Cultural appropriation: dreadlocks on Whites (drugs, marijuana, stereotypes, money)
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I just have to laugh... I currently live in a NC coastal town in the Outer Banks. All the young surfers (mostly White) who make a living however they can (movers, bussing tables at restaurants, etc.) wear dreads. And many of them are blonde. It's a lifestyle choice, not related to racial identity.
She loves her locks but acknowledges they come with baggage. Relatives initially worried they might jeopardize job prospects; a professor advised her to straighten her hair if she wanted to make it in broadcast journalism.
There have been times when reactions to her hair have made her feel unsafe. Strangers occasionally approach her for drugs. A homeless man once called her a "dirty-haired *****" for not giving him money.
She wonders whether white people with dreadlocks go through the same things.
Yes. In fact, there are "acceptable" and "unacceptable" hairstyles for white people as well. That seemingly intelligent people cannot grasp the lack of white news anchors with dread locks, or the fact that a white person with dreads will likely be similarly stereotyped for (at least) marijuana use BOGGLES.THE.MIND.
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Originally Posted by Article
"Hairstyles are not innocuous," she said. "There are gendered and racialized connotations and stereotypes attached to them."
She does not wish to "police" locks or discourage anyone from wearing them. She would ask, though, that they consider the context.
The article posits no real indication that dreadlocks as used in America or popularized by Rastafarians is sacred or that even black people who are not Jamaican or Rastafarian are paying homage to the cultural aspects of the hairstyle.
Key word in CULTURAL appropriate is CULTURE. What American "cultural appropriation police" do is conflate RACE with culture. It supposes that because you are of a certain skin color, you are not allowed to wear certain fashions.... EVEN THOUGH African Americans (the primary complainers of this phenomena) are basically appropriating contemporary dreads fashion themselves.
Neither Ancient Egypt nor Jamaica is an African American's culture. Neither is eastern African Swahili, which lends its language to "African American" appropriated celebrations like Kwanzaa. And yet.... nobody cares! Why? Because why WOULD you care?
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Originally Posted by Article
"If you're going to take on something that does have sacred and historic significance and an unequal history of power dynamics it's important to honor that history," she said. "Be an ally by knowing your stuff and being respectful and acknowledging where it comes from."
Word salad nonsense.
How does one accomplish this when just living their day to day life? Wear a sign or T-shirt at all times that says, "Yes I am wearing dreads and I acknowledge the historic significance and unequal history of power dynamics and I choose to honor and recognize that history as I walk down the street today?"
IMO, "dreads" look awful no matter who they are on. I just don't like them.
But, if YOU want to fix your hair that way, go for it. It is, after all, YOUR hair! Put it in "dreads" or cut it all off, I don't care. Since I do not live with you, whether I like it or not actually has no importance whatsoever!
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