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Are dreads on white people okay?
- Thread starter Wren Wolfe
- Start date
User Banned (1 Week): dismissing concerns of anti-black racism
If they can't play the blues then can white people rap? Can they cook soul-food at home? What about wearing Cross Color jeans? I feel like if hairstyles are gonna be on a list of things white people can't do because their race didn't invent it, then that's gonna be one massive list.
Imma be honest, this sounds like some slippery slope goofin. No one is coming close to saying those.
You really probably should be asking these questions in a black space and not on the larger public of ResetEra. These conversations get really muddied it's filled with re-explaining things to everyone out of the loop with a big numerical poll attached to it that doesn't mean anything.
Also considering your stance OP and I apologize if this seems accusatory it kinda comes off as you just trying to find some easy "I agree with you!"'s.
Also considering your stance OP and I apologize if this seems accusatory it kinda comes off as you just trying to find some easy "I agree with you!"'s.
We"re already discussing a hairstyle with history in places like India. How is a musical style with arguably no other influence than black influence a slippery slope? I feel like there's more of a legitimate appropriation argument to be made about Blues and Rap than there is about dreads.
Well, are hairstyles the same as musical styles? Do they have the same history? The same place in a culture? Are people asking if white people shouldn't rap? Is there a discussion happening which is akin to the one on hairstyles? This is, like, the definition of a slippery slope, and if that doesn't sound like one to you, I'd like to hear an example which *would* meet your criteria for the definition. It this comes up for rapping or blues, then it can be addressed then. But it hasn't.
oh grow the fuck up...
No one here is saying anything like that and you know it.
Two. Ashkenazi Jews have similar hair. It's where the term Jewfro originates.
I can guarantee that there are white people who end up missing out on job opportunities due to wearing dreads. Maybe not at pot dispensaries.
it's wild that people claim this doesn't happen. guys, the reason you don't hear outraged stories about it is because dreads on white people are wildly understood to be a countercultural style and everyone expects that such looks won't be accepted in more buttoned-up environments.
That's my entire point. Why hairstyles? Out of all the things that white people have culturally appropriated, why is the spotlight on a hairstyle?
Well, that's beyond what I was addressing, which is that comparisons to other things was a slippery slope argument. Presumably, there are specific reasons which others are articulating in this thread, which wouldn't be the case with other things.
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Yup, I got turned down for a couple of jobs because of my dreads. Even though they were perfectly clean and presentable, especially when tied back. And part of the reason is just like you say, they're an indicator of counter culture. And also...that specific counter culture wasn't always as clean and presentable.
And that seems to be different from black culture. There dreadlocks seem to be unacceptable simply because they are part and expression of black culture. I have seen a lot of black people, perfectly dressed with perfectly maintained and clean dreads who look completely professional. Like the dude a couple of pages back.
Anyway, since they were me being non-conformist it gave me plenty of reason to rage against the machine, thinking they should've hired me anyway. So that still worked out.
Not only there Ásatrú is getting very popular all over Scandinavia and Europe for a while now and there where always people following this faith it never left. I went to a Julfest ritual last year in the Netherlands (funny enough some people there wore dreads...) i'm not a believer but it was very interesting.
Viking and Folk metal in general is pretty huge which obviously plays a big role in getting people interested in Ásatrú and other forms of Neuheidentum (what we call it here in Germany https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanisches_Neuheidentum).
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Chris Barnes head looks like a matted weasel so definitely
I mean the cultural aspect probably depends on more than just he hair, right?
If you got a dude with dreads and a viking beard, he's not appropriating (well, maybe he is, but who cares).
If you got a Raz Trent lookin' mother fucker walking around with dreads, then eh maybe don't do that?
Hair is just hair, it's all the other stuff that counts.
If you got a dude with dreads and a viking beard, he's not appropriating (well, maybe he is, but who cares).
If you got a Raz Trent lookin' mother fucker walking around with dreads, then eh maybe don't do that?
Hair is just hair, it's all the other stuff that counts.
Yep along with parts of the bible.
Dreadlocks are a natural fit with their belief of living as naturally as possible.
Then when they populaised the style others adopted it for similar reasons. Most notably hippy types. Maybe because of an old colleague but I associate dreadlocks as much with the type of people that go to the solstices at stone henge and Glastonbury as I do Rastafarians.
Modern druid, pagan, wicca etc can argue their ancestors had similar hair, especially the Celts but that's all arguable, records aren't great and often from Romans.
Hair, religion and spirituality have a long history.
Yeah. Vikings are super cool. I dont know if people do it because of that, in saying that its not some unbelievable argument to me.
I think it's wonderful if other people do that. I understand cultural appropriation, but I prefer to think about it on a case by case basis.
For example, there is this huge annual afro-festival in a town nearby. There, they play "African" music, which I personally think to be a hellarious term considering the size of the continent.
This festival also seems to be the gathering of the middle- to upper-class housewives who come dressed up like someone who thinks you can look up a photo collage of Tansania, Nigeria, Ghana, Eritrea and let's say some Tuareg People and then combine those fashions into one big African goofball thingy and look appropriate. Many a person there sports dreads.
I personally think it's very endearing because it comes from a place of respect and love and longing, even if they might be a bit misguided.
Please also consider that I am very white and also a poor commenter on such matters because I have never actually stepped foot on the African continent myself.
Let's say someone puts on a dreadlock wig and paints their face and goes to a dress up party, there you'll have me intervening.
For example, there is this huge annual afro-festival in a town nearby. There, they play "African" music, which I personally think to be a hellarious term considering the size of the continent.
This festival also seems to be the gathering of the middle- to upper-class housewives who come dressed up like someone who thinks you can look up a photo collage of Tansania, Nigeria, Ghana, Eritrea and let's say some Tuareg People and then combine those fashions into one big African goofball thingy and look appropriate. Many a person there sports dreads.
I personally think it's very endearing because it comes from a place of respect and love and longing, even if they might be a bit misguided.
Please also consider that I am very white and also a poor commenter on such matters because I have never actually stepped foot on the African continent myself.
Let's say someone puts on a dreadlock wig and paints their face and goes to a dress up party, there you'll have me intervening.
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Is it ok to grow your own hair long and turn it into dreads?
better check on the internet to see if it's ok first.
better check on the internet to see if it's ok first.
absolutely valid point but that being said i don't think i've ever seen a white guy with dreads that had a job.
Pretty sure it is ok for anyone to have have dreads, never realized it was an issue.
I've only run across a few white women with nice looking dreads though. Evidently it take a lot of work to keep them from fusing into a hair blob mass on white people.
I've only run across a few white women with nice looking dreads though. Evidently it take a lot of work to keep them from fusing into a hair blob mass on white people.
In the Netherlands? Awesome. Where was it held? Maybe I can go next year
This too! Our hair is only starting to become somewhat accepted in the work place
Man I've even seen a Black employer try to get an intern to cut his dreads, for what lol. AntiBlackness runs deep.
Well duh, they've been stereotyped in this very thread =D As filthy and whatnot.
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I feel questions like this are merely a distraction from the real issues. If all people had the feeling they were treated like equals and had the same opportunities then nobody would give a rat's ass about hair or cultural appropriation in general. It would simply be an exchange of inspiration. But we all know this isn't the case.
Anyway, do with your hair as you like.
Anyway, do with your hair as you like.
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I honestly can't fathom why the fuck anyone would give a shit about other people's hair. It's fucking hair! JFC!
If people don't mind having a hairstyle that clearly doesn't suit them, that's their fucking business.
If people don't mind having a hairstyle that clearly doesn't suit them, that's their fucking business.
As I white guy who thinks you should be able to have dreads to express yourself, I obviously think this goes for black people as well. Especially if it is such a big part of your culture. And all I can say is that it sucks that happens so much. And even that feels like some sort of faux wokeness. So, yeah, absolutely, talk about that. It just feels like I have absolutely nothing of use to contribute to that conversation. Doesn't feel like my place.
Just to reiterate what I said earlier,
What they want:
What they're gonna get:
I actually prefer the look of the second picture. So maybe the first picture is what you would want, and the second picture is what the girl on the second picture wanted.
Mind you I was raised in the 80's metal and 90's grunge scene, so what is attractive to me is obviously different, but to reiterate my point earlier you don't have to like their hairstyle, they have to like their hairstyle, and other people don't liking it is definitely a plus in many cases.
It's a weird situation. Dreads aren't a part of white culture (nor is hair really) so white people aren't going to walk into a work place with dreads. White hair is a change of clothes for white people, Black hair is more significant to Black people.
White society has been at war with Black hair the moment we got off the slave ships. Our hair signified different cultures and even within a culture group, hairstyles signified different rank, so our hair was warred upon as part of erasing our identities.
The workplace ban on dreads is anti-Black and is part of work culture with specifically Black people in mind. The 2 white people that walk into a job interview with dreads are collateral damage. It ain't just dreads, so many Black hairstyles are beefed with at work.
I'm a white guy and I have had natural dreadlocks for 10 years now. They were down way past my ass so I just cut 10 inches off and they're still down to my belly button. I don't do anything to them besides wash them, it's just how my hair grows. I like natural dreadlocks on white people, obviously, but I think "crochet locks" look fucking stupid. Overly neat, manicured dreads on white people just have such a dumb, fake look to them.
I'd say nah, unless you have ginger hair. Ginger can kinda rock dreads. Plus the gingers get all kinds of abuse as kids just for being ginger, so as adults they get to have an extra free pass to do what the fuck they like with their hair.
I married one too, but she doesn't have dreads.
I married one too, but she doesn't have dreads.
It was mostly a private gathering some dutch asatru friends of mine organized. I'm not asatru myself, more like a history geek especially for old norse and germanic history. I know from my friends there are some active groups in the Netherlands doing open Julfest gatherings and such every year but i don't really know much more about the scene there sorry.
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As someone who had locks, I don't mind seeing a white person with locks. As a matter of fact, I just saw co-worker with locks last week.
My thing is that it never comes out looking good on white people unless they take care of it and use extensions.
Side note: don't know how other people, who have locks, feal about the use of the term "dreads" or "dreadslocks".
My thing is that it never comes out looking good on white people unless they take care of it and use extensions.
Side note: don't know how other people, who have locks, feal about the use of the term "dreads" or "dreadslocks".
Of course it depends.
If I see a white guy put on dreadlocks who half the time says stupid racist things. But likes Kendrick Lamar or something...sorry mate. You're an idiot. The dreads make you look dumber.
Likewise if I see a black person who pretends they aren't black, dislikes anything that is associated (or purportedly so) with black or African culture and the community *cough* Candace Owens* *cough*. I'm gonna assume you're straight hair and and posh dress is you... being an idiot too.
And fyi I don't differentiate between idiots and racists.
If I see a white guy put on dreadlocks who half the time says stupid racist things. But likes Kendrick Lamar or something...sorry mate. You're an idiot. The dreads make you look dumber.
Likewise if I see a black person who pretends they aren't black, dislikes anything that is associated (or purportedly so) with black or African culture and the community *cough* Candace Owens* *cough*. I'm gonna assume you're straight hair and and posh dress is you... being an idiot too.
And fyi I don't differentiate between idiots and racists.
1% is hardly 'thriving'. The increase seen lately is largely driven by recent push for cultural preservation of elements associated with paganism. The majority of members are almost assuredly atheist, it is more an cultural organization than it is a religious one. Christianity plays a major role in Icelandic culture still, we still have a state church despite fast tracking to a majority atheist nation, lol
I can only speak for Iceland; no there are not. There are specific events that are celebrated (i.e. Midsummer, Þorrablót), and Nordic countries refer to Christmas by its pre-Christianised name, Yule/Jul/Jól, but that's about it.
Unless you'd want to argue that farmers are living that lifestyle lol.
I wish sometimes we could have black Era only threads for things like this.
White people need to take into account how a piece of culture came to them (come on generally it isn't from vikings) and what effect they may have on it and its society wide perception just by engaging in it.
Ultimately the western world is not a cultural melting pot, it's often cultural grab bag of stuff white people like, all of mainstream culture bends around their whims. That's why the "sure, I love engaging in other cultures" comments by white people seem so naive to me, it ignores the harm that is done when minority culture is abstracted from its meaning and context by white people.
White people need to take into account how a piece of culture came to them (come on generally it isn't from vikings) and what effect they may have on it and its society wide perception just by engaging in it.
Ultimately the western world is not a cultural melting pot, it's often cultural grab bag of stuff white people like, all of mainstream culture bends around their whims. That's why the "sure, I love engaging in other cultures" comments by white people seem so naive to me, it ignores the harm that is done when minority culture is abstracted from its meaning and context by white people.
You're not wrong, but id bet a lot of money that poster wasn't thinking about Jews when they said they dislike afros