An example of how hairstyles can create meaningful symbolic codes can be seen in a group known as the Rastafarians of Jamaica. The majority of the people of Jamaica are of African descent. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, they were brought to Jamaica by European slave traders to work on plantations. The Rastafarians are a specific religious group within Jamaica who believe that Haile Selassie, the former emperor of Ethiopia, whose original name was Ras Tafari, was the black Messiah who appeared in the flesh for the redemption of all blacks exiled in the world of white oppression. Rastafarian religion fuses Old Testament teachings, Christian mysticism, and Afro-Jamaican religious beliefs. The Rastafarian movement originated as a consequence of harsh economic, political, and living conditions in the slums of Jamaica.
In the 1950s, during the early phase of the Rastafarian movement, some male members began to grow their hair in locks or dreadlocks to symbolize their religious and political commitments. This hairstyle became well known in Western society through reggae music and Rasta musicians such as the late Bob Marley. Rastafarians derive the symbolism of the dreadlock hairstyle of the Rastafarians from the Bible. They view the unshaven man as the natural man and invoke Samson as one of the most important figures in the Bible. Dreadlocks also reflect a dominant symbol within the Rastafarian movement, the lion, which is associated with Haile Selassie, one of whose titles was the Conquering Lion of Judah.To simulate the spirit of the lion, some Rastas do not cut their hair, sometimes growing their locks 20 inches or more.
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