Redheads/Gingers

The single story I decided to pick is the red-headed "ginger" stereotype. The main story that everyone has heard is that gingers have no souls. Some other common stereotypes are that ginger girls have a fiery and angry personality and that ginger men are poor in luck, often seen as weak and a sense comic relief. People typically laugh at ginger jokes when it portrays a kid with having bad luck and no soul, as seen in the meme below.

Because of the media, redheads are suffering poor luck through their single story. There have been occasions where people create events such as "National Kick a Ginger Day" based off of the TV show South Park. The term "gingers have no souls" was coined from South Park. In the news, there have been reports where children who have red hair have been repeatedly kicked for having red hair, as seen in the video below:

This did not only happen in the U.S, but it also happened in Canada. What was considered a harmless joke became a harmful prank that would hurt redheaded children across the nation. In this report, it shows how children with red hair became easily targeted because of what a show told them to think about gingers.


In short, society tells us that people who have red hair and freckles have no soul. The single story that gingers have no souls is a very limiting perception. Why does having red hair, light skin, and freckles determine whether one has a soul or not? The perception of redheaded people limits how we view redheads as individuals. One of my redheaded friends is a very soft spoken girl who likes nothing more than to travel and help others by doing humanitarian projects. She has been to places such as Tanzania to help those who are less fortunate. She also served her mission in the Philippines, which is a very hard mission. My friend does not have a temper like what society tells us, and from her actions, she does have a soul.

The single story of redheads has shown me that their poor luck comes from the bullying and stereotypes. Being singled out for the color of your hair is rough. However, I was able to see past the single story by meeting friends who have red hair and  by interacting with them and ignoring stereotypes. Red hair cannot determine whether a readhead has eternal salvation or not. Nor can it tell someone's temper right off the bat. In order to truly know, you must befriend a redhead instead of kick one.