“Why in the world would you DO that to your hair?”

“That doesn’t ‘fit’ you”

“All that pretty hair…what a waste!”

“Your hair used to be so pretty”

Believe it or not, all of those are statements I have heard from people, in one form or another, when I decided to lock my hair as well as my daughters’ hair. It can be very disheartening when people make such comments and even more so, when the remarks are coming from people you love – family members, close friends, a spouse or lover.

So what do you do…how do you handle it?

A lot of people end up not getting the locs at all. Others decide to totally overlook the negativity of others and do what is in their hearts. But some have actually gone as far as to get divorced and sever close relationships over it because the tension and the arguing got to be too much due to how strongly each party involved feels about their position.

What’s my advice?

It really all depends. It depends on the level of your relationship with the individual(s) involved for example:  I personally would NOT advise divorcing or even allowing major friction between you and your spouse over a hair style.

I would, however, present as much information as possible and really let the spouse know how important this is to you. The same goes for any other close loved ones who show disdain for your locked hair.

Now don’t get me wrong, in most cases you do NOT need to explain anything to anyone nor gain their approval. I mean, as much as I love and respect my mother in-law, when she and some of my other in-laws expressed disapproval for me locking my hair and ESPECIALLY my childrens’ hair, I did not try reasoning with them. I simply continued on with it and eventually the comments stopped…at least in my presence.

But there will always be those with opposing views and usually it is due to ignorance about locked hair and the locking process in general. Education played a huge factor in my husband changing HIS mind about locking my daughter’s hair and ultimately, he ended up getting locs himself!

In closing…

Your relationship with the opposing person will determine your reaction as well as your action. Again, if the opposing person is a spouse/partner, simply share how much your choice to lock means to you as well as information to inform them and possibly clear up and dispel any misconceptions and/or hang-ups they may have. But in the end, the decision is ultimately yours to make as to how you will handle the situation.

If you are the recipient of negativity towards locking your hair OR if you are the one inflicting the negativity on someone else but want to have a better understanding of locs and locking, sign up or invite someone else to sign up for my Free Dreadlock Myths Exposed Course where many common myths and misconceptions are addressed.

Ever wondered how to combine your locks?

Had trouble getting the ends to stay together when attempting to combine your dreadlocks?

Watch this video to see how I did it very simply and easily!