I'm kind of freaked out.
My roommate warned me tonight after she saw a redhead in a movie. Apparently, people will start creeping on me and taking pictures of me. I'm not okay with this. I'm not some one who particularly likes spontaneous pictures being taken of me (because, frankly, I'm not that photogenic). So the idea that I might become a target for cameras does not settle well with me. All google searches for "ginger hunt" are coming up empty (except for people actually named Ginger Hunt. What mean parents), so I really have no idea what to expect.
Perhaps I'm overreacting, but I'm getting to a point where ginger discrimination (that's not quite the right word, but you know what I mean) stops being funny and starts being seriously aggravating for those of us who are the target or comments, jokes, and "movements." The term ginger didn't really become popular until South Park's 137th episode, Ginger Kids. At first, the episode didn't seem that bad. The only people who got offended were redheads who were looking to be offended. I thought it was funny and started using the term my self. I didn't think anyone would take it seriously. But then it seemed to spark an "anti-ginger" movement. Gingers became thought of as unhuman and subpar to "normal" hair colors. Red hair was a deficiency. "Kick a Ginger Day" started to show up on school playgrounds and in facebook events. Here's a link to one ginger student's account and opinion of "Kick a GInger Day":http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/2009/11/59759/kick-a-ginger-day/. If such a practice were to emerge singling out another race, culture, or group, people would flip their shit. What is it about my strawberry-blonde hair that makes singling me out ok?
I don't mind the use of the term "ginger." Like I said before, I use the term and I have friends who use it as a term of endearment to refer to me or other redheads. But events like "Kick a Ginger Day" or "Ginger Hunts" that single me and other redheads out, I do have problem with. Just because I have red hair doesn't give people the right to take pictures of me without my knowledge or consent because it's part of some sort of game. It doesn't it mean I'm any less intelligent or talented than non-redheads. It doesn't mean I don't have feelings or that I don't get frustrated and angry when redheads are treated like objects instead of people.
Yes, I have red hair. And I love my hair. It's one of the many wonderful traits that's I've inherited from my wonderful grandmother. Every hairstylist I've ever been to has told me to never dye my hair. And people rarely give me problems over my hair color or even notice it. But every now and then, some movement like "Kick a GInger Day" or a "Ginger Hunt" will pop up and suddenly I'm regarded as human anymore. I am simply an object for ignorant entertainment. And it's frustrating and angering and saddening.
At least ask for my permission before you take my picture.
What do you think? Am I overreacting? Is it all just in good fun and I need to accept it? Should I just invest in a bottle of hair dye or a baseball hat and ride this out? Is anyone even reading this?
Here's another interesting more scientific viewpoint from fellow blogger and ginger Andy Einstein. I found it looking through pictures on Google to post here (just create a new tab and copy/paste the link into your search bar):
http://andyeinstein.blogspot.com/2008/09/face-it-people-with-red-hair-are-better.html
Red hair was thought to indicate beastly sexual desire. What, like that's a bad thing?
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