Man, that's a shame. For awhile I was beginning to get pulled in there.
Indeed, something about the mix of disliking dreadlocks and afros altogether has a certain flavor to it.
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Are dreads on white people okay?
- Thread starter Wren Wolfe
- Start date
The important part is whether or not white people with dreads face tangible repercussions for wearing dreads, which they don't. They get some side eye or a snide comment, but that's generally the extent of it. Personally, I've never seen a white person with dreads face the same kind of criticism as a black person with dreads(which is a situation that I have witnessed take place). Obviously, this is all anecdotal, but hair discrimination is a visible and well known issue for black folks, and not so much white folks.
If the person finds the other person having it insensitive, then it in their moral responsibility to get rid of it.
Those same people probably think Jamaica is filled with rastas, which is very far from the truth. Weed isn't even legal lol, it's a bit frustrating whenever Jamaica gets mentioned it's either ussian bolt or weed a lot of the time lmao.
I think a lot of people, when they talk about 'why can't white people do 'X' just because black people created it' or whatever, miss the sourness of seeing X become in vogue with white people after black people got shit for it. Or they don't care that the sourness exists.
In this hypothetical situation, the white man with dreads wouldn't be around to criticize, because they would've been dismissed as a counter-cultural eccentric during the interview process (not to their face, unless the interviewer was stupid). A white man showing up with dreads to an interview at a "professional" company would be the visual equivalent of droning on about magical girl anime or LARPing as a level 16 elven wizard when asked about hobbies during said interview.
As an already established and valued employee, if I showed up to work in dreads, I don't know if I would be officially reprimanded, but people would start taking me less seriously. And I would probably unofficially be told to cut it out or else if I had a position where I had face-to-face interaction with clients (I don't).
The flavor is ignorant asshole. Nothing short of it.
This thread just boils down to be completely annoying as fuck simply due to the complete lack of context, understanding, and nuance that happens by default in predominantly white spaces like this one. It's just the entirely wrong group of people to have a discussion about this.
It always boils down to the corny ass "meritocracy" appeals and open opportunities to let the crowd know how much you "dislike" other cultural facets (but you dislikeee it for everyone so it's cool!)
Dreads have been adopted by all cultures all around the world in history but in our modern era, there is clearly a bias against them as they are envisioned as being part of a specific modern day culture (Can anyone guess what that is?)
"Who cares about hair?! Why can't people wear what they want!!?"
Yeah! Sure! I agree! So why the fuck do Black People get dragged for it endlessly and constantly harassed I mean fucking hell, we needed a goddamn US Law in order to stop discrimination for our damn hairstyles in the workplace (The CROWN Act for those who don't know)
So I don't know why trying to pretend this conversation is based on a meritocracy is anything close to an answer, robs the whole thing of context.
There are plenty of Black people who can tell you about times were they lost job opportunities because of their hair (I am one of them) and that's purely based out of ignorance and racism
"They aren't professional"
Who's setting the definition of professional? That's the racism talking. That's the ignorance talking. Because you're coming from a framing that locks are to be viewed as "unkept" or "dirty", not to mention being associative with "criminality". What many fail to realize is that locks also have levels of conditioning. If anything, it can be one of the most well maintained hairstyles simply due to the upkeep required to have them. I usually got retwists once a month and my hair constantly maintained a scent of mango citrus due to my conditioner I used.
This idea that locks in general come in form of knotty dread is just ignorant as fuck. Nothing much else to say, you based your entire worldview of dreads on the Rastaman with the fruit cart
When it comes to white people wearing dreads, do you, but definitely let's no pretend it isn't anything more than trying to be cute. Our hair naturally maintains dense curls, that's why we braid it, twist it, lock it. That's how we maintain our hair. We can literally sit down and fiddle with our hair and twist it and it will STAY in that twist without 0 product
A white person has to use sooo much product just to achieve that look, they literally HAVE to neglect their hair in some form to achieve that look. That's why is tend to be matted. The same is said when you look at East Asians who go for locks, they have to use sooooo much chemical to achieve it
You can find a lot of native people who wore this style like the Aboriginees and that's a testament to their hair texture more than trying to be chic.
White people with locks tends to get the eyeroll because of the overall white annoyance yall posses. It'll be the same white people who harbor antiblack sentiments and racist views but want to participate in selective parts of black culture. It's the same white people who see blacks with dreads and try to cross the street, or feel "unsafe", or automatically assume you're dumb. Same white people who see other whites with dreads and big em up for being so "cool" and "hip", put em on a magazine cover
Someone said it earlier that whites losing opportunities for their locks is just collateral damage and that was a damn good way to explain that. IMO it's an extension of a societal punishment for a white person to delve so deep into black culture to adopt one of our hairstyles.
Everyone talks about dreads belonging to everyone, but it's clear as day that a specific group of people wear that hair currently in our modern era (and get societally oppressed for it) so I really don't appreciate the blindingly white perspective of always trying to disassociate shit to avoid criticism or introspection. That shit is fake as fuck and nothing but ignorant.
If people really wanted to learn more, I highly recommend this book which gives a fascinating journey of Locks throughout the world and some really good history
but this thread mainly reads like most people are here to chat shit, I'm not surprised. Nobody wants to expand their cultural knowledge, just tell us about how you hate it so much. Reinforce my worldview of how y'all ain't shit lol 😂
I personally think it's a stylistically bad look and most often demonstrates a lack of self awareness and maturity. In the 90s I moved from the inner city to the suburbs at 14. I saw blonde dreadlocks on ICP fans in addition to white teens sporting FUBU. It's just kinda silly at that age, but it's plain pathetic when you're any older than 17.
My understanding is that you need the right type of hair for dreads otherwise it's just unnatural likely gross clumps of hair. It's like making other culture's food with the totally wrong ingredients and passing it off as the cultural dish itself. It's just not the same thing. I'm not familiar if there are different terms for how different types of hair dreads or doesn't dread so it seems likely other people call a lot of different things, dreads, and that can cause some obvious issues.
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The flavor is ignorant asshole. Nothing short of it.
This thread just boils down to be completely annoying as fuck simply due to the complete lack of context, understanding, and nuance that happens by default in predominantly white spaces like this one. It's just the entirely wrong group of people to have a discussion about this.
It always boils down to the corny ass "meritocracy" appeals and open opportunities to let the crowd know how much you "dislike" other cultural facets (but you dislikeee it for everyone so it's cool!)
Dreads have been adopted by all cultures all around the world in history but in our modern era, there is clearly a bias against them as they are envisioned as being part of a specific modern day culture (Can anyone guess what that is?)
"Who cares about hair?! Why can't people wear what they want!!?"
Yeah! Sure! I agree! So why the fuck do Black People get dragged for it endlessly and constantly harassed I mean fucking hell, we needed a goddamn US Law in order to stop discrimination for our damn hairstyles in the workplace (The CROWN Act for those who don't know)
So I don't know why trying to pretend this conversation is based on a meritocracy is anything close to an answer, robs the whole thing of context.
There are plenty of Black people who can tell you about times were they lost job opportunities because of their hair (I am one of them) and that's purely based out of ignorance and racism
"They aren't professional"
Who's setting the definition of professional? That's the racism talking. That's the ignorance talking. Because you're coming from a framing that locks are to be viewed as "unkept" or "dirty", not to mention being associative with "criminality". What many fail to realize is that locks also have levels of conditioning. If anything, it can be one of the most well maintained hairstyles simply due to the upkeep required to have them. I usually got retwists once a month and my hair constantly maintained a scent of mango citrus due to my conditioner I used.
This idea that locks in general come in form of knotty dread is just ignorant as fuck. Nothing much else to say, you based your entire worldview of dreads on the Rastaman with the fruit cart
When it comes to white people wearing dreads, do you, but definitely let's no pretend it isn't anything more than trying to be cute. Our hair naturally maintains dense curls, that's why we braid it, twist it, lock it. That's how we maintain our hair. We can literally sit down and fiddle with our hair and twist it and it will STAY in that twist without 0 product
A white person has to use sooo much product just to achieve that look, they literally HAVE to neglect their hair in some form to achieve that look. That's why is tend to be matted. The same is said when you look at East Asians who go for locks, they have to use sooooo much chemical to achieve it
You can find a lot of native people who wore this style like the Aboriginees and that's a testament to their hair texture more than trying to be chic.
White people with locks tends to get the eyeroll because of the overall white annoyance yall posses. It'll be the same white people who harbor antiblack sentiments and racist views but want to participate in selective parts of black culture. It's the same white people who see blacks with dreads and try to cross the street, or feel "unsafe", or automatically assume you're dumb. Same white people who see other whites with dreads and big em up for being so "cool" and "hip", put em on a magazine cover
Someone said it earlier that whites losing opportunities for their locks is just collateral damage and that was a damn good way to explain that. IMO it's an extension of a societal punishment for a white person to delve so deep into black culture to adopt one of our hairstyles.
Everyone talks about dreads belonging to everyone, but it's clear as day that a specific group of people wear that hair currently in our modern era (and get societally oppressed for it) so I really don't appreciate the blindingly white perspective of always trying to disassociate shit to avoid criticism or introspection. That shit is fake as fuck and nothing but ignorant.
If people really wanted to learn more, I highly recommend this book which gives a fascinating journey of Locks throughout the world and some really good history
but this thread mainly reads like most people are here to chat shit, I'm not surprised. Nobody wants to expand their cultural knowledge, just tell us about how you hate it so much. Reinforce my worldview of how y'all ain't shit lol 😂
100%
Everyone should read this read this post
The flavor is ignorant asshole. Nothing short of it.
This thread just boils down to be completely annoying as fuck simply due to the complete lack of context, understanding, and nuance that happens by default in predominantly white spaces like this one. It's just the entirely wrong group of people to have a discussion about this.
It always boils down to the corny ass "meritocracy" appeals and open opportunities to let the crowd know how much you "dislike" other cultural facets (but you dislikeee it for everyone so it's cool!)
Dreads have been adopted by all cultures all around the world in history but in our modern era, there is clearly a bias against them as they are envisioned as being part of a specific modern day culture (Can anyone guess what that is?)
"Who cares about hair?! Why can't people wear what they want!!?"
Yeah! Sure! I agree! So why the fuck do Black People get dragged for it endlessly and constantly harassed I mean fucking hell, we needed a goddamn US Law in order to stop discrimination for our damn hairstyles in the workplace (The CROWN Act for those who don't know)
So I don't know why trying to pretend this conversation is based on a meritocracy is anything close to an answer, robs the whole thing of context.
There are plenty of Black people who can tell you about times were they lost job opportunities because of their hair (I am one of them) and that's purely based out of ignorance and racism
"They aren't professional"
Who's setting the definition of professional? That's the racism talking. That's the ignorance talking. Because you're coming from a framing that locks are to be viewed as "unkept" or "dirty", not to mention being associative with "criminality". What many fail to realize is that locks also have levels of conditioning. If anything, it can be one of the most well maintained hairstyles simply due to the upkeep required to have them. I usually got retwists once a month and my hair constantly maintained a scent of mango citrus due to my conditioner I used.
This idea that locks in general come in form of knotty dread is just ignorant as fuck. Nothing much else to say, you based your entire worldview of dreads on the Rastaman with the fruit cart
When it comes to white people wearing dreads, do you, but definitely let's no pretend it isn't anything more than trying to be cute. Our hair naturally maintains dense curls, that's why we braid it, twist it, lock it. That's how we maintain our hair. We can literally sit down and fiddle with our hair and twist it and it will STAY in that twist without 0 product
A white person has to use sooo much product just to achieve that look, they literally HAVE to neglect their hair in some form to achieve that look. That's why is tend to be matted. The same is said when you look at East Asians who go for locks, they have to use sooooo much chemical to achieve it
You can find a lot of native people who wore this style like the Aboriginees and that's a testament to their hair texture more than trying to be chic.
White people with locks tends to get the eyeroll because of the overall white annoyance yall posses. It'll be the same white people who harbor antiblack sentiments and racist views but want to participate in selective parts of black culture. It's the same white people who see blacks with dreads and try to cross the street, or feel "unsafe", or automatically assume you're dumb. Same white people who see other whites with dreads and big em up for being so "cool" and "hip", put em on a magazine cover
Someone said it earlier that whites losing opportunities for their locks is just collateral damage and that was a damn good way to explain that. IMO it's an extension of a societal punishment for a white person to delve so deep into black culture to adopt one of our hairstyles.
Everyone talks about dreads belonging to everyone, but it's clear as day that a specific group of people wear that hair currently in our modern era (and get societally oppressed for it) so I really don't appreciate the blindingly white perspective of always trying to disassociate shit to avoid criticism or introspection. That shit is fake as fuck and nothing but ignorant.
If people really wanted to learn more, I highly recommend this book which gives a fascinating journey of Locks throughout the world and some really good history
but this thread mainly reads like most people are here to chat shit, I'm not surprised. Nobody wants to expand their cultural knowledge, just tell us about how you hate it so much. Reinforce my worldview of how y'all ain't shit lol 😂
Truth, particularly the last line., lol
Imagine the privilege to come in here and say 'Its just hair, I don't understand'
Yes, it absolutely is just hair. But lets not act like it's minorities that made this an issue so it hasn't been about 'just hair' for a long long time
Based on the perspective of another white person asking me (and not assuming authority) I'd say it's fine. It's not like it's anything close to easily commodifiable objects that have sacred meaning in certain cultures---like say a yarmulke or Native American headdress---because it involves a bunch of time and a physical change to your person.
Even if you are doing so because you really like reggae, drawing inspiration from other cultures is not necessarily a nefarious or harmful thing.
I'd say it crosses a line if you started affecting a Caribbean accent or tried to claim some kind of authority in those particular cultures.
Even if you are doing so because you really like reggae, drawing inspiration from other cultures is not necessarily a nefarious or harmful thing.
I'd say it crosses a line if you started affecting a Caribbean accent or tried to claim some kind of authority in those particular cultures.
There's a lot of weird sweeping generalizations in this thread. I'm sorry, but if the crux of your argument is using absolutes to support your statement ("dreads look terrible on 99.99% of white people"), you've already lost me. That's such a weak ass argument and way of getting your point across.
As a biracial white/black guy, I couldn't give a shit less what someone else decides to do with their body/hair, regardless of whether I think it looks good or not.
Furthermore, I understand being angry at a system that degrades black men and women for their hair. I'm not going to hold a white individual accountable who wants dreads who likely doesn't hold those same views.
As a biracial white/black guy, I couldn't give a shit less what someone else decides to do with their body/hair, regardless of whether I think it looks good or not.
Furthermore, I understand being angry at a system that degrades black men and women for their hair. I'm not going to hold a white individual accountable who wants dreads who likely doesn't hold those same views.
I don't really have an opinion that carries any weight when it comes to the question whether dreads are culturally okay for white people, but I'm not going to judge anyone when it comes to fashion choices, that nonsense pisses me off.
The whole "who can wear dreads" talk reminds me of a conversation I had with the guy who worked as a driver/guide at the place we visited in Tanzania. Black guy with dreads who told us that he really likes his (short) dreads but he usually hides them under a cap because he doesn't want to be judged. According to him, people in Tanzania automatically assume you're a drug dealer or other criminal if you have dreads.
Came totally unexpected, for some ignorant reason I assumed that stereotype wouldn't be common in a majority black country. Probably a racist assumption to make, in a way.
The whole "who can wear dreads" talk reminds me of a conversation I had with the guy who worked as a driver/guide at the place we visited in Tanzania. Black guy with dreads who told us that he really likes his (short) dreads but he usually hides them under a cap because he doesn't want to be judged. According to him, people in Tanzania automatically assume you're a drug dealer or other criminal if you have dreads.
Came totally unexpected, for some ignorant reason I assumed that stereotype wouldn't be common in a majority black country. Probably a racist assumption to make, in a way.
No argument from me. Wasn't trying to disagree with you. Just clarifying the 'fro point.
I used to care, but I just don't anymore. There's an important conversation to be had about how black culture and style and art is commodified and profited upon by non-black people, while the black creators of those products see zero return or recognition. But I now believe it's more productive to question "how can we ensure black people are profiting from the proliferation of their culture" rather than "should white people stop wearing dreads".
This. I was ready to say it absolutely is not okay from a looks standpoint, even independent of it not being okay culturally.
It bothers me as much as white people appropriating saging/smudging, which is to say, a lot. Don't do it.
I just don't get how anyone feels it's okay to talk shit about people's looks like that. Hairstyles/colours, makeup, clothes... why put people down this strongly?
What's saging/smudging?
This entire post is great, but...
This is very, very true. And some of the casual language used in this thread to talk about dreads -- neglect, messy, matted -- really makes it seem like we're talking about two completely different classes of hairstyle.
Because if you're Black and ever had dreads, or *cough* dated a Black person with dreads, you know that dreads are among the most time-consuming and precious styles to maintain. From the initial sectioning and the twisting. Shaping. Cleaning. Trimming. Re-twisting. Getting your scalp oiled. The process of maintaining a healthy head of dreads for most Black people who have them is almost ritualistic in practice. I could not look at a Black person with a meticulously kempt head of dreads and see anything other than a meticulous and kempt person (at least when it comes to their hair). It's the furthest thing from unprofessional or dirty. Literally the furthest thing.
And that's not to say that some Black people don't choose to adopt the chunkier. freestyle type of "hippie" dreads white people seem to more commonly associate with the look. Wearing them in different shapes and sizes. Dying them in multiple colors (which is a trend now). But Black people tend to be able to see the difference. White society rejects the idea that a difference exists.
This is very, very true. And some of the casual language used in this thread to talk about dreads -- neglect, messy, matted -- really makes it seem like we're talking about two completely different classes of hairstyle.
Because if you're Black and ever had dreads, or *cough* dated a Black person with dreads, you know that dreads are among the most time-consuming and precious styles to maintain. From the initial sectioning and the twisting. Shaping. Cleaning. Trimming. Re-twisting. Getting your scalp oiled. The process of maintaining a healthy head of dreads for most Black people who have them is almost ritualistic in practice. I could not look at a Black person with a meticulously kempt head of dreads and see anything other than a meticulous and kempt person (at least when it comes to their hair). It's the furthest thing from unprofessional or dirty. Literally the furthest thing.
And that's not to say that some Black people don't choose to adopt the chunkier. freestyle type of "hippie" dreads white people seem to more commonly associate with the look. Wearing them in different shapes and sizes. Dying them in multiple colors (which is a trend now). But Black people tend to be able to see the difference. White society rejects the idea that a difference exists.
I would rather just put energy into breaking the negative stigma surrounding the hairstyle, and the discrimination that breeds from it, than trying to shame Becky out of wrecking her hair for the better part of the year
I don't want to derail from this topic too much, but
It's what my friend does to cleanse her home of evil spirits! Which she learned from some Facebook group years ago and has never let go of. It was common for some Native American tribes to burn sage, amongst other things, for spiritual and ceremonial purposes, and there is quite a history to the practice that's rather interesting. I liked this quote I found from an article about it:
I probably shouldn't have brought it up in here and derailed, but I just got into a bit of an argument about this very topic last week when my friend moved into a new place and had to cleanse the apartment.
I probably shouldn't have brought it up in here and derailed, but I just got into a bit of an argument about this very topic last week when my friend moved into a new place and had to cleanse the apartment.
Yep. Pretty much all the dreads I come across daily are well kept and maintained. No smell, no signs of damage, no bugs (seriously, this is just straight apathy if it gets to that point). There are obviously methods and maintenance practices for keeping them in good condition, especially in work environments that allow them, which exacerbates just how charged the negative stereotypes are. I know at least in pop culture white people are seeing dreads on black people all the time now; do they really think we don't wash our hair????
They usually look terrible but hey, to each their own. I'm okay with people doing mostly whatever they want to their own hair.
I'm not going to speak for racist white people, because I'm sure plenty of them think that about black people with dreads, but the general perception of white people with dreads isn't "trying to be black," but "stoner hippie who hangs out at hostels and/or Burning Man." And that perception is combined with the fact that, as mentioned previously, many white people have to intentionally damage their hair to even achieve them, which probably doesn't help the perception of white dreads being ratty-looking.
It's like I mentioned with my post earlier in the thread, where I think the average corporate drone sees white job applications with dreads as weirdo non-conformists who won't make good fellow drones, rather than whatever negative stereotype they may have had about a black person wearing dreads. It's a separate set of negative perceptions.
I guess I don't understand why Rastafarians feel that way considering there is a lot of evidence that they didnt originate dreads, alot of that is influenced by indians who emigrated there.
Article that touches on some of the history of dreads: https://www.ebony.com/style/history-dreadlocks/
After all I've read in this thread I can't blame you. I had no clue exactly how important hair, and different hair styles can be to black people. And how white society actively suppresses that. Would you mind expanding on that a bit? (and that goes for anyone reading this) Like, what sort of work do you do where HR tells you 1 inch is too much? (if you want to give that information, of course). Do white coworkers get more leeway with their hairstyles? And I was gonna ask if other black hairstyles are allowed, but if you have to trim at 1 inch, there isn't exactly any room for something else...
And conversely, I did one day come back with horrible, horrible looking dreads (thankfully at first) from vacation. But that was stacking shelves. And my manager was amused, but after I asked he said he was okay with it. He was just a super chill dude, and though there was only one black guy there, I'd like to think he could get dreads to if he wanted. Of course, I can't be sure.
And the gym I work at now; one black instructor used to walk around with a huge afro, and another one with long dreadlocks. Both of which were completely fine. But again, not corporate, and a very mellow and accepting work environment. And this is also in the Netherlands. And though we definitely do have our share of racism here, I wouldn't know if it is similar in the way it suppresses black culture. Black people, definitely. Black culture, I can't say, honestly.
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Seems like a bit chicken and egg to me. There is a negative perception of dreadlocks that exist in white culture far more extensively than in black culture; whether that is due primarily to racism or primarily to the fact that the most common hair types that white people express don't take well to them (or both) does not mean that this sentiment doesn't also seep into the perception of dreadlocks on black people, and subsequently that it doesn't compound the issues we have in maintaining our hair in a society that is hostile to the very way it even grows out of our head. These things don't exist independently.
It's a corporate job. Hairstyles are a form of black pride and expression. You have to understand the history. 500 years of being told that the way our hair naturally grows looks bad or is untidy, let alone plaiting, braiding or doing our hair in dreads.
You literally as a black person cannot leave your house with the way your hair naturally grows out of your head. It must be cut or combed or straightened (if you're a woman but black men used to straighten their hair as well) or done in an acceptable hairstyle.
Why must you as a black person comb your hair? To get out the knots and give it the appearance of straightness, more akin to a white person's hair.
If you think I'm exaggerating, tell me if you've ever seen Obama without a haircut or without having his hair combed or Michelle Obama with a natural hairstyle. Two of the most powerful people on the planet and they still had conform to white standards of beauty.
The thing is, it's pushed a lot by the same black community that is oppressed by it because it's so ingrained into the psyche.
As a black person, I no longer leave my house with the way my hair naturally grows, for a simple reason, and it got nothing to do with "white standards". Black hair is fucking hard and time consuming to maintain, and I got no more time for this. I just shave it every week, 10 min tops and I'm sure I'm not the only guy thinking that way.
I agree with you on combing though, never did it, and I don't like the look anyway.
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White-passing metalhead guy here who used to have dreadlocks in my teens. In my defense, I was 15 and didn't know better - this was also at the time when ideas like cultural appropriation weren't the household concepts they are now. Basically unless you were a hippie wook, the whole idea was to try to look like your favorite metal singers because, you know, you were totally going to be like that singer but with your own band.
Walking around with dreads made me a target with nazi skinheads (normally operating in packs), and so half a year later I chopped them off. This was years before I learned that it was culturally ignorant to get them in the first place.
Walking around with dreads made me a target with nazi skinheads (normally operating in packs), and so half a year later I chopped them off. This was years before I learned that it was culturally ignorant to get them in the first place.
Thanks for the explanation and more info. And nah, I don't think you're exaggerating. (sorry, kind of having a shitty day, I don't really have more to add)
Yeah, this pretty much. When I think of white people with dreads I think of burners, Goa ravers, and people associated with the word "crust" in general. Not exactly the main demographic for office jobs.
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