Modern Criticism of Freckles (Thank You, South Park)

In the U.S. you’d be hard pressed to find a freckled person who hasn’t been taunted by insults popularized by the Comedy Central TV show South Park. In the episode, people with red hair and freckles are referred to as gingers, and people with pale skin, but no freckles, are called daywalkers.

But they don’t stop at nicknames, anyone who is redheaded and freckled in the episode is thought to have a disease called Gingervitus, and are treated as inferior to everyone else. Here are some memorable quotes from the episode:

“Make no mistake! Ginger kids ARE evil. Do you know who was Ginger? Judas.” – Cartman

“Your son will be Ginger his whole life. You might want to just . . . put him down.” – Dr. Doctor

“We’ve all seen them. On the playground, at the store, walking on the streets. They creep us out and make us feel sick to our stomachs.” – Cartman

Rooted in Classism

But South Park isn’t the first to advance the mockery of freckles, far from it. What’s portrayed as a joke now (albeit one that can go too far) started as a way to distinguish among the classes. Freckles once literally marked who the low class were in U.S. and European societies.

Before the 1900s to around 1910, porcelain skin was the beauty trend everyone wanted. Tanned or freckled skin indicated that a person was a laborer, had to work outside for money, and was therefore an inferior class to the wealthy elite, who stayed indoors and could afford topical treatments that lightened their skin. The staunch racism of the time period against more melanated people also made pale skin a desirable trait for this society.

As early as the 1900s, the LA Times was publishing advertisements for lightening creams that promised to erase freckles and turn the skin white.

How Far Have We Come?

In 2019, the desire to remove freckles has produced a whole beauty skin care line of topical treatments from companies like Clinique, Murad, and La Mer. However, we can see attitudes shifting toward the desire to have a more unique skin complexion, as beauty influencers have started mimicking the freckle look by applying the dots to their face with makeup. Keep in mind, this mostly applies to attitudes toward freckles on females.

In the UK, Gingerism appears to be alive and well today. In 2010, anti-ginger ads were published in the nation’s newspapers, and later removed after the outcry. The hateful attitudes against freckles and redheads may be felt more potently across the pond, because of the fraught history between Britain and Ireland.

Lisa Wade, associate professor of sociology at Occidental College, emphasizes that males with freckles get the worst of any kind of freckled discrimination. “Men and boys appear to be more frequent targets than women and girls, who at least are sometimes seen as uniquely beautiful.”

Freckling Forward

Freckled skin is best paired with thick skin. The comments used to get to me. Obviously, bullying, teasing, and insulting tends to make a person feel bad. After the millionth time hearing, “Oh, you have no soul!” my go to response became, “How original! You must be so smart to come up with that all on your own.” It usually shut people up.

Eventually I developed a thicker skin and any ginger related nicknames roll right off of me. Nobody can make me feel bad about my freckles anymore.

Do you know some freckled history? Or have a clever way to deal with the taunting? Share it with me in the comments or email freckledtheblog@gmail.com