Business in the front, party in the back.
I want to do a whole post on hairstyles but I have gotten very excited about the MULLET that I can’t be distracted by mohawks, extravagant hair dyes and partly shaven heads. My mullet fascination has been fueled by this situation:
Clarissa and I volunteered at a Merdeka (Malaysian independence day) celebration fashion show. I walked out onto the stage to a room awkwardly sprinkled with old bald men in suits and acne-unfortunate 13 year olds, not the group of people I expected but they were clapping and smiling which was nice. Being in a tight sari (Indian national dress for women) I was forced to walk slowly and had time to observe everything around me. And there he was, the man who stepped out of a time machine, sent from 1980.
The DJ of the event had a great mullet AND mustache (winning combination) and operated the sound equipment all while eating carrot cake. So the question is, why don’t more people have mullets? How do styles and fashions change in a way that millions agree that what was once hot is now embarrassing to be seen in?
My answer: social validation. To fit in people are easily persuaded to be a certain way. And in this case, people have been nudged to change their hairstyles away from mullet. This is usually done subtly through media such as ads showing attractive men in short hairstyles, or a tv show lightly ridiculing a mullet. Iran went to the extreme (as they tend to do) and banned the mullet hairstyle under the grooming guidelines for men. This is primarily because of Iran rejecting the ‘cultural assault’ from the West but this law was passed in 2010 and I can’t help to think the underlying reason is because men have kept the same hairstyle since before the Islamic Revolution.
Other than hipsters that are oh-so-ironically sporting a mullet, some men are either oblivious to current hairstyles or just think they look good in the mullet. And good for them! Be loud and proud about your backwardness because the mullet will probably come back at some point just as leggings, peasant skirts, and high waist bell bottom pants have.
And now for my favourite mullets:
John Stamos with and without a mullet… same same but different
