Official Iranian haircut list: no mullets, ponytails, or spikes
Mullets, ponytails, and gel-spiked dos for men are out.
For the first time since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, men have a haircut code.
Plucked eyebrows? Barbers have been warned to stop performing this kind of grooming on men.
And surprisingly, going beardless is OK.
The Iranian government unveiled a new array of “Iranian” hairstyles and cuts for men this week, prompting speculation of an impending crackdown on male dress in the Islamic Republic. Until now, only women faced public warnings, jail, and even beatings for unIslamic attire.
If officially adopted by the country's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the rules would be the first formal limits to be established on male attire in the three decades since the revolution.
A display of culturally appropriate hairstyles was revealed on Monday at the offices of the Veil and Chastity Day Festival being sponsored by Iran's culture ministry, reports the semi-official ILNA news agency.
The ministry collaborated with Iranian hair stylists as part of an effort to “stop the propagation of Western and Eastern hair styles” in Iran and instead promote hairdos for men that are purely “Iranian,” according to ILNA.
The Iranian government has long had established formal rules on attire for women, who are required by law to wear an Islamic veil to cover their hair as well as long, loose jackets to cover the shape of their bodies. The restrictions have helped politicize dress in the Islamic Republic, where many women have sought to push the limits of authority by wearing shorter and tighter jackets to cover their clothing, and often reveal large amounts of hair from underneath their headscarves.
Many young men in the Iranian capital are often seen sporting longer, highlighted hairstyles and ponytails, wearing earrings, shaping their eyebrows, or even wearing mascara.
The Veil and Chastity Day Festival models pictured in local media reports have shorter hairstyles, some using gel, and are clean-shaven.
Proposed hair styles will vary by region and once they are formally approved, Iran's culture ministry will post pictures of acceptable haircuts at men's salons and barbershops throughout the country, according to domestic media reports.
Veil and Chastity Festival chief Jaleh Khodayar told Agence France-Presse on Monday that as well as being based on Islamic law, the hairdos being presented were determined in accordance with the “culture, religion and complexion” of Iranians.
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