this is the only international forum I take part in, so I’m sorry to bother you with my question…
How are dreadlocks accepted in your country? What do people think about them? What do you - as a folk musician - think about them?
I know that not everyone likes them, and some of you won’t like them as well, so please keep polite and fair.
Thanks!
Gabriel
PS: Just in case you don’t know what dreadlocks are: click here. And note that dreadlocks can vary widely - some people only have three blobs on their head, others more than 150 streaks.
Well, unless somebody has really blond hair, which looks kind of odd to me. But I figure if wearing your hair a certain way makes you happy, go for it. I mean, it’s just hair after all.
They’re relatively common around here. I don’t have an opinion about them one way or another. I don’t like the way they look, myself (I prefer cornrows, to be honest) but it’s not my hair.
There are probably more conservative areas of the country, though, where they wouldn’t go over as well. Santa Cruz is very liberal…it’s quite common to see hair in all kinds of crazy colors, in dreads, in rows, spiked up in a mohawk, shaved clean off and replaced by tattoos…you name it. When we lived in NC, people stared at me for wearing my hair in a buzz cut (I’m a woman, and that’s just not done much in the South). So it really kind of depends on where you are in the U.S.
It seems as though it is an accepted hair style. I would mostly be around people who have been in a lot of other places and they wouldn’t really comment on anyone’s appearance. There probably are people who find them strange and would make comments, but I don’t seem to come those people. I guess I’d say they have been seen in this country long enough and are common enough that they don’t seem to really be noticed particularly. On the other hand, I don’t know anyone who has that hairstyle so it is more common among people I don’t seem to run into very often. Not sure what to make of that. But I hack off my own hair with a scissors as best I can so I don’t really feel I can make fashion judgements about other people’s hair . I’m not a muscian, so from that angle I can’t comment.
I, too, have no problems at all with them, but -
and this is just my opinion -
on someone who is very fair, and who has evidently straight hair, they tend to “look” like dirty, ratted hair, and not real pleasant. On someone who has curly hair, and who keeps them out of their face, they look fine.
My husband’s hair is at least 6 inches longer then mine. But he always wears it back in a pony tail.
A person in my neighboring county was arrested on suspicion of marihuana possession for wearing dreadlocks, as the police insisted dressing like a Rastafarian was credible reason.
I like 'em, but they’ve got to be a pain to comb through.
Seriously, The way a person wants to wear their hair doesn’t bother me in the least, actually, I like seeing the effects some hair styles have on the features of their wearers… that, and I am a tad envious too.
I like them if they’re neat, or at least as neat as dreads can be, which means semi-uniform dreaded sections. Many different sizes and shapes looks too unkempt.
To address the general question of acceptance in the U.S., I’d say society here accepts a wide variety of personal styles in its artists and musicians, but don’t apply for a corporate job looking like that.
It is very common in South Florida to see people wearing dreadlocks. There are many Carribbean island people living here who do it culturally and not as a fad or fashion. Typically, they came from places that have no running water and have not modified their lifestyles to suit American living. They are not offended by extreme body odor.
This is not to say that collectively everyone who wears ‘dreads’ has a stench, but it’s really difficult to spot the difference between someone who slept on a bed of cardboard under a bridge and someone who runs a successful import/export company and drives a BMW!
. I’m not a muscian, so from that angle I can’t comment.
