On one of the social networks, I noticed an ad for a treatment for glioma, which I think is a type of brain cancer. Like most ads it had a person looking at the camera – clearly a stock photo or maybe AI. (You can actually see the cursor from where they screen-capped the photo) Anyway, I made the mistake of reading the comments…
- “Is purple hair a symptom of brain cancer? Or just mental illness?”
- “If she’s got glioma, nevermind, she’s beautiful”
- “now if we could only find a cure for that purple hair!”
- “Why does Glioma have purple hair? She would be much prettier natural.”
- “Does it take away purple or blue or pink hair ?”
- “Some of these responses are so immature. Who gives a rip what color hair she has. The topic is glioblastoma…not hair color.”
- “People ruin their hair. If God had intended for you to have purple hair He would have created it. Same goes for any other color. People don’t realize how ugly and old it makes a person look.”
- “It’s the hair die…”
- “Purple hair?”
There were around 90 comments. Scrolling through the first 34, I counted seven about her purple hair and two unrelated about her general appearance. So roughly one out of every five comments were about her hair color.
There were other comments, blaming brain cancer on cell phones, cigarettes, food additives, and more. One person simply asked; “Has anyone ever died from untreated cancer?”
I work on a university campus, and one of my favorite things about it is the range of style visible in the students, faculty, and staff. I think it’s nice to see, and it’s a small piece of a better world. Imagine judging someone because they use hair color.
georgewiman 