Kiss a Ginger Day!

                                     Sandro Botticelli - Birth of Venus

Apparently it's Kiss a Ginger Day today which was established in 2009 by Derek Forgie as part of a Facebook group, intended to offset the similar-sounding, but significantly more violent, ‘Kick a Ginger’ day that that takes place in November. that  was allegedly inspired by a 2005 episode of South Park called ‘Ginger Kids’, which ironically was intended to satirise racially motivated discrimination, but which some viewers misunderstood, willfully or ignorantly, the creators’ intent. After the events of this aggressive event, gingers everywhere were tormented and assaulted in schools all over the world.

Although gingerism may be presented as just “banter”, rights campaigners  have argued that such so-called jokes can “strip red-haired children “of their positive self-identity and confidence.

In recent years, there have been reports of increasing calls to police complaining of anti-ginger abuse and bullying that is particularly acute in the UK and is one of the last socially accepted forms of prejudice against people for a trait they were born with. It’s certainly  not “harmless banter” Several children have committed or attempted suicide in recent years.

Redheads remain some of the rarest expressions of genetics in the world, making up less than 2% of the population worldwide, redheads are a minority group. Prejudiced against for a genetic characteristic, it is easy to make the link with racism, as indeed the creators of ‘South Park’ did. 

Although the South Park episode incited alarming displays of abusive treatment towards red-haired children in the UK and the US, the discriminatory treatment of redheads has a long history. 

The Ancient Greeks and Romans perceived red-haired Celts, Gauls, and Germans to be uncivilised warmongers, while Ancient philosopher Aristotle associated fox-coloured locks with wickedness. These unflattering depictions continued into the Middle Ages, where they became intertwined with anti-semitic rhetoric. 

Despite the illogic connotation, as relatively few Jewish people possessed the characteristic, red hair was deemed symbolic of the Jewish population in Europe. Consequently, red hair became associated with the allegory of the devil, perpetuating anti-Jewish sentiment by suggesting that red-haired Jews were satanic aides. 

Reiterated by later Shakespearean and Dickensian literary depictions of avaricious, outcast Jews, red hair was unquestionably representative of otherness in Western culture. Centuries of distrust and discrimination unsurprisingly took root, and weaved their way into contemporary society, resulting in, for many ‘ginger kids’, the expectation of being bullied.  

There is also a common but incorrect stereotype across the UK that red hair originates from Ireland. In the 1850s poverty led to thousands of Irish people migrating across the Irish Sea. Being low class migrants of a different religion- Catholicism- which the British Protestant establishment had fought wars against, they were viewed by many as a disloyal social burden. Could  this historical anti-Irishness also play an unconscious role in the abuse faced by redheads?

Redheads have also been  feared because they are believed in folklore to be the devil's children and have red hair because they were conceived during their mother's menstruation.A welsh proverb says "os bydd goch, fe fydd gythreulig" or "if he's redhaired then he is of the devil". Yesterday's superstition has become today's teasing.

Unlike abuse based on religion, race, gender or sexuality, verbal abuse of red hair is not a hate crime. Given the suicides of bullied redhead children, there have been calls from the likes of the UK Anti-Bullying Alliance to make it so.https://anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/

While in some parts of the world this color hair is disparaged, and the origin of such phrases as “like a red-headed stepchild”, the rest of the world has an undying love affair with them. Red hair dye remains one of the most popular hair care products, and it comes in a wide array of colors, including some never found in nature.

With fiery red hair, pale skin, and eyes of blue or green. they were also once held as being holy as they were believed to have stolen the very fire of the Gods and imbued their crimson locks with it.These powerful images should be embraced; and though kiss a Ginger day has noble sentiments, highlighting the  prejudice they face, instead  of  offering kisses to them alone, lets focus on coming together and take a stand against bigotry and discrimination to any part of the human race who are unnecessarily targeted  for being who they are and continue to build  a world of tolerance and respect. We cannot allow discrimination to persist in any shape or form if we hope to progress as a species.