Poll: Would you remove your dreads for a job?

[harlequin]

I have never been asked to remove my dreads or change my hair colour in my job, and i am now in a managerial position. Most of the time it is actually encouraged as it is seen as 'looking after and respecting staff beliefs', which is lucky for me

However i am now looking for a new assistant job (im still emplyed full time just looking to move jobs) and the career i am going into would not allow me to have the crazy hair i usually have (neons at the moment!). It will be a boardroom position and so i need to respect that it is a responsible job, and so wont have any problems taking my dreads out for interviews and keeping them out for a job.

After all - there are always falls to wear, and holidays when i can put my dreads back in!

[MrsEss]

It is based on this entirely illogical process of assumption that informs commonly held prejudiced stereotypes. Do you know what other similar situation that job used to be offered to one person over another? As recently as maybe thirty years ago, two men apply for the same job. The first is extremely well qualified, very capable and would do the job exceptionally well. The second man is less qualified, not very competent and wouldn't do a very good job. The only difference between these two men? The first is black, the second is white.


I don't see how this is any different.

I brought this up when I was working, as the dress code asked for tattoos to be covered over....IMPOSSIBLE in summer. I went to HR about infringing my rights & beliefs as a human, what annoyed me more was that management were expected to cover them up, but the staff weren't.

I was more or less told I didn't have a leg to stand on (even though I told them they were breeching my basic human rights) I'll admit it, I'm 28 (26 at the time) & defied that part of the dress code. My boss had no issue with my appearance, it was everyone else (other management) that had an issue.

[[Phexxie]]

... i was forced to remove my extended AND natural dreads as well as all my facial piercings and the green laces in my docs for a COLLEGE COURSE in media and fashion makeup

get your heads around that one -_-

now i understand that dumping latex over a lip piercing probably isnt the best idea, but to leave them out when im doing nothing but theory for the day?
i ask you....

and the best of it? a girl who started the course late had natural dreads, she was told to cover them with a wig and not to mention it to me... just so happens shes a family friend so of course i found out soon after

i left about 6 months into the course when i decided i couldnt take anymore of their shit

[Rhaeniel]

Luckily for me, I'm a stay at home mum and can therefore wear whatever the hell I want on my head.. but I think I'd remove my dreads and even have my hair a natural colour if I thought it'd get me a job.. if I was looking for one. Only because of the current job market being so shitty though.

[Monique_marion_may]

I have a job, where im allowed to wear dreads, but if i needed to get a new job i would remove dreads for the job.

[MistressH]

I work sporadically, thats how my contract is, so If im invited on a night out I can only go if I have worked that month and we dont have a vets bill or xmas coming up etc.

My contract comes to an end in March so if there is no way they can keep me on I will be looking for something else. I dont wear dreads all the time, i have some in now but its my first set of the year ive kept in longer than a few days

Its important for me to work somewhere I can be myself, so not have to hide my tattoos, or take my nose ring out etc

[LittlePinkFaery]

It would be interesting to find out how many people are in jobs like nursing, doctors, teachers, the law, high up management etc who openly have funky hair, piercings and/ or tattoos.

It is my belief that there are not many.

I know a couple of teachers with dreads- but they are in multi ethnic primary schools, I know no one in a secondary school allowed to wear them- though I did in my training school for a short while.

I know one nurse with dreads.

The point I am trying to make, if you work in a 'lower' level job or in a creative job then you are are more likely to get away with it. Gracey's attitude is inspiring and clealry she has chosen to seek out a job that allows her to be who she wants to be- but that is the thing, she works in the hair business- you have to make your life work for you if you want to be that free with your looks.

(please,this is no slight on anyones job here!)

Can you imagine a court scene where one of the legal team openly wore colourful dreads....can you imagine how predjudiced a jury would be against them as a representative? Incredibly predjudiced- thus meaning the person they were representing would be unfairly judged- just because of the appearace on someone supposedly in a 'high' up profession.

The only way to change these things is to challenge them, but with that challenge comes the facts that you will be battling with HR, Bosses and may face disciplinery action and being fired. Believe me, before I was a teacher I was a manager for Virgin (then NTL) and I faced disciplinerary action for *asking* to have dreads in! I was practically told *between the lines* that my job would be made very difficult for me if I went ahead and did it.

How many people can afford to let their sense of personality ruin their family income?

Please, please don't get me wrong, I love fake hair, tattoos and piercings- I would have more tattoos if I hadn't become a teacher, I would wear dreads regularly in the winter if my school would allow it...hell I admin this board, of course I love fake hair

But...the reality is that you have to weigh up personal beliefs about hair etc against earning a decent wage to support yourself and your family.

"Madii
Note: Of course, I'm sure that when the shit really hits the fan for me and I get older and have more and bigger bills to pay, even if I still feel the same way about my wacky appearance being an intrinsic part of my personality, I will probably give in. That's called "growing up", isn't it? Allowing things that are fundamentally wrong to happen just because it makes your life easier. Yes. I guess we all have to grow up some day."

That is it in a nutshell, I am the other side of that statement, being the age I am

There are plenty of things that are discriminated against that cannot be prooved, gender, if you have family or not, weight, physical beauty or lack of it, race and percieved sexuality, religion...it still happens whether or not it is legal for it to happen- it is just not so obvious now AND you would never have it admitted, there would always be some otehr seemingly good reason to not be employed over someone else.

[halocaustic]

I know one nurse with dreads.

That would be me then I guess
I only get away with it because they match my natural colour exactly and the wildest I get with dreads these days is a couple of splashes of dark red. I've been working at the surgery for 2 years now and I attended my interview with dreads in. However, I should also add that I was known to the practice beforehand (one of the GPs is a friend of mine...and also my GP), worked very hard from junior staff nurse to Sister level in a hospital beforehand and have an impressive clinical CV to show it.

Had I not been as experienced and was not known to the surgery beforehand I could not guarantee I would have got the job. I did wear dreads while I still worked in the hospital but I waited till I had jumped a couple of grades on the nursing ladder before I started taking liberties! I know for a fact I would not have turned up with dreads as a junior as I was still trying to establish myself into a huge clinical hierarchy and unfortunately people judge professionalism on appearance first if you're in an entry level post.

I'm actually quite well known for my 'punky' appearance in the surgery. The patients love it! I also have 2 spiked rings and 2 belly bars shoved through my ears and my nose pierced. I have never had any complaints because I proved from the start that I'm very professional and knowledgeable, and it's the type of job you can't get into unless you're very experienced and a senior grade. I think the public know that and as such overlook the appearance aspect.

For the record I live and work in a very posh, golf obsessed seaside town and the average age of the population here is about 250

[LittlePinkFaery]

yeah it was you- didn't want to name you incase you didn't want to join in

You make a very important point about becoming known for your capabilities first.

[MissAnthropik]

we have another nurse on the board with dreads, but i won't name her in case she doesn't want to join in!

My friend however is a nurse and isn't even allowed to wear certain colours of make up or dye her hair particular colours. I think it very much depends on the NHS trust. Another friend who is a clinical psychologist dyed her hair dark reddish pink, just before changing trusts actually, and was told that if she wasn't leaving anyway she would have faced disciplinary proceedings (not even asked to wash it out, straight onto disciplinaries!) Her new trust are not bothered. Same job.

My impression is that things are changing, and that bosses are becoming more accepting. When I first started working as part-time sales in retail I wasn't even allowed to dye my hair pink, now you can have visible tattoos and piercings and stuff. I know this isn't the same thing you are talking about Andrea, but we have seen a noticeable shift in retail over the past 10 years or so. Maybe the "professional" jobs are also making that shift, just more slowly and from a further back starting point?

That said, my (male) friend who works in commodity trading (shudder) says that he wouldn't be allowed dreads, or certainly that if he had dreads he would find his life at work harder to the point when maybe he wouldn't realistically be able to do the job.

I'm actually quite well known for my 'punky' appearance in the surgery. The patients love it! I also have 2 spiked rings and 2 belly bars shoved through my ears and my nose pierced. I have never had any complaints because I proved from the start that I'm very professional and knowledgeable, and it's the type of job you can't get into unless you're very experienced and a senior grade. I think the public know that and as such overlook the appearance aspect.

I do agree that in professional contexts your CV is very important. Even 3 years ago I wouldn't have considered dreading my hair because of the possibility oif needing to move jobs. Now I know my CV is good enough that I won't be overlooked based on appearance. In fact, if I were then it would be very telling about the employer and what they valued, and I would not want to work there. Not based on valuing my personality, but simply based on the fact they would likely have other petty rules, or wouldn't value diverse teaching methods, or be inclusive towards children or something. That said, I would not expect to just walk into an interview without my CV and have people overlook my appearance

[M1ssBehaved]

I'm a student nurse and an Emergency medical technician and I wear dreads. Unnatural colours are fine too, but I think if they were really bright or highlighter colours it would probably reflect on my professionality.

There are limitations though; they MUST be tied back, and I need to be able to fit a helmet on my head (lucky they are man size helmets and huge). Tattoos are fine also as there is not really the option of covering them due to the uniform and forearms must be bare anyway. So I guess if you had rude or ofensive tattoos on your arms you'd be out of luck. Piercings however are a no no. Too much chance of them being ripped out, so it has more to do with your own safety.
I am just about to embark on the real dread journey and the only thing that worries me is being able to work in theatre and having to cover my hair. Wearing a blue scrub hat, I may end up resembling something like Marge Simpson.

We used to have a member of paliament with long ass natty dreads and that was okay, must be more culturally acceptable to have dreads here, than the US or UK.

I'm also wondering if it could be an age thing as well. 18 year old with dreads vs 35 year old with dreads?

[mrs. mole]

my real dreads have been on and off my head for about 20yrs. thankfully, most of my employers and customers over the last 10yrs or so have had no problem with my hair, but i have chopped them off before now and just stashed them in a box waiting for the time when i can re-attach them. when my hair has been 'normal' i've worn falls or wigs when i need to look more like me again. it's sometimes quite liberating to have a bit of a change, but i do miss my dreads when they're not permanently attached and i'll often get 'boris' out and give him a little stroke!
(i must post some pics of the evolution of boris someday!)
at the end of the day, keeping a roof over my head and the dog fed are more important than what i look like to other people.

[HairAndStuff]

Other: I work from home and have done so for almost a year now. Obviously, I can look however I want here. I'm son to be going on unemployment, unfortunately. I can't get approved fro medical insurance due to my mental instability/mood disorders, so my hair won't matter until I go back to school and finish getting my masters.

I think it's awesome that some of ladies are nurses and able to wear your dreads. I had heard of at home care givers having tattoos/piercings/colored hair but I didn't know practicing nurses in hospitals could do that ^_^ Well, at least I have yet to see one in the states who can

[patricia*star]

Other - I worked for the local council as a park ranger on a casual basis for 8years. When i first wanted to dye my hair pink i asked the high up manager and he said 'will it affect how you do your job?' so i obviously said no it wont. He also asked around the line managers and they all agreed that having pink hair would just be a reflection of my personality, they also all agreed that having pink hair would actually HELP with my job which sometimes involves working with children.

I have just got my first contracted position for the same job in the same council and although i was nervous about wearing dreads at first i just went for it and so far (one month into employment) i havent been told off and it seems like my managers are accepting of how i am and have the opinion that 'ah, thats just loopy for ya!' (loopy is my nickname at work, not sure why )

I think my local council is encouraging and seems to let people be whoever they want to be so ive been really lucky, i just wish all organisations shared this view.

[Mkatsi]

I could write a lot on this, and often do, but for now I'd just like to express thanks that this thread even exists.
I brought this matter up on another online forum as part of my judging by appearance project and arguments- the majority of people treated me like a spoilt child just because I was only just entering employment and did not want to change my hair or piercings. There were particularly violent answers that made me out to be nieve, stubborn and more over stupid. I was told to wear a wig if I wanted pink hair and take my percings out for work- its very difficult to change this kind of person's mind to show them that its not merely the principle of the thing, but the principle of self. The difference between we, having hair as we'd like, and those choosing their religions doesnt seem so different to me, I realise its a very comparison that is a little over the top, but if we're not offending anyone, or pushing it upon anyone else- then whats the harm?

Im glad this thread offers a balanced pov from all of you