> I popped the question at a party tonight, and
> still NOBODY has heard this expression. The
> complaint, in fact, was that the
> expression "treated/beaten like a red-haired
> stepchild" was (I quote) "racist."

Not racist. Hairist. Keratinist. Pigmentist.


> I guess we don't hear the expression in places
> which are highly multicultural. My hometown is
> one of the most ethnically non-homogenized
> places in N.America; even the sportscasters
> seem to have subtly changed the phrase
> to "slapped down Sacramento, 6-1, like an
> unwanted stepchild" instead. Curious.

Around here I think the expression is generally associated with "rednecks". We even say it with a very slight accent most of the time.

Whether rednecks as we have come to know them ever exist or have ever existed is, of course, a different debate entirely.

-Eric "For the record, redheaded stepchildren are the best kind." Sleator
Mon 30 Jul A.D. 2001