Beauty, Dreads, and the Journey
General Talk
It's a funny the ideals and expectations that are instilled in us from a very young age, that in some cases we don't even know are within us until we are faced with the situation.
I have 3 boys, 2 (who can speak) have told me they like my hair. My middle child, especially, loves my hair. He will tell me how pretty my hair is (I've been dreading for 5 months) and this alights in me a furious passion tobrush out my hair. I imagine this feeling is instilled in me by my American media-centered culture, which has a very fictional idea of beauty, what it is and how to attain it.
I have been conflicted as of late whether or not I want to continue on my dread lock journey. Its a battle for me, between what I've been taught all my life, and what I truly believe. I did not think that being called pretty, especially by my child, would ever make me want to change myself. Yet here I am, considering changing a part of myself that I am happy with because my child thinks I'm pretty; and I feel as though I need to live up to my own socially acceptable idea of beauty, which funnily enough is not whathe thinks is pretty.My husband has discouraged me from brushing them out, and I feel like even if I did take the time to brush them out I would be back in this situation again because truly, I love my baby dreads. This doesn't stop the war that is being waged in me, but I suppose this is all part of the journey.
updated by @mandallyn: 01/13/15 09:40:58PM