Dreadlocks, also known as dreads or locs, are a hairstyle made of rope-like strands of hair. Locs can form naturally in very curly or kinky hair, or they can be created with techniques like twisting, backcombing, or crochet.
Etymology An older name for dreadlocks was elflocks, from the notion that elves had twisted the locks in people's sleep.
In their 2014 book Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America, Ayana Byrd and Lori Tharps claimed that the name dredlocs originated in the time of the slave trade: when transported Africans disembarked from the slave ships after spending months confined in unhygienic conditions, whites would report that their undressed and matted kinky hair was "dreadful". According to them, it is due to these circumstances that many people wearing the style today drop the a in dreadlock to avoid negative implications. Other origins have been proposed. Some authors trace the term to the Mau Mau, a group from British colonialists in 1959 as a reference to their dreadful hair.
The word locs refers to locks of entangled hair.
Several languages have names for these locks:
Jaṭā In Sanskrit. Ndiagne and Ndjan in Wolof. Mpesempese in Akan. Dada in Yoruba. Ezenwa and Elena in Igbo. Goscha in Hamer. Mhotsi in Shona. Mĩndĩga and Matenjagwo in Gĩkũyũ Nontombi in Nyaneka. Rastas in Spanish.
History
Africa According to Sherrow in Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History, locs date back to ancient times in various cultures. In ancient Egypt, Egyptians wore locked hairstyles and wigs appeared on bas-reliefs, statuary and other artifacts. Mummified remains of Egyptians with locked wigs have also been recovered from archaeological sites.Egyptian Museum -"Return of the Mummy. Toronto Life – 2002." Retrieved 01–26–2007. According to Maria Delongoria, braided hair has been worn by people in the Sahara desert since 3000 BCE. Dreadlocks were also worn by followers of Abrahamic religions. For example Ethiopian Coptic Bahatowie priests adopted dreadlocks as a hairstyle before the fifth century CE (400 or 500 CE). Locking hair was practiced by some ethnic groups in East, Central, West and Southern Africa.
Europe
The earliest known possible depictions of locs in Europe date back as far as 1600–1500 BCE in the Minoan Civilization, centered in Crete (now part of Greece). Frescoes discovered on the Aegean island of Thera (modern Santorini, Greece) portray individuals with long braided hair or long dreadlocks. Another source describes the hair of the boys in the Akrotiri Boxer Fresco as long tresses, not dreadlocks. Tresses of hair are defined by Collins Dictionary as braided hair, braided plaits, or long loose curls of hair. In Poland, dreadlocks are part of Polish tradition, also known as Polish plait.
Mesoamerica Pre-Columbian Aztec priests were described in Aztec codices (including the Durán Codex, the Codex Tudela and the Codex Mendoza) as wearing their hair untouched, allowing it to grow long and matted.Berdán, Frances F. and Rieff Anawalt, Patricia (1997). The Essential Codex Mendoza. London, England: University of California Press. pp 149. Bernal Diaz del Castillo records: There were priests with long robes of black cloth... The hair of these priests was very long and so matted that it could not be separated or disentangled, and most of them had their ears scarified, and their hair was clotted with blood.
19th century In Senegal, the Baye Fall, followers of the Mouride movement, a Sufi movement of Islam founded in 1887 CE by Shaykh Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke, are famous for growing dreadlocks and wearing multi-colored gowns.
Cheikh Ibra Fall, founder of the Baye Fall school of the Mouride Brotherhood, popularized the style by adding a mystic touch to it. This sect of Islam in Senegal, where Muslims wear ndjan (dreadlocks), aimed to Africanize Islam. Dreadlocks to this group of Islamic followers symbolize their religious orientation. Jamaican Rastas also reside in Senegal and have settled in areas near Baye Fall communities. Baye Fall and Jamaican Rastas have similar cultural beliefs regarding dreadlocks. Both groups wear knitted caps to cover their locs and wear locs for religious and spiritual purposes. Male members of the Baye Fall religion wear locs to detach from mainstream Western ideals.
20th century into present day In the 1970s, Americans and Britons attended reggae concerts and were exposed to various aspects of Jamaican culture, including dreadlocks. Hippies related to the Rastafarian idea of rejecting capitalism and colonialism, symbolized by the name "Babylon". Rastafarians rejected Babylon in several ways, including by wearing their hair naturally in locs to defy Western standards of beauty. The 1960s was the height of the civil rights movement in the U.S., and some White Americans joined Black people in the fight against inequality and segregation and were inspired by Black culture. As a result some White people joined the Rastafarian movement. Dreadlocks were not a common hairstyle in the United States but by the 1970s some White Americans were inspired by reggae music, the Rastafarian movement and African-American hair culture and started wearing dreadlocks. According to authors Bronner and Dell Clark, the clothing styles worn by hippies in the 1960s and 1970s were copied from African-American culture. The word hippie comes from the African-American slang word hip. African-American dress and hairstyles such as braids (often decorated with beads), dreadlocks, and language were copied by hippies and developed into a new countercultural movement used by hippies.
Starting in the 1950s hundreds of Jamaicans and other Caribbean people immigrated to the metropolitan centers of London, Birmingham, Paris and Amsterdam. Communities of Jamaicans, Caribbeans and Rastas emerged in these areas. Thus Europeans in these metropolitan cities were introduced to Black cultures from the Caribbean and Rastafarian practices and were inspired by Caribbean culture, leading some of them to adopt Black hair culture, music and religion. However the strongest influence of Rastafari religion is among Europe's Black population.
When reggae music, which espoused Rastafarian ideals, gained popularity and mainstream acceptance in the 1970s, thanks to Bob Marley's music and cultural influence, dreadlocks (often called "dreads") became a notable fashion statement worldwide and have been worn by prominent authors, actors, athletes and rappers. Rastafari influenced its members worldwide to embrace dreadlocks. Black Rastas lock their hair to embrace their African heritage and accept African features as beautiful, such as dark skin tones, Afro-textured hair, and African facial features.
Hip-hop and rap artists such as Lauryn Hill, Lil Wayne, T-Pain, Snoop Dogg, J-Cole, Wiz Khalifa, Chief Keef, Lil Jon, and other artists wear dreadlocks, which further popularized the hairstyle in the 1990s, early 2000s and present day. Dreadlocks are a part of hip-hop fashion and reflect Black cultural music of liberation and identity. Many rappers and Afrobeat artists in Uganda wear locs, such as Navio, Delivad Julio, Fik Fameica, Vyper Ranking, Byaxy, Liam Voice, and other artists. From reggae music to hip-hop, rap, and Afrobeat, Black artists in the African diaspora wear locs to display their Black identity and culture.
Youth in Kenya who are fans of rap and hip-hop music, and Kenyan rappers and musicians, wear locs to connect to the history of the Mau Mau freedom fighters who wore locs as symbols of anti-colonialism, and to Bob Marley, who was a Rasta. Hip-hop and reggae fashion spread to Ghana and fused with traditional Ghanaian culture. Ghanaian musicians wear dreadlocks incorporating reggae symbols and hip-hop clothes mixed with traditional Ghanaian textiles, such as wearing Ghanaian headwraps to hold their locs. Ghanaian women wear locs as a symbol of African beauty. The beauty industry in Ghana believe locs are a traditional African hair practice and market hair care products to promote natural African hairstyles such as afros and locs. The previous generations of Black artists have inspired younger contemporary Black actresses to lock their hair, such as Chloe Bailey, Halle Bailey, and R&B and Pop music singer Willow Smith. More Black actors in Hollywood are choosing to lock their hair to embrace their Black heritage.
Although more Black women in Hollywood and the beauty and music industries are wearing locs, there has never been a Black Miss America winner with locs, possibly because the hairstyle has not been popular with many conservative standards of beauty. For example, model Adesuwa Aighewi locked her hair and was told she might not receive any casting calls because of her dreadlocks. Some Black women in modeling agencies are forced to straighten their hair. However, more Black women are resisting and choosing to wear Black hairstyles such as afros and dreadlocks in fashion shows and beauty pageants. For example, in 2007 Miss Universe Jamaica and Rastafarian, Zahra Redwood, was the first Black woman to break the barrier on a world pageant stage when she wore locs, paving the way and influencing other Black women to wear locs in beauty pageants. In 2015, Miss Jamaica World Sanneta Myrie was the first contestant to wear locs to the Miss World Pageant. In 2018, Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers of Britain was crowned Miss Universe wearing her locs and became the first Black British woman to win the competition with natural locs.
By culture
Locks have been worn for various reasons in many cultures and ethnic groups around the world throughout history. Their use has also been raised in debates about cultural appropriation.
Africa
The practice of wearing braids and dreadlocks in Africa can be traced back to 3,000 BC in the Sahara Desert. It has been commonly thought that other cultures influenced the dreadlock tradition in Africa. The Kikuyu and Somali wear braided and locked hairstyles. Warriors among the Fulani, Wolof, and Serer in Mauritania, and Mandinka in Mali were known for centuries to have worn cornrows when young and dreadlocks when old.
In West Africa, the water spirit Mami Wata is said to have long locked hair. Mami Wata's spiritual powers of fertility and healing come from her dreadlocks. West African spiritual priests called Dada wear dreadlocks to venerate Mami Wata in her honor as spiritual consecrations. Some Ethiopian Christian monks and Bahatowie priests of the Ethiopian Coptic Church lock their hair for religious purposes. In Yorubaland, Aladura church prophets called woolii mat their hair into locs and wear long blue, red, white, or purple garments with caps and carry iron rods used as a staff. Prophets lock their hair in accordance with the Nazarene vow in the Christian bible. This is not to be confused with the Rastafari religion that was started in the 1930s. The Aladura church was founded in 1925 and syncretizes indigenous Yoruba beliefs about dreadlocks with Christianity. Moses Orimolade Tunolase was the founder of the first African Pentecostal movement started in 1925 in Nigeria. Tunolase wore dreadlocks and members of his church wear dreadlocks in his honor and for spiritual protection.