African Coiled Hair is the Most Effective Helmet on Earth and Why I Like Dreadlocks on White People
by Sabrina Dawkins
Hair is supposed to be like a helmet to protect your head. When I had permed hair, I felt cold air and wind on my scalp. The straightened hair could not be an effective helmet. Cold wind easy moved it around, revealing my naked scalp. Now that I have my naturally tightly coiled hair, my scalp is never cold or hot. I never think about having to wear a hat. And even when it rains, the rain just rolls off my tightly coiled hair, never reaching my scalp. My head is effectively protected.
I remember over 10 years ago walking into a grocery store and seeing a black male I’d gone to high school with. In high school I had a relaxer; my hair remained short and broke off frequently—an uneven bob that didn’t even reach the bottom of my neck. But when he saw me, I had an afro. I had cut the chemicalized hair out and had a little afro about the size of a male’s short afro at that point. I didn’t ask for his opinion, but he told me he liked my hair when it was “silky.” He preferred the perm.
Now that my hair is much longer and doesn’t look like a boy cut, it is natural-texture hair length suitable for a female, I think if he saw me he would be more accepting of it. But that doesn’t detract from the fact that he said nothing about the length of my hair—his complaint was about its texture.
We have been taught that African hair—the most effective helmet on earth—is inferior, that tightly coiled hair is “ugly.” We have been taught that hair that grows continuously is the healthiest and is growing ideally. But if hair is meant to be a helmet, hair that never stops growing can become a problem. I saw a YouTube video of a woman who claimed the Guinness World Record for the world’s longest dreadlocks. Asha Mandela is called the Black Rapunzel. Imagine carrying around hair that weighs 40 pounds. Imagine having to wash it! Imagine never being able to just wear your hair out because it drags on the ground. Imagine the back and neck pain. This is not a practical helmet. A feasible helmet would not only tightly coil to protect the head from the elements but would know when to stop growing. In 2013 Asha Mandela’s hair measured 55 feet long. It seems that maintaining so much hair would be like a full-time job and more of a cost than a benefit.
I like seeing dreadlocks on white people, and I just figured out why: The locs make their hair an effective shield. The tangling of their straight hair provides a buffer, an added thickness that can protect their scalps from harsh weather as the locs or dreads scrunch and bunch and shrink to provide more cushion—a simulation of coiling. Locks also increase the amount of hairs, which adds to the thickness because instead of naturally shedding, the average 50 to 100 head hairs lost per day lock into the dreadlocks. And even straight hair will lock up naturally if not combed. So the natural tangling of straight hair is like a natural correction for protection, like a deep tanning of light skin when exposed to the sun.
Sources
[Barcroft TV]. (2018, November 15). World’s Longest Dreadlocks Reach 110 FEET | HOOKED ON THE LOOK [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AJZMo6FB9k
Do You Have Hair Loss or Hair Shedding? Retrieved December 17, 2019, from https://www.aad.org/hair-shedding
[Jaymie and Josh]. (2017, July 2). 5 Pros & Cons Of Dreadlocks | What!? What!? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yslQY1UE1tI
Mintz, Z. (2013, August 19). World’s Longest Dreadlocks: Asha Mandela, ‘Black Rapunzel,’ Will Never Cut Her 55-Foot-Long Locks [PHOTOS]. Retrieved December 17, 2019, from https://www.ibtimes.com/worlds-longest-dreadlocks-asha-mandela-black-rapunzel-will-never-cut-her-55-foot-long-locks-photos
Oz, M. How many hairs do I lose a day? Retrieved December 17, 2019, from https://www.sharecare.com/health/healthy-hair-and-scalp/hair-loss-daily
Rankin, S. (2013, August 22). There’s A Real-Life Rapunzel, & She’s Fascinating. Retrieved December 17, 2019, from https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2013/08/52077/world-s-longest-dreadlocks
[soaring eagle]. (2012, January 16). dreadlocks the free easy way to dreads [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zryuH3bOWLI
[soaring eagle]. (2012, July 10). dreads 22 years natural dreadlocks neglect freeform journey no backcomb palm rolling wax or crochet [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZLu0WIDUMM
Williams, A. Dreadlocks and Locs: What’s the Difference? Retrieved December 18, 2019, from https://blacknaps.org/dreadlocks-and-locs/