My 18YO niece came home from several months of summer camp recently with, among other things, dreadlocks. Prior to this summer she was a conventional middle-class kid. To say her parents aren’t happy about this development is putting things mildly. Like me, they are white folks, and her mom has noted that there is all kinds of cultural baggage attached to dreads, and a fair amount of resentment directed in particular toward white people with dreadlocks. Example here, a short article explaining to white people why they shouldn’t style their hair in dreads (or mohawks).
FWIW, I’m not a big fan of rage against cultural appropriation; without it, music, art, and cuisine would probably be a lot more bland. Moreover, if one is going to take a stand against dreads as an instance of cultural appropriation, then there are an awful lot of other instances that need to be addressed (for example, all of the native-American symbology woven into Boy Scouts of America). But I do think dreads look stupid and will limit one’s options within mainstream culture (this is a rare instance of an engineer appreciating the value of marketing :D).
So how about you? What’s your opinion of dreads in general, and white-people-with-dreads in particular?
Be glad it is just hair, and not a tattoo. She can cut her dreads off and have perfect job-applying hair in under 30 minutes.
White people with dreadlocks is a definite sub culture here in the Netherlands. It is a sort of intellectual, pot-smoking, artsy, anti-establishment, internationally oriented subculture, mostly adopted by students from good (upper) middle class backgrounds.
So I say no big deal.
ETA, the people writing that article is just incredible touchy. But then again, that kind of touchiness is also a common phase in young people self- identifying with any discriminated etnicity or sex. Most so when entering college, the same age that some white kids take dreads.
I tend to look at it as more of a personal affectation, in much the same way that I view blonde hair on black women. It may look a little strange, but it’s their business, and if it makes them happy, I’m fine with it.
And really… the parents are upset about how an 18 year old kid is styling their hair? They ought to be way, WAY past being upset by that at this point. What are they going to do when this kid goes to college, where people drink, smoke various things, and screw?
(And FWIW… most of the Native American symbology that I ran into in Boy Scouts was Order of the Arrow stuff, which is explicitly that way. Everyday Scouts wasn’t nearly so much so- I think a lot of the Cub scout stuff that could be taken as Native American inspired was actually Jungle Book inspired, if I recall. Akela- the term for a Cub Scout pack leader was the wolf in the story, and so on.)
Hair is hair. It can be cut off and it will grow back. The Wife and I have never made hair style a point of friction with our daughters.
That being said, I think most people with dreadlocks look pretty damn stupid (personal opinion only, and not intended as a statement of cultural imperialism) regardless of which continent their great-grandparents came from.
Disclaimer- I have worn a crew cut for several decades for the simple reason that I cannot be bothered spending any time at all caring for my hair.
Actually, Miss Manners’ advice for parents is to make a Very Big Deal about their teenage kids hair. That way, the kids can safely satisfy their need for rebellion without having to resort to something that actually *can *do them damage, like drinking, smoking and screwing.
So to the OP’s friends I say: make a very big deal out of it. And try to hide your amused and indulgent smile while doing so.
I think it looks stupid regardless of who sports it, but I also thinks tattoos and facial piercings are stupid. And torn, raggedy jeans. And visible bra straps. And a lot of other “fashions.”
Fair or not, first impressions are pretty strong, and overcoming the visual can take a lot. But I’m pretty sure if my doctor came into the exam room sporting dreads or eyebrow rings, I’d be seriously considering changing doctors. So sue me.
Be individual, just like everyone else. But you can’t force me to like it.
Well, she’s 18. We all experiment with our hair at that age because we can get away with it. Also, for white kids that change their mind, with enough patience, combing and conditioner, they can be reversed.
I know I’m probably in the minority on this view, but I think well-maintained locks are dead sexy. They are my favorite hairstyle. Especially on older (black) guys that let their silver creep into their hair, but on hippie/skater white girls, too. Less so on white males, but that’s just personal preference.
It may just be hair, but dreadlocks have more than the usual number of associations for a hairstyle - Rastafarians, ‘Trustafarians’, travellers/‘crusties’, exorbitantly-braided twit etc, that one should probably choose carefully.
I really have no bent against it’s cultural aspect at all, but the simple fact it looks very difficult to clean unfortunately makes me unsure about the wearer’s take on hygene in general. It’s long and tightly woven. Am I to understand someone frequently takes the time to unweave it, shampoo well and reweave it every day or two? Otherwise, yuck.
Dreads are not exactly woven as I understand. They are more like a deliberate matting of the hair, and care consists of keeping the scalp clean and washing the locks as if they were each one unit. Soak in shampoo-ey water and wring them out.
I invite correction to my ideas about dreadlock creation and care.
You don’t unweave locks. They are quite easy to clean and you wash locks like you wash any other hair (almost). My DH has very long locks so he takes shampoo and water and lets it run through his hair (sound familiar?). Then rinse and condition if you like but conditioning kind of goes against the method of locking the hair. Pat dry with towel. The water and shampoo are able to get through the locks quite easily IMO and I’ve assisted DH with hair washing quite a few times over the years.
FWIW, my DH is very clean and having locks doesn’t mean one is not hygienic.
As long as her dreads are well-cared for and uniform, I’ve no problem with it. However, far, far too many college kids start dreads that are the opposite of uniform and well-cared for. You know the ones, the ones with the huge mats among smaller stringy hanks of hair that they’re trying to call dreads? The stank ones? Yeah, those. Don’t let her do that.
If she does dreads properly, they can be very attractive.
