I’m still trying to figure out the best way to keep a blog. When it comes to the internet I’m not a very technical person. Mostly I just want to work on the film, but little things keep coming up and I feel compelled to share them. Hopefully this site will work for me.
So I just had an interesting chat with a fan on Facebook and I’d like to share it. She’s a redhead living in the US and she told me that when she was six or seven growing up in Montana, in a strong Christian community, adults would tell her on a pretty regular basis that she had red hair because she was sinful, and that she was going to lead a life of sin.
I know that red hair has always been associated with sin in art. Judas was painted as a redhead so that he would standout from the other 11 apostles, and this painting really struck me when I first saw it at Musée d’Orsay:
But for adults to actually tell a small child that she’s sinful just because of her hair? I’ve had to deal with my share of abuse, but I’ve never come across that. And it wasn’t even that long ago, she was talking about the ‘80s.
Mostly I wonder about the long-term impact of that on a child. It seems to me that it has the potential to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It also makes me wonder about the stereotypes other groups face.
I’m curious, has anyone else had to deal with this stereotype? And do you think it’s had an impact on the person you are today?
Leave a comment below, or email me: beinggingerthefilm@gmail.com
-scott
Being Ginger 