Hi All I don't get a ton of comments on my hair, but every time I have, they have been positive comments. Some people will come up and say they look nice, others will ask about them. It is never with disgust or malice, just curiosity or interest. The only bad stuff I hear about dreads is online from white kids who call it cultural approppriation (while more than half of my good comments come from black people (w or w/o dreads), and my hair was started in what is mostly "black" beauty shop by a woman with beautiful dreads herself. I only mention this to display the range of comments, and that from my experience, no one thinks I am "stealing" their hair style or culture). Today is the first time I have ever gotten negative responses to what I think were my dreads. (I have piercings also). Today, my boyfriend and I had to go somewhere and we went to the building in front of where we had to go and the ladies in the building told us the correct building. I was dressed in jeans and a plain green shirt with a green jacket. My hair was out of my face and in a barrette. I always put it up in public, until they are well formed and long enough to have weight where they will stay out of my face. I am a smart and well-spoken girl. I was nothing but polite. When I was not looking, one of the ladies (who smiled to my face) gave her friend an "oh my god, look at her!" disgusted/surprised look. My guy saw this but I did not, and he gave her a "fuck off" smile and thanked them for their time. He later told me what happened. The funny thing is, this lady has probably never even left the city we were in, and he dad is probably also her uncle. Her lack of exposure is not my fault, nor do I apologize for it. I just haven't encountered this before. I know that there is a certain stigma or misconception with people with piercings (I have many piercings, but the only facial piercing I wear out most of the time is a small nose stud), dreads, tattoos, people who are vegetarian, etc. but if she had a question, she could have asked. And could have at least said something to my face or waited until we left. Who the hell makes a face while someone is there?!?! I saw a post earlier about a girl who had someone come up to her and call her nasty or something. That's so mean. There are a ton of nasty people I see daily (work at a business in a mall). However, most people have enough sense to not be rude right in front of someone like that. Especially if it is something they don't understand. Morons.
i hate when someone is mean to another person right in front of their faces. Its so sad. I feel awful for that person who is being talked about. I usually tell the mean person to shut up haha. They are morons. But still dreads are awesome hahah. peace~
Like you, the majority of the comments I get on my hair have been positive..... then, I got hit with some awful discrimination of the racial variety. I was told that I was ripping off another race's culture, and that people should'nt wear locks if they dont know anything about the meaning behind them. Excuse me? I was under the impression that locks are a hairstyle spanning several centuries, that can be founds among many different cultures. It's amazing how some people's insecurities and hang ups can blind them to the way things really are.
Well I have *never* had a person of African-American culture say anything negative. I have heard it a lot online from rich pretentious white kids. However, if people with straight hair "can't" have dreads, then everyone who has black coloured hair cannot dye it blonde, no one with straight hair can curl it. No one with curly hair can straighten it, no one can do anything to it, for fear of "offending" someone else or "stealing" "their" hair. See what I am getting at? Because straight hair is a stereotypical trait of Asian/many Caucasian people, and blonde hair is only naturally found on white people, etc. Therefore it is silly to single out dreads. Hair shops would be out of business. And while we are at it, no wild colouring either, because that's not your own culture. Also, it is funny you mention how they think you didn't know anything. They obviously were the ones with misconceptions, and you should educate them. For the most part, my experience has been positive. One thing I think a lot of people get upset about: people coming up to you and touching your hair w/o asking. My dreads aren't well-formed enough to where they could bemistaken for extensions, but I think a lot of people who go up and touch other people's hair don't mean to do it. There is a kid (15, 14?) who I have seen around town with long beautiful dreads. Even I want to go touch them and I know what they feel like (I don't do it though)! We just like to feel stuff I guess. I cold see how it would be obnoxious. A few people have touched my hair but they have asked first.
people at school always ask to touch my hair. and then when they do i guess they feel different from what they would imagine because they sound surprised and are like oh wow! cool they are awesome haha. i love it. theres a guy hes a senior in my school. and hes had his dreads since 8th grade. and his are beautiful. like his dreads and his brothers are basically famous in our school haha. i think i got off subject of the discrimination and ignorance thing. but its alright haha. peace~!!!
i had an old jamacan guy stop me & said why do you have locks ??? I said cos I like them & he was all like do you know about Rasta ? I was like well um no & he said then why you have locks then. I just said, errr gotta go & walked off. I was like W.T.F ???? As someone else here said Dreadlocks belong to manny different cultures from the past centuries !!! The scottish Bravehearts had them so how can they be a "black" culture ???? go figure !!!
i just got my lisence last week, and the guy giving me the behind the wheel test was black, and the first thing he said was I love your hair! and then thats all he could talk about the whole time. he asked if it was a rasta thing and i said no, i just like them. and he didnt mind at all. he loved them haha.
There was these girls at my treeplanting camp one day that startedsking me all these questions about my locks. At first they were nice questions and then they were not so nice. Aren't they always wet? Don't they itch? Don't they stink? Do you wash them? It was a lil hurtful, even tho they may have just been curious... Most people comment positively if at all.
Dreadlock Swampy- I think you should learn a little about Rasta simply so you can avoid getting offended at this question. The person you were talking to probably was not trying to offend you. Rastafarians ARE the most well-known dreadlock wearers. I think that you should say "I am not Rasta but I have dreads for my own reasons". I know it all depends on his demeanor to show what his intentions were, he may just have been confused. Dreadlocks to most people = rasta. He may have thought you were just one of those kids who wears a Bob Marley t shirt because they like to smoke pot, you know? I am not exceedingly knowledgable about Rasta, but I do respect it and understand that some people might not understand. If someone gets mad about that just (nicely) let them know that dreads are not exclusively Rasta.
About folks coming up and touching my locks.... it's fine with me if they ask before hand, but I dont like it if they dont ask first, and just touch with no warning! It's kind of like pregnant women.... many people feel compelled to pat a pregnant woman on the belly, but if someone had done that to me when i was pregnant with my daughter it would have creeped me out a little......
He may have thought you were just one of those kids who wears a Bob Marley t shirt because they like to smoke pot, you know? Ah, my friend does, that... It annoies the hell out of me... But then i dont care after 5 minutes
The RealPamela I wasn't offended & since then I have looked in to it & is quite interesting !! but yeah at the time, I probbably did take it the wrong way, the way but we all learn from our experiences !!!
Haha, I'm hitchin down the west coast of the states right now. This lady in Oregon that picked us up was like, " What did you do to your hair? I heard you get maggots and lice in your hair when you do that." I had to laugh. What else could I do?
