I’m not sure if this is due to the fact that i reside in Jamaica or do all women around the world deal with this issue?; people automatically assume you’re a rastafarian because of your hair.
Almost every day I’m approached by people who call me “Empress” and ask me what it’s like being a Rasta. Sometimes i can’t help but feel that I’m an imposter. However, it’s not as though I go around claiming to be a Rastafarian, in fact I do the opposite. And when you declare this then comes the awkward look and then they say, “Oh so you’re just a fashion dread”.
I don’t know how to react to this. I mean “fashion dread” though some people may not recognize it, is a sort of derogatory phrase. It’s just like saying “you want people to think you’re a Rasta but you don’t beleive and live your life by the teachings.”
So most times i end up saying that i just like the hairstyle cause it is easy to maintain. Of course some persons don’t beleive because apart from having locks I’m a vegetarian. But really I’m not a Rasta.
The point of this post: Your hair says a lot about who you are but it does not define you.
That’s interesting. In Jamaica, most people do not think I am a Rasta, but perhaps because it was pretty clear I was a tourist because of the areas I was in (and, okay, maybe my clothes too).
In the US, people don’t make the association either about me either, but more because they don’t know about Rastafari. Ditto for Japan.
Ugh. Having people demand to know your religion all the time must be getting on your nerves.