“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 when someone close to you clearly has an issue with your locs?
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 sever close relationships because the tension and 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: Personally, I would NOT advise 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 person know how important this is to you.
Now don’t get me wrong, in most cases you do NOT need to explain anything to anyone nor gain their approval. 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 to possibly dispel any misconceptions and/or hang-ups they may have.
Show them photos of the versatility and how beautiful locs are. If need be, come to a viable compromise, such as getting really thin locs as opposed to really thick ones. Whatever might make the transition a little smoother for your partner.
But in the end, the decision is ultimately yours to make as to how you will handle the situation.
Blessings & Warmest Regards,