Christine Miller is a 34-year-old blogger, DJ, and mother of three living in Maui, Hawaii, USA. Two and a half years ago, a woman dramatically changed her style, and in return, she gained self-confidence.
The fact is that Christine has always had thin hair, and she dreamed of giving up styling products and not worrying about volume. So she came up with the idea of braiding her dreadlocks.
I always thought that dreadlocks were beautiful, and my hair was so thin, it didn’t fit well, it was disheveled. All in all, dreadlocks seemed like a good idea to me.
When a woman traded her usual haircut for dreadlocks, her little daughter Loretta was delighted and began to envy her mother. The little girl hated being combed. Due to the fact that from an early age, she walked in the mountains and learned to surf, her hair was constantly tangled in tangles – and combing them was painful and traumatic.
Therefore, when Loretta was two, she begged her mother to allow her to walk with dreadlocks.
I wasn’t surprised by Loretta’s interest in dreadlocks. She was constantly crying when I offered to comb her hair. She pushed away the comb, sobbed, and asked her brother to hold her hand.
As a result, the mother decided to follow her daughter’s lead and threw away the comb.
At two years old, she clearly explained that she wanted to give up her hair and accept her dreadlocks, which she already began to form.
Now the girl is three years old, and she is quite happy with her hairstyle. She disappears all day in the mountains and on the beach, always ready to run somewhere. Dreadlocks for her are a convenience.
Once or twice a week, the mother washes the baby’s hair with a special shampoo for dreadlocks. In order to show that children with dreadlocks are normal, Kristin created an Instagram account for Loretta dreadyloretty.
I wanted to normalize children with dreadlocks, to show that this is only part of her life and how she lives.
The mother even created a special book about her daughter – “Loretta with dreadlocks: no time to comb her hair.” The little heroine of this story loves adventure so much that she simply does not have time to comb her hair.
Now about 12 thousand people follow the adventures of an unusual girl, and her popularity is only growing. But Christine is not always happy about this. After all, under children’s photos, there are more and more hater comments.
People accuse me of neglect and even abuse of my own child and cultural appropriation.
The fact is that many people are convinced that dreadlocks are a hairstyle only for black people, so Kristin and her daughter behave like racists.
However, the woman is sure that she is right. After all, such a hairstyle is part of Loretta’s style and her self-expression, in which she does not want to refuse her.
Everyone has the right to an opinion, I can’t convince everyone, but it’s not about them at all. This is about what Loretta wants. I also let her dress the way she wants. Children should shape and reveal their individuality when they feel like it.
