Women are bringing Mullets back (and they look… good?)
Business in the front Party in the back. Skullet. Tennessee Tophat. Hockey Hair. Kentucky Waterfall. Canadian Passport. You probably get what I’m saying by now. The Mullet. A name that has struck fear into the hearts of many and poorly hidden guffaws from the rest. Though probably the most controversial cut in history, it surprisingly has had a long stay throughout history, dating back to Greek mythology and ancient Rome in which warriors sported the hairstyles as a practical way to keep the hair out of their eyes while keeping their necks warm. The ancient 6th century scholar Procopius described mullets, saying, “But the hair of their heads they cut off in front back to the temples, leaving the part behind to hang down to a very great length in a senseless fashion”. Even back then they were controversial.
In the 80’s -arguably their most impactful era- mullets became a symbol of rebellion as men began to don it in order to distance themselves from other more tame haircuts that signified a conforming to society. Ten years later, it seemed all the jokes and judgement had finally driven them to only the farthest corners of society. The mullet however, is making a comeback.
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Perhaps because of the quarantine, or maybe its something that would have happened anyway, but more and more, the mullet seems to be landing on the heads of women, whose alternative aesthetic gives the mullet a sense of coolness and devil-may-care rather than the utter chaos it has historically been perceived with. Wavy and layered, in black but also sometimes pink, bleached blonde, and multicolor, this historically controversial hairstyle looks miraculously like a perfect fit on the women who recently have chosen to adorn it.
I will personally say that though the same mixed feelings of the mullet remain when I see it on men (It has been a popular hairstyle in Australia, where men regularly wear it), women somehow seem to transform it into a cool and edgy haircut, as with Instagram user TheJudes, who has been rocking the mullet for months now.
So where do we go from here? Do we admit defeat and finally embrace this controversial hairstyle that doesn’t seem to ever skulk into the shadows no matter how much we shame it?
I however, know one thing: Sorry boys, but you’ve lost this round. Let the women take this one.
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