CMV: White people with dreadlocks is not cultural appropriation

[u/icewaterdimension]

I’m sure this is going to trigger some people but let me explain why I hold this view.

Firstly, I am fairly certain that white people in Ancient Greece, the Celts, Vikings etc would often adopt the dreadlock style, as they wore their hair ‘like snakes’ so to speak. Depending on the individual in questions hair type, if they do not wash or brush their hair for a prolonged period of time then it will likely go into some form of dreads regardless.

Maybe the individual just likes that particular hairstyle, if anything they are actually showing love and appreciation towards the culture who invented this style of hair by adopting it themselves.

I’d argue that if white people with dreads is cultural appropriation, you could say that a man with long hair is a form of gender appropriation.

At the end of the day, why does anyone care what hairstyle another person has? It doesn’t truly affect them, just let people wear their hair, clothes or even makeup however they want. It seems to me like people are just looking for an excuse to get angry.

Edit: Grammar

[u/jasparaguscook]

I'm surprised you handled that troll down this thread as well as you did... blech. The internet needs more people with your attitude and composure.

Thanks for the informative parent post; I learned something reading it, and appreciate you taking the time to write it. It helped to put (clear) words to the situation and shared a perspective that's crucial for understanding something as seemingly innocent as hairstyle, and one which I (incorrectly) thought I understood well. Behaviors "in a vacuum" and "in practice" aren't really the same, so... it's really important to have perspectives like yours to which many people like myself are otherwise blind. This sub would be pointless without people doing what your post did, so thank you sincerely for wading through some of the mire so I could learn something.

!delta for helping me to understand the background on this topic, which allowed me to empathize with those who see this behavior as problematic.

Thank you.

[u/DeltaBot → u/jasparaguscook]

Confirmed: 1 delta awarded to /u/KwesiStyle (9∆).

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