Iran’s war on the West has a new front: the barber shop. Pushing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad‘s conservative traditionalism, Iranian police have issued an edict prohibiting barbers from coiffing the Western way.
Under their orders, barber union head Mohammad Eftekhari-Fard ordered:
Currently some salons use Western grooming methods to create styles that are in line with the European and American ones. The union has repeatedly announced the restrictions against unconventional grooming when issuing permits to each of the barber shops. Hence barbers, knowing these rules, should not pursue the wrong methods. The union will withdraw its support from those barbers who cut hairstyles that are out of line with the norms of the system.
Those norms include no “big” hair (which we think means spiky), no eyebrow plucking and, apparently, barbers are “not to apply make-up on men’s faces”. Wait – Iranian men wear make-up? That’s why Ahmadinejad always looks so sexy.
In addition, men are forbidden from wearing ties. Apparently it’s a symbol of Western decadence. Who knew? Also, men caught with “big” (spiky) hair will have a stripe shaved down their head. Won’t that just make the remaining hair look bigger and, thus, spiky? Talk about a two-headed monster…
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Iran cracks down on wacky male hairdos [The Daily Star]
Iran cracks down on ‘Western’ hairdos [Ynet]
