• Question: why do gingers get abuse?

    Asked by followtheyellowbrickroad to Stephen, Tom on 24 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Stephen Curry

      Stephen Curry answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      Hi followtheyellowbrickroad

      I guess it’s because they are a minority and, for whatever reason, our society is not so good at being fair to minorities *some* of the time. A ginger myself I got some mild teasing at school (eg. ‘duracell – ha ha) but it was never very serious and didn’t bother me much.

      In fact I am rather proud of my red hair – precisely because it’s a bit different from the norm. Quite happy to have been named the “Ginger Ninja” during this competition! 😉

      However, I know that other ginger people have been treated very badly and that I find quite upsetting.

    • Photo: Tom Hartley

      Tom Hartley answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      I must admit that I feel a bit uncomfortable about this, because whereas I would be mortified if I made a racist or sexist remark, I have occasionally made some generalisation about ginger-haired people. Although many of them (like Stephen) take this in good humour, I don’t really think it’s acceptable. Even if meant in fun it is a silly predjudice. Having said that Stephen knows I recently coined a red-headed nickname for him, but I only did this because he made a couple of gingerist comments first.

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