Ginger-ism

[Raunalyn]

I'm doing my bit to prevent anti-gingerism: I married one.

Ditto...been with her almost 20 years now.

 

[Janx]

Oh, they're discrimination. Very minor discrimination, I admit, but discrimination.

If you're singling out a group for special treatment, you're discriminating - for them if it is positive treatment, against them if it is negative treatment.

We can quibble over whether these jokes are discrimination on a level that we should be concerned about, in the grand scheme of things.

Personally, I figure that making a regular thing out of saying uncomplimentary stuff about groups of people probably isn't a great idea.

I agree.

I reckon we stopped telling blonde jokes when we figured out they were really saying "Blonde women are dumb"

Since that's sexist and starts us down the road of "all women are dumb", it became a taboo joke to tell.

Gingerism might be a joke. But some people might be meaning their ill-intent, or learning a bad mindset from it.

Dunno what to do about that.

 

[trappedslider]

The "gingers have no soul" thing gained notoriety, I think, because of South Park (at least as far as I know). But yes, it's not meant to be serious.

This^

As a red head myself and growing up in a predominantly Hispanic elementary school after moving from Missouri during my childhood it was a bit of shock to say the least when I started getting called names and no at that time it wasn't done in a joking manner, it was done simply because I was different and kids are jerks lol. And being called those names hurt a lot and lead in part to be withdrawing into myself and becoming way less social than I used to be until the 7th grade.

 

[Dungeoneer]

I think this is a peculiar form of discrimination that varies by region. I'm not a redhead, so maybe I just missed it, but I have never encountered any 'gingerism' in my region (Southeast US). But obviously it does happen, and it seems like it's a pretty serious thing in parts of the UK.

It seems silly but you have to remember, historical animosity and cultural stereotyping runs deep.

 

[Zombie_Babies]

Oh, they're discrimination. Very minor discrimination, I admit, but discrimination.

If you're singling out a group for special treatment, you're discriminating - for them if it is positive treatment, against them if it is negative treatment.

We can quibble over whether these jokes are discrimination on a level that we should be concerned about, in the grand scheme of things.

Personally, I figure that making a regular thing out of saying uncomplimentary stuff about groups of people probably isn't a great idea.

Fair enough. I'm obviously in the 'doesn't matter' camp and that's because I don't see any intended harm in the jokes.

It's a matter of degree. Calling someone a racial epithet and denying them a job are on the same scale - one's just much further along that scale. Violence is even further, of course. Jokes about hair colour are about as low down the scale as you can get, I agree.

Alrighty then, we seem to be on the same page. 'Discrimination', to me, has always carried a weight to it that isn't necessarily intended. Basically the discrimination people talk about is the kind that matters so that's the way I tend to see the word.

I dunno, when I think about blacks being discriminated against or women or whatever, well, I guess it sort of bothers me that saying gingers have no soul in a joking manner somehow gets called the same thing. But that's a personal issue - the word itself makes no distinction in degree.

 

[Morrus]

I dunno, when I think about blacks being discriminated against or women or whatever, well, I guess it sort of bothers me that saying gingers have no soul in a joking manner somehow gets called the same thing. But that's a personal issue - the word itself makes no distinction in degree.

To be fair, the ginger kids did get bullied and beat on in school. It was a bit worse than saying gingers have no soul in a joking manner. My friend to this day insists his hair is "auburn".

 

[Zombie_Babies]

I agree.

I reckon we stopped telling blonde jokes when we figured out they were really saying "Blonde women are dumb"

Since that's sexist and starts us down the road of "all women are dumb", it became a taboo joke to tell.

Gingerism might be a joke. But some people might be meaning their ill-intent, or learning a bad mindset from it.

Dunno what to do about that.

I don't see it that way at all. I mean, look at how ridiculous this premise is: Hair color indicates intelligence. And it's not just that, the disparate levels of alleged intelligence are obvious. It's not some small degree of difference, blondes are so dumb they think they can give birth to puppies or Polish people (my ethnicity) are so dumb that if you wave to a one armed Polish man who somehow climbed a tree, he'll wave back and fall down. Seriously, who takes any of that seriously? How could anyone make the jump from 'gingers have no soul' to 'gingers are well and truly terrible people'?

My god, people. If that actually happens we're bleepin' doomed and it ain't cuz of the jokes.

 

[Morrus]

If I had to make a massive WAG as to the origin (and this is a total guess) - I'd say it was due to lots of Irish and Scottish folks moving to England in the 70s and the ensuing resentment. Ginger colouring is common amongst them, and it had all the social (though not legal) connotations that immigration can have today, albeit on a lesser level.

When it crossed the pond, I don't know. I guess that South Park episode was part of that.

 

[Zombie_Babies]

To be fair, the ginger kids did get bullied and beat on in school. It was a bit worse than saying gingers have no soul in a joking manner. My friend to this day insists his hair is "auburn".

Meh, everyone gets picked on. I'm not a ginger and yet kids made fun of me. An excuse is an excuse and that's all 'ginger' is. It's not a reason in and of itself, it's the same thing as 'has glasses' or 'has braces' or 'is in the band' or whatever else was nerdy at your school at that time. I really don't believe it's an indication of some sort of real world, global belief that gingers are ... whatever it is we supposedly think they are. Soulless? Yeah ... not buyin' it.

When I was in middle and high school everyone made fun of band kids. I wasn't in the band myself so I enjoyed that cuz there were some people on the social ladder at a point that made them helpful to me. My stepson wanted to join the band at his school. This is like 20 some years later and only about as many miles. I warned him what kids would call him (they were called 'band ****' in my school - the terms of service prohibit me from typing out that slur) but he was dead set on learning to play the saxophone. Turns out, though, that in his school the band kids are the popular group - right beneath the jocks. He's got all sorts of friends and has dated a couple of popular girls he met in band. Hell, he's with a girl two years older than him right now. That never would have happened when and where I went to school. All I'm trying to say is that everyone has their own battle to fight - some better, some worse but most are, well, pretty damned trivial.

 

[Bullgrit]

I'm not a redhead, so maybe I just missed it, but I have never encountered any 'gingerism' in my region (Southeast US).

I also grew up (and still live) in the U.S. Southeast. My best friend in high school was a redhead. The girl I took to my senior prom was redhead. The first girl I dated when I moved to my college town was redhead. There were no cultural issues with red hair, and "ginger" was some spice or something. I never heard any negative comments about redheads until these last few years.

Bullgrit