How Dennis Rodman's Hair Became a Cultural Icon.

The image of Dennis Rodman has come to symbolize something larger than I'm sure Dennis himself ever imagined and has since spread throughout culture forever. Here's how it happened.

  

Rodman first dyed his hair in 1993 after his trade from the Pistons to the Spurs, coloring it white as a tribute to the character Wesley Snipes played in Demolition Man. This is what Sports Illustrated said about it at the time:

 

"Rodman's body art — including the phrases he has shaved into his scalp — could be interpreted as a form of self-mutilation, an almost spiritual mortification, a way of showing the world that he is doing penance for his sins, like a pilgrim, publicly."

 

Since then, Dennis not only started doing it regularly, but as a defining statement of rebellion, personality, and values through which he would decide to change his message sometimes even weekly. These acts not only attracted the attention of the basketball world, but also the world stage, forever changing Dennis's future and his legacy.

 

To this day, children who have never seen Dennis Rodman play basketball wear shirts with his face and dyed hair. He has become a cultural movement much larger than the player himself, a symbol of expression and rebellion in the NBA and in world culture that had never before witnessed any character like him. Now you can see his style and daring in many athletes, but this did not happen without Dennis Rodman paving the way.

Serra from BEALGND.