
By Miranda Rodriguez
You’ve seen those “afro wigs” in Party City, right? And the media advertising lip-plumping products and procedures? Sadly, examples of cultural appropriations like this are all around us and ignorant people’s money keeps them alive! Women of color, specifically black women, appear as the targets for these trends in the beauty industry. People “borrow” fashion styles, trends, or iconography which disregards their sacredness and inflates derogatory stereotypes. Most commonly, dreadlocks are worn by people not of African descent. Historically, dreadlocks originated from the Hindu God Shiva and other ancient civilizations for spiritual reasons. They became associated with Jamaica during the 1930s Rastafari Movement whose leader preached Black empowerment. Dreadlocks were introduced to pop culture by Bob Marley and Whoopi Goldberg (Gabbara). This hairstyle is a controversial issue because when worn by black people they are seen as unprofessional but when white models or celebrities have them they are praised.
