A while ago I made a rave in which I talked about how much I love my locs. I STILL love them. I remember also having information about locs in that post.
But something has been bothering me as of late. WHY are locs automatically assumed to be a darn trend?!! I understand they're more popular now, but just because they're popular doesn't mean everyone who has them is just trying to be 'trendy'. Ugh, I HATE that. Right, like the ONLY reason ANYONE would have locs is because they saw famous people with them. SO not true. Some people have had locs for YEARS. WAY before many people even knew they existed.
It bothers me when I hear about people having to deal with ignorant BS just because they have locs. People not getting hired, or losing work. Kids being sent away from school or just plain harrassed. WTF?!! It's just stupid to me. It seems anytime a way of wearing hair is thought of as 'ethnic' it becomes a problem, especially if it's associated with black people (YEAH, I SAID IT, and don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about). Right, because black people's hair is just SOOOO militant. OH! Better watch out or the hair will shoot or stab somebody!! It's angry hair, you know. But how come no one thinks of burning the hair with heat and chemicals as a trend? People risk serious injury trying to have straight hair they were NEVER meant to have and even harm CHILDREN. Why aren't those 'faux-hawks' or whatever they're called considered a trend? They ARE, and were started by people who were too scared to wear a REAL mohawk but still liked the look. The highlights and coloring aren't 'trendy'? People breathe in fumes and chemicals for the sake of having lighter hair. What about all the darn fake hair I keep seeing? People walking around looking like poodles or something out of 'The Lion King' isn't 'trendy'? That's NOT all their hair!! The semi-big-hair thing HAS to be a trend, especially when those weird Bump-It things are sold. I thought the 80s were OVER, so why are so many females wanting to walk around looking like coneheads now? That spikey thing guys do with their hair? You guessed it. ANOTHER TREND. Same with using gel. Yet when it comes to locs, it's a 'trend' and a 'problem'. It's just BS to me. Locs aren't the problem, people's ISSUES and OPINIONS are what's wrong.
My hair is NOT a frickin' trend, and I think it's rude to claim anyone else's is, as people wear their hair for different reasons and it's TOTALLY ignorant and dismissive to write someone off as just following a trend. I plan to have these beautiful locs for LIFE. I didn't grow them because other people did. I didn't grow them because some famous person did. My locs are not for 'fashion'. They are my way of celebrating and embracing my natural, beautiful hair, especially after the rest of the world seems hell-bent on 'proving' how 'inferior/ugly/bad' it is, or anything else negative. I love them, my locs. They are a part of me. Even if I were to cut them off and wear a TWA (teeny weeny afro) I'd just grow them back. But oh! I forgot. I guess a TWA is considered 'trendy' too (Black females with short hair? The HORROR! They're supposed to have long hair to make up for not fitting a standard put in place to degrade and dehumanize them). Who the heck are these morons who sit up 'deciding' what is and isn't 'trendy'? If locs are trendy then guess what? SO IS EVERY OTHER WAY PEOPLE WEAR THEIR HAIR. You name it, it's a darn 'trend' because SOMEBODY wore it first and other people liked it. EVEN LONG AND SHORT HAIR CAN BE CONSIDERED 'TRENDY'. Locs have a very rich and diverse history, and to just call dismiss them as a trend is ignoring the history of them (and NO, their history does NOT begin in Jamaica with the Rastafarians, although Rastas DID do much for them).
'Trend' my butt, and don't EVEN get me started on the 'trends' that don't even have to do with hair!!
.......And people need to quit asking loc wearers what we're going to do with our hair or how long we plan to keep our locs! It's OUR hair on OUR heads and isn't bothering anyone but insecure idiots. The skin color of the wearer doesn't matter. Don't like locs? Fine. Not everyone does. THEN DON'T LOOK AT THEM. I GUARANTEE everyone at some point has worn THEIR hair in a way that got them negative looks and remarks.
Ugh, fatheads, I swear!!
** If you think I'm making a big deal out of nothing, imagine how annoyed YOU'D be if you were always assumed to be following a trend, like you can't think for yourself or have a mind of your own.