Fiery Red Heads & Misconceptions

[Drusilla]

I've got a question in 'peoples' asking about profiles and how we make assumptions about ABers, dependent on the name given and it made me think of a gripe I've had since childhood. Why do people assume because I've got titian coloured hair that I'm fiery and Celtic, when I'm actually quiet, withdrawn and as far as I am aware, from a long line of Londoners. Does anyone else have to fight negative assumptions based on split second assessments?

[GraceAnais]

i'm tall with long blonde hair. A secondary school teacher for a living, yet everyone assumes i'm a hairdresser/beautician. people often think your stupid when they first meet you and actually act surprised when you show any sign of intelligence. i've debated dying my hair brown and wearing frumpy clothes in an effort to be taken seriously at work,but you can't deny who you are. once people get to know you it generally fades. despite this it's extremely annoying. on my first day in one job, upon meeting me one member of staff questioned (out loud to the office) whether i had been employed purely for the men to look at...what a bitch.

[Drusilla]

Oh dear GraceAnais. I bet for a split second you were almost the imaginary, fiery Celtic redhead!

[andy hughes]

I do sympathise. Growing up, I bore a passing resemblence to Woody Allen - metamorphasised into Loyd Grossman with a change of specs, and the onset of middle-age. That meant I was always being thought of as accademic - which I'm not, or geeky and weird, which I'm not, and it always took time for me to overcome people's first impresssions.

It is just human nature, we have to live with it.

As for you GraceAnais, that's just sexism - nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about!

Kidding!!!!!

[dinga]

I too have titian coloured hair and would never dye it! People pay good money to try and get a decent red and it doesn't work. I am also told that if you have red in your hair, it's the strongest and therefore is the last to go grey....I'll stick with mine!

[dinga]

By the way GraceAnais, don't dye it, you will end up with naff roots and it will take forever to grow out and that's nasty! Stick with your natural beauty and if others feel the need to make comments like that member of staff, then I'd say it's jealousy!

[Drusilla]

I love having Titian hair, dinga, I just object to people thinking I'm Boudicca!

[Hermia]

Ooooh, I'd love red hair. I have natural chestnut highlights in mine and I'm always trying to exaggerate them.

I think people are just really lazy and stereotype people on silly physical attributes. My friend is a fantastically intelligent neurologist who has just completed her Phd. She is also blond with huge melons and men just treat her like she is an imbecile. I've seen men who probably don't have a quarter of her intelligence talking to her like she is a particularly stupid child even after she has explained what she does for a living!

[andy hughes]

Further to my last post - I try really hard never to judge people by their appearence, since I met a girl at a party. i was told before she arrived that she worked in a local clothes store, so I already had her pegged as a no-brain shop girl. When we got talking, she told me that the shop job was just on Saturdays, to make money - the rest of the time, she was studying for a philosophy degree at Sheffield University. She was my first love, we went out for a year and a half, and i vowed to never judge people on appearences ever again.

That was thirty years ago, and I've stuck with my vow ever since.

[Robinia]

Yes Drusilla, I do, although now I'm getting older it's not quite so bad. I'm tall, always been naturally skinny & I'm blonde (with a little help!). I'm not stunning or the brain of Britain but I'm not thick either & I've often had the comment 'Well, you're not what I expected you to be.' Which was what exactly??? I never ask because I know what they're getting at.
There's also the thing that if you look ok you can't possibly know how it feels to have been (or are still going) through the mill, either physically, emotionally or both. That really does get my back up!! Ooooh I could rant about some of my experiences all day!!

[Scarlett]

I have been both fat and thin at different times and the difference in the way you are treated by people is vast, and frightening. My friend is small and blonde with huge jugs, and she is a lecturer, but she struggles on a daily basis to be taken seriously.

By the way, what colour id "titian"?

[Drusilla]

Titian is basically a reddish/golden colour Scarlett, as opposed to auburn, which is a reddish/brown. Think Sarah Ferguson(Fergie), the Duchess of York. When I was little, everyone just said redhead, but in my teens I demanded a more personalised and frankly, posher sounding name. Apparently, the name comes from the artist, Titian, who loved to paint women with this colour hair.

[joko]

I get it a lot because, although I am 33, most people assume I am from 20-24. Which, is nice in some ways but I find I get patronised a lot and not taken seriously as people assume that I can only be fresh out of college, and just a kid, when in fact I have been a freelance professional in a very competeive industry for over 10 years. I find myself having to orchestrate 'guess how old I am' conversations or just try to mention it. People are shocked and don't believe me at first, but their tone changes almost immediately and sometimes visibly and I get some respect. (though on occasion I suddenly become competition so some don't like it)

drives me mad!! (funny being hit on by teenagers though!)

[lindapinda]

Great question Drusilla,I unfortuately have what some people consider to be,"a sad face"!!. I have been walking in town,and a complete stranger,will say in a cheery manner "Cheer up love,it may never happen!"..I'm actually as happy as the next person,but apparently,if I'm deep in thought,and not grinning,then it's ok for a stranger to assume,that they have the right to intrude on my percieved "sadness"!!..It actually happened,that the few minutes after I had had,some genuinely dreadful news about my father,and was getting home asap,that a moron came out with the inevitable line to cheerup!!..Rant over!! But,as you said originally,drusilla.people should be careful with split second assumptions!!

[Morrisonker]

I'd love to have red hair, I've always envied people with it. Kate Winslet's hair in Titanic/Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge = my dream. I have 2 friends with red hair, both startling intelligent women, one doing Medicine and the other at Oxford doing Psychology and they embrace they're hair colour. However they are both pretty passionate people, maybe they are true to the stereotype :)

I'm just an ordinary brunette, although I've recently streaked my hair with a deep raspberry colour, which as certainly ended up with me being described as 'you know, her with the pink hair'. It's strange how people judge you on hair colour and weight more than anything else. I don't particuarly mind people thinking I'm serious because of my hair colour, I was a bit quiet and studious at school. Now I'm at Uni and I couldn't care less. If I was you, I'd just enjoy peoples misconceptions and really have fun proving them wrong!

[curiosity]

Well, I have Ginger hair and people are beware (but love me really)