Locs, dreads, dreadlocks what are we even calling them these days and does it even matter? Not really I guess, but what does matter is the lack of inclusion they seem to have with the whole natural hair movement. They are an outsider, an on-looker if you will to the movement and the participants that are screaming at the tops of their lungs about how much they love their natural hair.
Dreadlocks are natural, right? Sure they are but where’s the love for them? Heck, even as I write this post there is a red squiggly line alerting me that it must be misspelled or an incorrect word. Oh well I guess I’ll save it to my word list smh
Many believe the origin of dreadlocks come from the Rastafarians of Jamaica but they can be found even further to Indian sages and yogis. There are known examples of dreadlocks dating back to North Africa and in ancient Egypt. They get their name from Jamaican tradition because people with the ‘natty’ locs were feared and ‘dreaded’ and they were Judeo-Christians of the Caribbean Islands who wore dreads as part of their religious existence.
They were introduced into pop culture by the ever revered Bob Marley. Bob tied his music to his love of God and the messages got muddled and became a symbol of pop culture that was fashionable and so began the popularity of dreadlocks in mainstream culture.
Dreadlocks have a long history despite their very recent fashionable allure. Men and women have been wearing locs for years and no matter what style may have erupted during the past 30 years one could bet on seeing someone, somewhere rocking locs.
Can you go to a reggae festival and not see half the participants without locs regardless of race? This means that locs were popular prior to the natural hair movement but despite their impact on our culture they seem to be sitting by in the shadows of the natural hair movement?
The Natural hair movement is self-sustaining now but it started off slow with a somewhat steady pace less than ten years ago. It probably hit a real level of significance around 2010 after the movie by Chris Rock called Black Hair. Black women are embracing and celebrating their natural tresses and as we see natural hair grace fashion magazines, the runways, celebrities and on billboards.
What we do not see too much are looks that involve locs, they haven’t quite seemed to make it to the mainstream in comparison to loose natural hair, locs seemed more like the red-headed step-child of the fashion industry.
Coretta says
Sabrina,
It saddens my soul to see that not a single user of this site (I know for sure have locs) did not comment on this article. It proves the lack of love for locs. I use this site as a guide to take care of my scalp. In fact, I wrote to this site about the lack of information on locs. There is endless information on natural hair, relaxed hair, and even ways to get temporary locs but no information on locs at all just pictures. The response was that not many people have locs or ask for information about locs when I wrote this site. I guess all in all its just a thicker piece of hair and you can treat it as such is the thinking the respondent thought when replying to my inquiry. There are users of this site that would love some information such as products, diy regiments, and remedies for people with locs. I enjoyed reading your article and wish to see more like it. Thank you
Artra Veal says
I love the locs. Thought about locking my natural hair.
Cb Sampson says
they are beautiful and natural i just like them neat however
Cee Cee Hye says
Natural hair movement? what do they like? except for making stupid rules?
Loving Locs says
I really like this article and I agree with Coretta! There really isn’t a lot of information on locs as there is to natural hair. I plan on transitioning to locs by next year and I’m trying to get all the info I need! Youtube has helped a lot but yeah I definitely think that this site needs more loc info.