Here in the U.S., people with red/ginger hair aren’t (usually) stigmatized for their hair color. In fact, my redhead son grew up having almost every woman who encountered him exclaim, “Ooh! I love that hair!” or “I wish I had hair like that!” The men would all look at me sideways and make some comment about the milkman. (Y’see, I have dark brown, almost black hair; my wife is a natural blonde, so it’s a hilarious infidelity joke at my expense).
I’m too lazy to look it up, but I’ve always been puzzled by the half-joking – maybe a little more than half serious? – enmity toward gingers in the UK. Anyone have an answer why that’s such a thing across the pond? Age-old anti-Celtic sentiment maybe?
