Are you about to cut your locs? Is your dreadlock journey coming to an end? Before you make that big chop, here are 3 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Cut Your Locs:
Having A Bad Day?
Making a big decision like that because you had a bad day ( got fired, a break-up, etc.) is going to haunt you. You’re instantly going to regret it once you finally calm down and come to your senses.
If you really want to cut your hair I’d bet my last dollar that you would’ve already been thinking about it for quite sometime before the big day.
Take some time to cool down and ask yourself if you are really ready cut your hair. If your answer is still yes, then do what you have to do.
Getting A Job, Keeping A Job.
Even in more multicultural workplace environments, eurocentric standards of professionalism are rooted in the dress code polices of many companies, especially in America. Having natty dreads in a corporate environment can significantly affect employment or promotion opportunities, just look at the Chastity Jones story:
“The case revolves around Chastity Jones, an Alabama woman who was offered a job as a customer service representative at a call center in Mobile in 2010. During the interview, Jones wore her hair in short, natural locs and was dressed in a business suit and pumps. An HR manager later told Jones that dreadlocks violated the company’s grooming policy because they “tend to get messy.” She told Jones she couldn’t wear her hair that way at work, and when Jones refused to cut her locs, the job offer was rescinded.” – vox.com
So your suspicions about prejudice in the workplace against your own natural hair is understandable. However, this should not make you say, “I have to cut or tame my locs to get a good job…”.
The way I see it, you need a source of income. A job is only one way to achieve this goal. If you are someone that is committed to their loc journey and are unwilling to comply to the oftentimes racially insensitive dress code policies then you should consider entrepreneurship.
Decide that you no longer want your primary source of income to be in the hands of a company that views you in your natural state as “unprofessional”, or make the corporate world accept your natural locs by being so good at what you do that it would hurt the company more to not hire you then to overlook the dress code policy.
Cutting your locs should not be the solution to securing a source of income.
Family & Friends
If someone in your life really loves you they will accept you for who you are, this is especially true for family and friends. You should not have to sacrifice your natural essence to satisfy anyone’s marginalized perception of you. In other words, don’t cut your locs just because someone you are close to recommends or suggests that you would be better off without locs. That’s a decision you need to make by yourself, for yourself. You have to live with your decision, so make sure you will be satisfied with it.
A perfect example of this is found in the recently released ‘Nappily Ever After‘. The movie is not about dreadlocks, but you’ll see how family and friends affect a natural hair journey.
