Why Taylor Swift’s Comment About Redheads Is Offensive
I recently saw the following headline: Taylor Swift Would Date a Ginger Man.
My initial thought was, “What did you say, bitch?” and I’ll tell you why.
She told Monsters & Critics the following: “I like people with red hair. I would do a ginger. I like Rupert Grint, the guy from the Harry Potter films.”
It’s shocking to me for a few reasons. The first, and perhaps most obvious, being the fact that she “would do” anyone. Seems like something I’d say, when sucking back a scotch on the rocks and Google imaging Magic Mike photos.
The second, and most important thing, being that she would think it’s okay to say something like that. “I like people with red hair. I would do a ginger.”
The thing that strikes me is…WHY is that even a thing to say? “I would do a ginger.” It’s not like she’d say, “I’d do a brunette,” or “I’d do a black person.”
It’s as if having sex with a person who has red hair is taboo, and she’s putting it out there. Like, “You know what I’d do that’s crazy? A ginger.”
What? Excuse me?
Don’t get me wrong, I love glorifying redhead men. I think they are extremely attractive and should be featured in leading male roles both onscreen and in everyone’s personal lives.
But when you go on record, as a celebrity, and say, “I would do a ginger,” it’s not okay. You’re not being edgy. You’re not being cute. And, personally, as a redhead, I find it offensive.
I can tell that what she said was innocuous, in her mind. But there’s also another part of it that feels like what she thought she was doing was giving red haired men the world over a solid.
Unfortunately, that’s not what this is. Paul Thomas Anderson saying, “I have a natural attraction to redheads,” is doing us a solid. Because in that sense, he’s treating it as normally as you would if you asked for someone’s preference.
But when you say, “I would do a ginger,” you’re not some big hero. Saying, “Guess what? I’d do one. I’d do that kid from Harry Potter, for example,” is not treating redheads as if they’re equals. It’s saying that we are different. Different enough that most people would not “do” them, but you would. It’s telling your fans that we’re a separate people, and that in no way is a message that I want to be put out there.
This could be a hyper-sensitive redhead diatribe, but maybe this is also one example in many of why things like Kick-a-Ginger day even exist. Because when you reinforce the idea that a group of people are an acquired taste, it doesn’t lead to inclusion, it leads to exclusion.
What do you all think? Am I just another hot headed redhead or do you hear what I’m saying?
