Carbis, Ian. “'Ginger' Jibe Sends Paul Nuts.” South Wales Echo 8 Jan. 2007: 5.
This article is about a red haired soccer player in South Wales. While playing the game, a referee shouted to the player “Oi, Ginger, shut up” when the player shouted to the ref to call offside. He claimed that it was alright for other players to shout something like this to him because it is a part of the game, there is always name calling and the like to distract them from the ball. It is a strategy that he is fine with. His problem arose when it was the ref that shouted this to him. He said that it was one thing for the people opposing him, but the ref should never join in. The people calling the shots should keep neutral or they should not even be there. This demonstrates the idea that if a person has red hair, they are automatic targets for anyone who the cross, fair game for those who wish to torment them.
Leibman, Nina. Lucille Ball. 5 May. 2007
This website was put up to give famous television legends a biography for the masses. In her biography, Lucille Ball is described as starting her career as a blond and not becoming very famous until after she turned to the red hair she is famous for. She is described as going from a blond sex symbol to a wisecracking redhead. Both roles that she played are extremely stereotypical. She played both the platinum blond sex object to the funny girl with crazy red hair. In the world of celebrities, this is quite common. The blonds are the beautiful out of reach lust-worthy beings while the redheads are the clowns. It is almost like a person, especially women, need to dye their hair in order to play a certain role.
McNamara, Chris. “A-List or D-List, Griffin Makes the Grade.” Chicago Tribune 16 Mar. 2007:
This article was an interview with redheaded comedian Kathy Griffin. In it, she is asked many things about how she got to where she is and what she enjoys making fun of in her acts. The interview quickly went to her red hair however. She was asked her opinion of whether she thought red hair was an obstacle or an accelerant in Hollywood. Her answer was “It’s an asset if you’re a comedy girl. People associate redheads with comedy. Lucy and Bozo. It didn’t hurt them.” It is true. People see the hair, find it amusing and out of the ordinary and assume the person underneath is as well. They think of it as a funny hat, say a jester’s cap with tingling bells dangling off. But red hair is not like a hat. You cannot take it off the minute you want to be taken seriously. People like Carrot Top who use their hair to be amusing ruin it for the rest of the redheaded community because they see the hair and immediately think there is some sort of joke involved.
Patrick, Robert. “Red Hair: Why’s That a Problem? Ruling In Death Penalty.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch 23 Mar. 2007: D1.
This article is about a woman who did not want to be a juror on a death penalty case, but did not agree with the reasoning she was banned from the case. Sherlonda Harris, an African American woman with dyed red hair was upset when she found out part of the reason she was banned from the case was because she had red hair. They claimed that her bright hair was a sign of defiance and that it would be hard to come to a unanimous decision on the case with someone who openly defied normal tendencies. There was another factor in that she did not have a drivers license which brought the officials to the same conclusion. This makes it sound like someone with red hair is automatically considered hard to deal with and grounds enough to take someone off a jury. A person’s hair color in this case is enough to define her personality and guess how much she will argue with the people around her.
Renzetti, Elizabeth. “Bloody Will Time to Stand Up for Red Pride.” The Globe and Mail 2 Dec. 2006: R3.
This article was written for the British public. In it, an American woman who moved to England discusses the hardships of her son who is a redhead. He is looked at funny by everyone around him, mostly because he is from a family that traditionally does not have red hair, begging the question: Where did he come from? The article goes on to describe the redheaded female comedian, Catherine Tate, who has spent her time making fun of those who do the same for her. Both of these people demonstrate something very specific to redheads: the redhead step child stigma and the redheaded comedian.
Smith, Rob. Gut Grumbles. 2004. 5 May. 2007
In his blog that is apparently very popular (especially with collage aged men) online, Rob Smith describes a drink one of his friends is famous for: The Red-Headed Slut. The drink, which is a combination of Jaegermeister, cranberry juice and Peach Shnapps, describes what he thinks lives inside of every woman, regardless of hair color. To him, after drinking enough, every woman becomes a redheaded slut. Not just a slut, but a red-headed slut. This concept claims that redhead women are less inhibited than most, which means they are sluts. No matter who the person is below the red hair, she is automatically a slut just because she has flashy hair.
The Phrase Finder. 2001. 5 May. 2007
This website is put together by Google and shows the origins of many common phrases. In my research, the phrase “Beat you like a redheaded step-child” came up quite often. Surprisingly, I had never heard the phrase before in my life, or had never made the connection to it. The answer describes how a redheaded stepchild was most likely the least loved in a family because of the obvious differences between him and his family. If the parents never had red hair, it would be immediately obvious that he was not a blood relative, making it far easier to blame him for family unhappiness.
Walker, Rob. Better Dead Than Red. 2003. 6 May. 2007
< http://www.slate.com/id/2082430>
This website is an article responding to the ATT&T commercials starring Carrot Top. They all ask “why is this funny.” I could not agree more. They are ridiculous and stupid. The author of the piece claims that they are nothing more than a slight joke squeezed for everything there are worth both before and after the catchy “Dial down the center with C-A-L-L-A-T-T. It’s free for you and cheep for them.” There was nothing funny about them, but they were extremely famous. It is another example of Carrot Top sending out the message with his wild a gigantic red afro that redheads are not serious. He is not only out there with his red hair sending this idea, but he goes by the name “Carrot Top” associating everyone around him with the same shade of hair with him, whether they want to be with him or not.
Wheatley, Jo. “Life: What Your Looks Say About Your Health.” The Mirror 16 Nov. 2006: 40.
This article by Jo Wheatley takes scientific data done by researchers at Louisville University in Kentucky to see what problems certain physical traits might bring to people. These physical vary from height to rather odd features like creased earlobes with another look at redheads. Unlike many other studies, this one does not focus on the skin cancer problems most commonly thought of with red hair. Instead, it chooses to highlight the problem of pain, stating that redheads need up to 20 percent more anesthesia in surgery than brunettes or blonds. This also means that redheads feel more pain than other people during common day to day activities. This is especially true with waxing. Redheads are urged to prepare for events like this by taking painkillers in advance.
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