I understand the rastafarian origins of these things but I would like to know a few things.

#1) What use do white people have for them?

#2) Can they be washed?

#3) Has anyone ever known of or heard of any getting infested with fleas or lice?

#4) Is is more probable to have parasitic infestations with dreadlocks than with straight or curly hair?

#5) Should (IS?) there be a health code regarding people with dreadlocks running business where food is cooked and served?

Thanks for your help, it is much appreciated!

1) To act black/make a statement/ look good (in their opinion at least).
2) Yes, though its hard.
3) YES.
4) I would imagine so, as the hair configuration IS set up tightly and would likely aid in lice reproduction.
5) Yes.

Well I guess that decides if I go down to the coffee shop on 4th Ave or not!
I'll be staying home!
Is there a name for fear of dreadlocks?
*oh man, I have a phobia!* [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

yeh i think they're gross looking too! a friend of mine had them while working at a bakery, yuck! apparently they are washable, just not combable, etc.

They bring to mind a cat my little sister dragged home when we were kids. It was long-haired and most of that was severely matted. The cat was infested with fleas, completely un-brushable and every time we cut a mat out of its fur, the cut part looked like swiss cheese where fleas tunneled and lived. It sickened me. The cat was nearly bald by the time we finished cleaning it up LOL. Sweet creature too.
Every time I see someone in dreadlocks I can't help but imagine the tunnels inside them filled with fleas or worse.
*shiver*

As far as I can see from a quick bit of research on the web, it is quite possible to keep dreads as clean and hygenic as any other style of long hair.

I would also presume that people who have dreads would have to conform to the same standards of hygene in food-handling situations as everyone else.

As for dealing personal prejudices and phobias with regard to dreads, that's a bit more difficult to find advice for..... ;)

As for washing dreads, it all depends on how you have it done. If you're like some and just have it held together by rubber bands or something, then yeah it's easy to clean. But if you're really into the whole look of it, people use some sort of wax I think and roll their hair together. In a nutshell, it can be washed, but if you want the dreads out of your hair, you'll have to cut it all off, because the wax tangles it so much, it can't be combed back out.

I've had a Rastafarian coworker back in my Heineken period, and he told me that true Rastafari's rarely ever wash their hair. They take care of it in another fashion. Personally i think they're just lazy. :D And to be honest, besides the penetrating ganja scent that followed him everywhere he went, he smelled a bit funky. His dreads were so long, they reached all the way down to his knees, so he mostly had them in a knot, or stuffed in one of those hats in the colours of the Jamaican flag. I guess the only way for him to get clean again is a big sharp razorblade, and get it all off. There isn't a shampoo in the world that can deal with something like that. :D

Depending on how long it is you can comb them out. Someone at my school did that cause he didn't want to cut all his hair off. Took him like 3 weeks :D

But I hear they're putting more in it than just wax. Something like tooth paste and other strange stuff :S

It's simply a phobia, no more, no less. Relax.