This is one of the few things I’ll call bs on in arguments of cultural appropriation, considering there’s historical evidence of celts and vikings with dreads. As long as Zac isn’t of the opinion that dreads only look good on white people, then who cares?
hey! sorry, but you’re mistaken.
White celts and vikings never had dreads. I know that’s a common myth, and you’ve likely heard it told as true. Let me explain.
Hair comes in 4 types: straight, wavy, curly, and coily (also called kinky). hair which is wavy, curly, or coily is separated into sub groups (a, b, and c) based on how wide the curve of a lock of hair is.
Dreadlocks are a way of styling coily, curly, and sometimes wavy hair. The natural curve of the hair “locks” together into tight ringlets. Because they are not tangled, just twisted together, they can be washed, styled, and undone.
When straight hair is styled as “dreadlocks,” or when wavy hair is styled incorrectly, what is actually happening is that the hair is allowed to tangle together and become a mat. It must go long periods of time unwashed and unbrushed before it can reach this point. These cannot be untangled, and have to be cut off if you don’t want them anymore. Because they’re matted, rather than twisted, they are dense and can’t be properly washed. They will retain moisture and sometimes even mold, and become hazardous to the wearer’s health.
see how the hair here coils around itself? these dreadlocks are clean and shiny, and the hair is healthy.
this hair is matted. you can see where the hair in dreads is damaged, and it is tangled rather than curling together.
Now, there were nonwhite vikings and celts, and they may have brought dreadlocks and similar styles in from their own heritage and culture. But vikings were known for their intense preoccupation with hygene and likely would never forsake bathing and brushing for unwieldy and unhealthy mats. Celts were known to sometimes have mats or even plaits, large un-salvageable tangles of damaged hair resulting from not cleaning themselves. Often cited for the celts-with-dreads myth is Romans saying they had “hair like snakes,” which they considered to be uncleanly and barbaric. The Romans had contact with Black cultures, they likely knew what dreadlocks looked like, and recognized their value as a long-term, clean hairstyle.
Cut to the present, where it matters. White people, like zac efron, are celebrated for their “edgy” hairstyles while Black people with dreads are fired, or threatened with firing unless they change their hair. I have seen white people with mats working where a Black person was fired for dreads.
I’m white, and can’t speak for the Black experience. But we need to learn to respect and understand when Black people tell us that what we’re doing is wrong, and we need to change our actions and our thought processes.
For further evidence, look at what the Celts called such mats: “elflocks.” They believed that if you were gross and unhygienic, an elf would sneak into your bed at night and create this elflock to let you know they thought you were disgusting. This is hardly a good thing, since it was basically a “kick me” sign to other elves. Some interpretations of the myth say that once you have one, you let it get even bigger and more gross so that the elves and malicious spirits would just plain avoid you because you were so disgusting. Probably because everyone was avoiding you because of your infected, moldy, stinky hair.
Point is, stop pissing off elves with your gross, dirty, white people “locks.”
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