“The redhead dilemma” - en studie om rödhårigas stigmatisering i dagens samhälle

Sammanfattning: This essay takes its interest about redheaded people and wants to understand how it is to live in our society today as a redhead. With norms and stereotypes about redheads that goes back into history this essay tries to find out how they affect redheads and their feelings about their hair colour. This is made with Erving Goffman's theories about humans and how we present ourselves in everyday life and its interactions. To gather all material eight interviews have been made with redheaded people, three who colour their hair red and five natural redheads. Goffmans thoughts on stigma and how it affects people have also been used. In the analysis four clear stereotypes have been found in the material, the redhead who sticks out, the sexual redhead, the corny ginger, and the evil redhead. All the participants in this study share these stereotypes and find that it can be hard to navigate life as a redhead amongst them but still, they like their hair colour and appreciate the uniqueness that comes with it. With more people dyeing their hair red, all the negative impact from the stereotypes may shift.