Dread Thread (The Hair, not Despair!)

[MsAnthropy_Indefatigably]

Thanks to a previous thread regarding Facial Hair, I decided to 1-up that thread and start this one! lol

I have dreads--a rather mysterious and misunderstood trademark hairstyle of the Carribbean region--that I thought, amongst what I would consider my random semi-like-minded peers, maybe I would take a moment to dispell ANY AND ALL myths people have about dreads...

To broaden that scope, let's include African American hair in general.

I think the problem is that many non-blacks feel that this information is too sensitive to ask about and maybe it's even been holding you back from knowing someone with whom you are acquainted.
Maybe you wondered how dreads are formed or if people with dreads wash their hair....Maybe I'm full of it and think way too much of myself to believe others think of me in any questionable way...I'm not a sensitive person, but please--let's leave any un-constructive or derogatory phrases out of this

Thanks!

 

[Cognisant]

The only people I've met with dreads were white.

Well dark tan white with bleached straw hair, surfers.

 

[MsAnthropy_Indefatigably]

The only people I've met with dreads were white.

Well dark tan white with bleached straw hair, surfers.

Even more interesting.... I have only seen them in passing...you'd think I had at least one friend with dreads... smh

 

[Fukyo]

Do you wash and maintain your hair normally?

Do they ever get messy?

Do they stick under your head when you're laying down?

 

[MsAnthropy_Indefatigably]

Do you wash and maintain your hair normally?

Do they ever get messy?

Do they stick under your head when you're laying down?

1. My dreads, I wash every other week. In terms of African American hair, this is consistent with normal washing (some wash more often). Any more frequent and the "natural oils" will strip my hair and make it dry and brittle. Once it's washed I wrap it in a towel to suck any excess moisture out of it and then I twist each of the 77 (Yes, I've counted them, I'm INTP! lol) dreads I have with a protein gel found in any hair aisle.
2. They only get messy at the roots where they are not "locked" yet because as with all humans, my hair is always growing, so every wash, there's always new growth that must be twisted. Sometimes if I'm really lazy and wash it, but don't twist it, it's very puffy at the roots and doesn't look as neat or orderly. I usually strive to keep them neat.
3. Yes? ... I think...?
They used to be very long and they would, but I've cut about 12-15 inches off since then and no longer have that issue. When you say "stuck under my head" what do you mean?

 

[Pizzabeak]

I used to have dreads but I cut them off. Why did you make a thread about your dreads and not post a pic? I don't get it.

 

[Fukyo]

3. Yes? ... I think...?
They used to be very long and they would, but I've cut about 12-15 inches off since then and no longer have that issue. When you say "stuck under my head" what do you mean?

I meant the feeling of them pressing against your head. I couldn't tolerate it even when I wore temporary braids.

 

[MsAnthropy_Indefatigably]

I used to have dreads but I cut them off. Why did you make a thread about your dreads and not post a pic? I don't get it.

Well because the emphasis was not about my dreads in particular--even though I can only answer questions regarding how I treat my own--it was just about dreads in general.
....also I can't figure out how to attach pics to my posts... why do I need a URL??

 

[MsAnthropy_Indefatigably]

I meant the feeling of them pressing against your head. I couldn't tolerate it even when I wore temporary braids.

Oh! No not at all. Just feels like hair... but I've had these for about 12 years now so I don't remember what "regular" hair feels like against my head, I suppose... I don't even notice they're there unless I have them pony-tailed high atop my head or if they're soaking wet, which makes them weigh a lot more.

I remember having temporary braids in the past... dreads feel nothing like those--at least mines don't, but I could put someone's eye out if I whip my head around too quick.

 

[BigApplePi]

Dreadlocks are not all that uncommon here in NYC. The last person I saw may have been two weeks ago, I think male. My very first encounter was in Jamaica. I was in contact with someone whom I brought over to the house I was renting (probably drugs). Apparently dreadlocks then had some strong political significance because the proprietress of the house looked very much askance at him (I forget but she probably was black) and didn't want him around. This was decades ago. For a long while afterward I wondered what the significance was but never asked anyone.

Have you mentioned when you decided to activate this hairstyle in the first place?

 

[tepellian]

....also I can't figure out how to attach pics to my posts... why do I need a URL??

The forum needs a source to get them from. Off the top of my head, the solution would be to post your picture somewhere and tag the direct link to it here. Haven't noticed whether or not you can upload pictures to the forum.

Dreads fill me with drea.... no, never mind. I get why someone might have it done if they have hair that sucks to take care of and they're lazy.

Why do you have dreads?

 

[MsAnthropy_Indefatigably]

Dreadlocks are not all that uncommon here in NYC. The last person I saw may have been two weeks ago, I think male. My very first encounter was in Jamaica. I was in contact with someone whom I brought over to the house I was renting (probably drugs). Apparently dreadlocks then had some strong political significance because the proprietress of the house looked very much askance at him (I forget but she probably was black) and didn't want him around. This was decades ago. For a long while afterward I wondered what the significance was but never asked anyone.

Have you mentioned when you decided to activate this hairstyle in the first place?

Yes, they did seem to signify a negative quality in earlier years of their inception (dreads, not my dreads in particular). This is where my own mother's disdain with dreads comes from.

When I graduated High School, I did not have any inclination to continue straightening my hair the way my mother forced me to. She always believed women's hair should be straightened if too "nappy" and maintained as such. She never really accepted being of "African" decent. When I was 20, I did have fake dreads sewn in to my natural hair for some time and enjoyed the look and went for it full time a few months later. The funny thing is my mother didn't even realize they were dreads for months. She thought it was some temporary style. She cried and begged for me to reconsider, saying I may never find a man "looking like that"; that only outcasts had dreads when she was growing up....That's when I knew I made the right choice.

 

[MsAnthropy_Indefatigably]

The forum needs a source to get them from. Off the top of my head, the solution would be to post your picture somewhere and tag the direct link to it here. Haven't noticed whether or not you can upload pictures to the forum.

Dreads fill me with drea.... no, never mind. I get why someone might have it done if they have hair that sucks to take care of and they're lazy.

Why do you have dreads?

The simple answer is I'm lazy and defiant. I don't enjoy getting my hair done or relaxing my hair (straightening). It is nice once in a while but in the between time, it was hard to deal with and time-consuming. I always liked dreads and their low maintenance. Once I figured out how to maintain them myself I also NEVER had to step foot in a beauty salon again! I hate salons. I find my locks very versatile and enigmatic to a degree.

 

[EditorOne]

"She always believed women's hair should be straightened if too "nappy" and maintained as such."

There was a time, back in the 40s and 50s, when some black people flattened their hair by a process called marcelling. I mean, black men, too. Then in the 60s that was considered politically incorrect by a great many blacks, who let their hair grow out naturally and produced a different look that became stylish and really bloomed in the 70s and 80s, and the grandmoms and grandpops didn't much like it. Dreadlocks and cornrows are both pretty old things and didn't both take on political significance at times, then simply become an alternative form of hairstyle?

I'm now seeing black people with marcelled hair again. And lots of people of all cultural congruencies and incongruencies shaving their heads.

I'm tempted to say none of it means anything except to the person adopting whatever style they want because they are comfortable with the way they look. It almost has to be that way; who would keep a mohawk in green and purple if they didn't just plain like it?

Meanwhile I'm not receiving any political signals from any of it any more. It's just how people want to look. I require banners and posters with slogans, and perhaps an occasional button with a message, to receive political signals these days. Absent that, I assume you're just another schmoe making it through another day along with the rest of us, however you look.

 

[MsAnthropy_Indefatigably]

I also should mention my mother was born in 1950, in Jamaica which, in terms of progressiveness, had to have been 2 decades behind America to a degree, only being made independent in that same time. PLUS she's ISFJ! Tradition is in her backbone...So she really had to adjust to my choices.

 

[Cavallier]

I have seen some very handsome black men and beautiful black women with long well kept dreds that made me want them really badly. The people and the dreds. But I guess I've always been to lazy to get them done. Also, I worry that as a very pale red head I might look a tad silly.


Did you let them dred naturally over time or did you get them dreded?

Edit: I have another question as well. I sometimes see black men and women with gorgeous fros such as this young lady:

Spoiler

Is this a particularly hard look to maintain? I was under the impression that doing your hair in this manner would be easier than trying to keep it straight all the time.

 

[MsAnthropy_Indefatigably]

I have seen some very handsome black men and beautiful black women with long well kept dreds that made me want them really badly. The people and the dreds. But I guess I've always been to lazy to get them done. Also, I worry that as a very pale red head I might look a tad silly.


Did you let them dred naturally over time or did you get them dreded?

Edit: I have another question as well. I sometimes see black men and women with gorgeous fros such as this young lady:

Spoiler

Is this a particularly hard look to maintain? I was under the impression that doing your hair in this manner would be easier than trying to keep it straight all the time.

1. I started my locks at a beauty salon in my neighborhood which I initially thought were started too small (or thin) but they sort of gained some girth over time. By the 3rd or 4th grooming appointment, I had the technique down pat and saved the $90 every month I had to spend there. I took care of it from then on.

2. If that's her natural hair, then other than some picking and layering, it would be possible. If it was processed, it could be any variation of extensions, blow drying, and other processing, etc. The problem is that most of the time it's the latter, and it's tedious and time-consuming especially in a beauty salon setting. But some women love that stuff (being pampered and gossiped with) so more power to them. I prefer to stay as "wake-n-ready" as possible.

 

[Cavallier]

Beauty salons. I'd rather die in a fire.

 

[MsAnthropy_Indefatigably]

Amen!

 

[Lydia]

I do not know much of dread hairs. Though I know for a fact it is lots of work to be taking care of. E.g. Curly strands on normal hair is quite a lot of work to keep in place and being careful with (Knots).

I like the idea that curly/dreaded/wavyness keeps the hair looking thick. though.

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

Thanks to a previous thread regarding Facial Hair, I decided to 1-up that thread and start this one! lol

Bah humbug.

(Dreads are pretty awesome btw. Reminds me of 4 non blondes

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NXnxTNIWkc&ob=av2e

).

 

[Melllvar]

Also never saw this as a rare thing, lots of people I've known plus random strangers I'd see. Mostly runs in certain social circles around here. Go to any drum circle at the park and there'll be 20 people with dreadlocks participating or just hanging out.

I can remember a few ridiculously attractive girls who had dreadlocks, too - one might be high in the running for, in the words of the Comedian, "One of the all time champion beauties." Not that I care about fashion much (at all) but they can be pretty awesome. I totally wish I could get something cool going on like a Gandalf beard or dreadlocks or an afro, but it wouldn't really fit me + too much work. I'm a minimalist.

 

[MsAnthropy_Indefatigably]

@Melllvar I think that would greatly depend on your hair texture whether dreads are a simple hair style to manage or a lot of work. For me, it didn't take much once they "locked" (became irreversibly knotted), I don't have natural hair that can be manageable with no form of processing--mine just happens to be a less chemical process.

 

[MsAnthropy_Indefatigably]

Bah humbug.

(Dreads are pretty awesome btw. Reminds me of 4 non blondes

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NXnxTNIWkc&ob=av2e

).

Thanks for visiting the thread!

 

[Pizzabeak]

I dunno, I just use

 

[Paranoid Android]

Well, I love dreads, especially neglect ones. I can't imagine myself with well-structured and knotted dreads, so maybe I'll give up combing and let my hair growing in strange ways. I love those free-grown dreads, with the different shapes. You don't have to take care of them, only wash your hair once a week, or when you need to. It's really practical, and looks amazing.

 

[Smooch]

What made you decide to get dreads?

Edit: nvm, I see it's already been answered. >.>

Also, I agree with EditorOne about any particular hairstyles not being a political statement anymore.

So I assume you are Jamaican?

 

[Orja]

My friend has had dreads for as long as I've known him (about 10 years) and every time I see him, he has fewer and fewer. They are like falling off. I don't want to ask him about it because it seems akin to saying, "I've noticed that you have new pimples". They've never been more than shoulder-length and never more than thumb-thick, but he seems to have only about 5 left and he always wears a fedora out in public now. Do you have any idea why?

 

[MsAnthropy_Indefatigably]

What made you decide to get dreads?

Edit: nvm, I see it's already been answered. >.>

Also, I agree with EditorOne about any particular hairstyles not being a political statement anymore.

So I assume you are Jamaican?

I wasn't born there. My parents were. But my father hasn't been back since he was a kid and my mother is totally against my having dreads, so it's nothing to do with me being Jamaican as to why I have them.

 

[MsAnthropy_Indefatigably]

My friend has had dreads for as long as I've known him (about 10 years) and every time I see him, he has fewer and fewer. They are like falling off. I don't want to ask him about it because it seems akin to saying, "I've noticed that you have new pimples". They've never been more than shoulder-length and never more than thumb-thick, but he seems to have only about 5 left and he always wears a fedora out in public now. Do you have any idea why?

Hard to say, he could just not be taking care of them, or, he doesn't believe in active upkeep and when they're not twisted consistently, the roots will get weak because the locks become heavier with no reinforcement from the roots. He could also just be getting older and losing hair in addition to the above? In any case, he apparently really wants to hold on to them in their natural state (as @Paranoid Android pointed out being an admirer of).