10-15T12:24:44Z")
We used to make fun of redheads when I was a kid but I always assumed that it was just some ironic joke - that we were “ostracizing” someone due to something of no importance at all. Mind you I don’t recall anyone ever doing this to a redhead. And in Australia it had nothing to do with national origins. It was many years later before I discovered that it wasn’t just my social circle that made 'ranga jokes. The only thing I have against redheads is that, like blacks, they can wear the most exotic colors and look good in them. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/76 "2010-10-15T13:11:20Z")
[quote=“elfkin477, post:53, topic:557063”] > [@Morbo](#): > > My mother theorizes that little kids get teased over their hair here because it’s leftover anti-Irish sentement, which I guess makes sense since there are redheads who grew up out west, where there are typically fewer Irish folks, who claim they were never teased. My understanding is that anti-Irish prejudice was strongest in areas like NYC where there were high concentrations of recent Irish immigrants that would work practically any job for low wages, leading some of the “old blood” white Americans to take a “they took our jobs!” attitude. Down here in the US South, there is no significant anti-redhead sentiment that I can see, and I’ve been here for 20+ years. We have Irish down here, and there is, in some areas, still a lingering anti-Catholic sentiment in bible-bashing Protestant fundamentalist towns, but they (fundies) are generally anti-racist (some overtly) and discriminate on religion only - it doesn’t matter two figs to them what you look like or where your ancestors came from. The anti-redhead sentiment is one of the things that confused me reading Anne of Green Gables - I didn’t understand why Anne wouldn’t like her red hair - to a teen boy in the South in the 90’s, red hair was CUTE! ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/77 "2010-10-15T15:07:05Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Huh. Anne of Green Gables is from the same era as Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and I clearly remember Rebecca’s friend Huldah Meserve, who was a total social butterfly and boy magnet, and who had striking red hair. The impression given was that she had decided to own it, wearing bright, solid colors to showcase it, and wearing it in a style not unlike '80s mall bangs, IIRC. A bit over the top, but not “ugly” by any means. (Although it was also noted that overuse of whatever ghastly curling device was state of the art at that time was starting to turn the front of her hair pink. :eek: ) I think Anne was kind of a drama queen anyway. Rebecca calmly accepted that she was not beautiful, and worked on presenting a good personality. If Anne had been blonde, she’d probably have wished she was a redhead. 😛 Interesting. I’ve never read Rebecca, so I didn’t know that. But we have a family story about my g-grandmother–they lived out in the country somewhere, Nebraska probably, and one day they were getting ready to go to town, which was just as big a deal for them as it is in Little House in the Big Woods. They couldn’t find her when it was time to go, until they looked behind a door, where she was hiding and hacking off her braids, saying “I won’t go to town with this ugly red hair!” She was probably around 8. So I always figured that Anne was a reflection of a very general perception that red hair was unattractive. It was still hanging on when I went to Scandinavia as a teen in the late 80’s, until dying your hair red became fashionable. There was this one really cute red-headed girl, and everyone thought of her as unfortunate to have that awful hair, which really puzzled me. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/78 "2010-10-15T16:02:37Z")
Here’s a question. Surely red hair must be fairly common in the UK, right? How often does it occur? It’s actually pretty common here in our town for some reason–my daughter’s friend had 4 or 5 redheads in her class last year (out of ~30), and our children’s group at church has 5 or 6 out of 50 kids. I don’t know if I live in a weird statistical anomaly or if that’s usual in a mixed but mostly-white population. It’s not like we’ve had generations of the same population; I live in California–people move around a lot and I know that none of those redheads are related to each other. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/79 "2010-10-15T16:22:56Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > Britain has a robust sense of humour (unlike America, it would appear). If you show yourself to be sensitive to a particular criticism, you merely attract an additional stream of it (especially in the army). When someone levels a particular critcism related to an inherent trait, hopefully their sense of humor is robust enough to withstand getting their teeth knocked down the back of their throat with extreme prejudice. It’s all in good fun, you know. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063/80 "2010-10-15T16:29:48Z")
Missed the edit: This isn’t directed at you, **MK VII** ; I’m not assuming you engage in that behavior… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-british-people-make-fun-of-people-with-red-ginger-hair/557063.md?page=5)