Dreds and Jobs

I want dreds and have wanted them for a long time....but now I am in a position where I am looking for work, preferably in an office enviorment, and I'm afraid that if I dred my hair I wont get hired. People can be awfully judgemental......I hate that that's the way it is but.....that's the way it is. So I'm wondering what you dreddys do for work? If the dreds have caused any problems finding or keeping a job...............I find it ridiculous that I would even have to worry about having dreds and finding work.....people are so narrow minded sometimes.

 

Be Rastafari and sue them for religious descrimination. It's illegal.




Or if you don't want to be Rasta, you can still say it's part of your religious beliefs, if you believe the old idea that mental physical and spiritual energy exits through the head, and dreads keep it in. Either way, it's illegal to descriminate your beliefs, hence meaning, they can't turn you away because you have dreads.

 

That's true, but if I go on a job interview with dreds they dont have to say why they wont hire me....they just dont call back, or say "we found someone better suited to the position"....you know?

 

You can nail someone for doing that, it's usually obvious, and you can get them in huge shit for it.

 

Nah, I am just going for basic receptionist/data entry/recievables/payables type stuff.
Trust me, Im sure I wouldnt be able to proove discrimination even if I suspected it and to bother with any sort of law suit or anything would be waaaaay more trouble than it's worth, especially for the type of job I am going out for. There might be 50+ applicants for one job.....they dont even have to call me back if they dont feel like it.

 

I am a cook, so i can pretty much look like i want, but your still gonna get those places that turn you away, i live in a redneck town and am the only one wit dread for like 50 mile in any direction, but i love the stares, i just stare right back at em...

 

Yeah, dreads r out unless you're self employed or lucky.

 

my old manager said she was scared of me when she first saw me cos of my dreads but i still got the job and now they want me 2 go full time

 

Looking for work is the reason I cut mine out. I am a teacher and I knew I was never going to get hired if my hair was dreadlocked. I live in the midwest and it is pretty conservative around here. If you really want to get a job don't lock em up yet. Wait till they hire you, realize your a good worker, then dread your hair. Hopefully by then your performance on the job will outweigh your hairstyle.

 

i dig it sister. work in a coffee shop or something! oooo! a head shop! you can have dreadies there! i work in a coffee shop and have dreds

 

Good idea........simple enough, why didnt I think of that?

 

I'd love too, but right now Im needin' a 9-5 that pays well with health benefits......aint life grand
That's awesome for you though

 

i am studying to be a teacher and i already have a plan for my dreds. i am going to wrap them up in a beautiful scarf so it does not show and when i start let them hang free.

 

I applied to about 7 jobs this summer, and no one hired me. I don't know if it was because of my dreads or not, but now I'm broke...haha.


The way I figure it, when I get out of college in May, I'm going to try to go for some kind of waitressing job to save up some money, and wrap my hair in a scarf so no one will give me shit about it. I shouldn't have to do that though...'cause dreads actually cause your hair NOT to fall out, so it's not like my hair would get into anyone's food or anything...haha.

People are narrow-minded, and they want their employees to reflect well on them. It's understandable, but it's such a shame that someone who is great for a job, personable and a good worker, can be discriminated against because of a hair style. But go figure...that's the world we live in.

Btw, I also think it's a shame that an African American person can have dreads and work in a school system or an office setting and not get any shit for it. But, if a white person has dreads, it's automatically unacceptable. I don't see anyone discriminating against black people for straightening their hair! lol. I guess it's understandable...but blah, people suck...damn society...haha...

 

You will probably have 2 or 3 interviews at the same school for one job. So I don't know how well the scarf thing is going to work. They may think you are hiding something I cut mine out right before I student taught. I went to a small private school and the professors were very strict about how we dressed at the schools we student taught at. It was actually a grade! Before student teaching we had a meeting with our advisors and I knew they were going to say something to me about my hair so I cut em all out. Good luck keeping them on the down low.

 

Ah.... the wonderful world of being a cook, dont have to dress up for the job, can smoke whenever i need to(as long as im not needed) and can get a job within a matter of days, cuz people always need someone to cook for them, and free food, its good times

 

Just work in some posh uptown coffee shop where're they'll pay you twice as much for your dreads because they add character to the store.

 

hmmm...i really want to be a teacher and more than likely i will be teaching in Asheville, NC where hippies run rampant...so I might fit in as a teach at a local public school.

 

Hi there! I'm black and unfortunatly, we get the same kinds of discrimination for wearing our hair UNstraightened.......from our OWN race most times. That mentality started back during slavery times. I'm no expert, but from what I've heard/read, back then, in order for a slave to have a higher 'position' on the plantation or go to school, they would try to emulate the slave masters. If they were darker than a paper bag, they were usually field workers outside. That mentality is still an underlying aspect even today. Black people have been straightening their hair for so long, many (women in particular) don't know what their natural hair looks like. Once slavery was over, they felt that they needed to abandon everything African as a sign of 'progress'. After years of slavery, they viewed nappy hair as a symbol of what USED to be. Apparently they/we forgot that we were happy with our naps back in our countries.

As for braids and locs in other professions...my belief is that since those styles are traditionally african/carribean, they have just become more acceptable for us to wear. Plus, most black professional women that I have seen with locs dress just like any other corporate person. Business suits, etc. In fact, you probably would guess that she's wearing very neat braids from a distance. The only ones that I've seen dressed like hippy/rasta with more 'freeform' locs have been in other environments such as food service, bookstores, some school teachers, artists ...that sort of thing.

I don't chemically relax my hair anymore because those chemicals burn like hell on my scalp. I usually wear a pretty headband with a cute puff in the back or I have my hair braided or two-strand twisted. Dreads are too permanent for me right now lol. Heck, if I get the urge to try out another style, I might flat iron my hair for a temporary straight look.

I see your point. To me, hair is hair. People should be able to do whatever they want with it. If someone's applying for a job, I do have to say that employers want clean looking/smelling hair. No bugs or dandruff lol. Unfortunatly, some people think that dreadlocs are not clean, so that might have something to do with the discrimination too. I've seen black people with dirty locs just like anybody else's locs lol. I've also seen people of other races with beautiful locs.

Check out this german site if you haven't already click on the side links till you get to the photos. tons of 'em.......peace

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://traumfrisuren.de/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmagic%2Bstyle%2B%2Bdreadlocks%2B%26num%3D30%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DG

 

thank you for you post and peace to you. oneday our world might be more accepting no matter what.