At about the age of 10, that would be 1990, my family and I were on vacation in a popular resort area. Being a pedestrian-friendly town, we were afoot one night seeing the sights when we approached a stoplight. As we stood a car stopped right next to us. What my fragile, decade-old Arkansan eyes saw shocked me. In the passenger seat was a man, most likely early 20s, black leather vest, leather bracelets and a huge lime-green Mohawk. His fellow “hoodlums” wore similar “anti- establishment” garb. I got a little nervous. There was something about that menacing Mohawk that gave me the willies, which I have not had since, thankfully. It had attitude. I mean, little Adam had never seen a real, live punk before. I didn’t know what to do. A few seconds later, they drove away. I never looked at Branson, Mo., the same.
Fast-forward 20 years. My wife and I were at Target shopping when we passed the electronics department. One male associate sported a tall, dark pink Mohawk, probably about a foot high. Here are three reasons that this latest Mohawk sighting proved to me that the hairstyle has lost its attitude. First, my initial thought was “What a dork,” a much different reaction compared to little Adam. Secondly, apparently a Mohawk no longer breaks corporate dress code. And finally, when my wife and I made it back to our car I asked her, “Did you see that Target associate with that tall Mohawk?” She responded, “There was a guy with a Mohawk?” My next thought was “exactly”. She walked within 2 feet of the attention-needing haircut, and it did not even grab her attention.
The hairstyle is named after the indigenous people who originated from the Mohawk valley in upstate New York around 1628. Mohawk warriors used the style when they went to war. There is definitely some meaning and attitude in that. In the late ’70s to about the mid-’90s, the Mohawk could often be found in the punk subculture. The fashion was used to display an “anti-establishment and anti-conformity” attitude. This was often combined with the use of the middle finger and a small army of profanity to get the point across. This often resulted in people choosing to walk on the other side of the street and scaring old people. Today, on the other hand, I would not be surprised to see old people parading a Mohawk. Many of them already have blue hair.
I’m not really saying this loss of meaning is a bad or good thing. My interest is more about how the meaning of a fashion statement that had been around for approximately 360 years was sucked out by mainstream media in about 15 years. The Mohawk wasn’t the first victim. Ask rock n’ roll and hip hop. Do the original messages of anti-conformity and anti-establishment of these two genres still ring true in the verses and choruses of their offspring? Another way of looking at it is maybe they were successful with the original message and are reaping the benefits today with music that feels less meaningful.
The mainstream media machine is a strong force. We have witnessed the Mohawk being put into it and coming out with as much substance as the “Rachel-Cut” from the show “Friends.” It will be interesting to see what evil things of today will be the must have among the customers of tomorrow. What will we say?
“I remember when a tattoo of a spider on my whole face meant something.”
—Adam Holt
Posted by Lab Assistant 