locs or dreads or dreadlocks

locs or dreads or dreadlocks

locs

locs seems to be the term preferred by the salon dreads set especially amongst african americans and appears to come from a need to disassociate locs from their dreadful cousins dreadlocks or dreads. ve seen many sites advocating using only the term locs because dreadlocks are not dreadful. these are mostly african american salon sites that twist away alk features that make dreads dreads so the locs look super manicured and "perfected"

dreads

dreads may seem like the shortened term for dreadlocks and often is interchangeable , often used with exactly the same meaning, however close observation can reveal that those who use dreads almost exclusively and never or rarely dreadlocks or locks tend to use it as a "hip" term. ofcourse many are not aware of this tendency so it is often the same as using dreadlocks so the distinction is nearly meaningless.

dreadlocks

dreadlocks is the term used by rastas and others who embrace the dreadlocks journey it is a term misunderstood and salons (some not all) like to demean (some go as far as to change it to shitlocks) there is an urban legend that the term came from the queen of england visiting jamaica and saying the rastas looked dreadful, however the rastas believe the term refer to living in dread of the judgment of the most high therefore the dreadlocks are a reminder to live a pure and worthy life. In a way wearing of dreadlocks could relate to he christians wearing of a cross as a necklace both in that they are symbols that remi d the wearer to live a life of goodness and avoid the evils =of the world, but also an image that can be viewed as both positive and negative ie: what image could be more gory and dreadful then a man bloody and dying nailed to a cross yet cristians look to that as a symbol of hope. in much the same way letting ones hair go into a state of neglkect to form dreadlocks that may be viewed as dreadful to some to the dreadlocks wearrer they are a symbol of hope as well.

conclusions:

• locs seem to be ashamed of the dread connotations while still wanting to take part in the cultural pride it seems at least to me to be very much a black pride image without wanting any association with "dreadlocks" at all
• dreads is often the term used by the younger generation or the hip crowd and the heavy metal rockers and such that has a more "cool" connotation.
• dreadlocks or just locks (locks is the term most used in the bible to refer to dreadlocks) has always been thre traditional term at least amonst most cultures especially english speaking cultures

other terms exist in other cultures like elf locks love locks (i forget the term sadhus use)

disclaimer, these are just observations and opinions not necessarily facts and are being posted here just to show that there is nothing dreadful or shameful about the dreadlocks term . i maybe completely ignorant of the origin of the term locs but since it shows as a typo i assume it is indeed a made up term to disasociate manicured locks from the horible dreadful cousin..dreadlocks that we love so much

comments? opinions? insults? haha

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
updated by @soaring-eagle: 01/13/15 09:07:06PM

I guess I'm guilty of using all terms, sometimes I just feel in a "loc" mood, other times I'm too lazy to type out "dreadlocks" and just uses "dreads" but whenever I'm being "educational" or "proper" I always use dreadlocks. Hmm I must think a bit when I use the words to see exactly when and in what context I use each and for what particular reason.

well dreads and dreadlkocks and even sometimes locks are virtualy indistinguishable but sometimes seems to be a very subtle difference in how its used

tho locs i often see on some sitres being used instread and making it seem like dreadlocks is a shameful word you never should use and i strongly disagree with that

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

This could be because of my age but I refer to my hair as locked or as locs because that is what I have been taught to call them.

For me, dreadlocks refer specifically to those that follow the teaching of Rastafari and live their lives according to those beliefs. I am not a Rasta nor do I pretend to be so the word "dreadlocks" is not one I choose to call my own. I understand that to many people there is no difference between "dreadlocks" or "locks" and people are free to call their hair whatever they like because it's their hair.

Labels of any kind are always a slippery slope because you ultimately cannot control other people's biases. I think referring to dreadlocked hair as "locks" started up in the early 90's when Black Americans and Black Europeans started to embrace the look. There was a very political push back from Rastafarians who felt insulted that non-rastas were co-opting their language without practicing their religion. So the term "locks" was created in an attempt to stay P.C. it was later adopted by the cosmetic industry as a marketing tool as are most things in America.

My mother cutely refers to my hair as "Reggae-style" or simply "Reggae" despite my many efforts to get her to call them something else.

To SE:

Sadhus refer to their hair as "jatta" I think.

I think you're right, SE. I don't use 'locs' so much. Usually dreads (for the same reason as Shanxon) or dreadlocks. I always thought that the 'dread' part was because of the Rastafari understanding of fear or awe for the most high, but I wasn't sure, so thank you for making that clear to me.

'Hair ropes' - love it!

My 3 year old daughter calls them "dweads". I don't really like the term dreadlocks even if I use it from time to time because that is what most people use. I don't like the term because of it's religious ties and I really don't like religion. I was looking for a term that I can use and I found that knotty locks works for me. I just can't find a French term yet...

thats funny cause my most common typo is drewads i dunno why that damn w always likes to get in the middle of things

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

That makes it sound like 'Druids.' Maybe they had dreadlocks, too. Just a theory. lol.

These are the same observations I have come to as well Soaring Eagle. I definitely think of salon locs when that spelling is used. So that is why I use the words locks,or dreadlocks to describe my hair.