Iran Enforces Ban on Necklaces, 'Glamorous Hairstyles' on Men
The fashion police are out in force in Iran, the Guardian reports:
Thousands of special forces have been deployed in Tehran's streets, participating in the regime's "moral security plan" in which loose-fitting headscarves, tight overcoats and shortened trousers that expose skin will not be tolerated for women, while men are warned against glamorous hairstyles and wearing a necklace.
The new plan comes shortly after the Iranian parliament proposed a bill to criminalise dog ownership, on the grounds that it "poses a cultural problem, a blind imitation of the vulgar culture of the west".
The Irna state news agency said the trend was aimed at combating "the western cultural invasion" with help from more than 70,000 trained forces, known as "moral police", who are sent out to the streets in the capital and other cities.
The ponytail and the mullet are particularly offensive, the paper notes.
Necklace ban for men as Tehran's 'moral police' enforce dress code [guardian]
Why do they have a giant stylized vagina on their flag?
Posted by: tikihead | Jun 16, 2011 1:36:32 PM
Damn! And you think we have problems in the USA... However, I do agree that the mullet is offensive.
Posted by: John | Jun 16, 2011 1:45:08 PM
So, the mullet, ponytails and necklaces are out.
OK, got it.
But longish greasy hair and big bushy beards are in. They must be watching "Swamp People" too much. There was a time when THAT was men's fashion in western popular culture, didn't they live through the early 70s? Guess it's time to get out my tie-dye shirt again.
Posted by: johnny | Jun 16, 2011 1:51:14 PM
Watch for American Christian Extremists (Tony Perkins, Bryan Fischer, Bill Donohue, Phred Phelps, Brian Brown, Pat Robertson, Michelle Bachmann, Veggie Tales, etc.) to think this is a really spiffy idea and how come this dirty muslim nation gets to do it but we can't do it here?
Of course, in KKKristian Amurka, the mullet and gold chains would be favored stylings.
Posted by: MikeInSanJose | Jun 16, 2011 2:01:41 PM
I wonder if they could come to Jersey?
Posted by: Beef and Fur | Jun 16, 2011 2:05:45 PM
Fundamentalist Muslim values are a perversion of Western ones. Iran provides the kind of contrast that heightens appreciation of our own lives. Of course 70,000 troups of moral enforcers does help with the unemployment problem. All we have are unpaid conservatives.
Posted by: Bear | Jun 16, 2011 2:06:53 PM
Awesome. Exactly what we can expect if the christian taliban achieves real power here.
Posted by: The Milkman | Jun 16, 2011 2:19:19 PM
> The ponytail and the mullet are particularly offensive, the paper notes.
Well, they kinda have a point here.
Posted by: yuninv | Jun 16, 2011 2:36:01 PM
The mullet is a "glamorous hairstyle"? Who knew? I'll bet the training videos to spot "decadent" Western cultural styles are a hoot!
Posted by: jamal49 | Jun 16, 2011 2:58:30 PM
Take the worst American homophobe, take away the façade of "Christian charity", give him a saber, and point him towards Mecca, and you'll know what gays in the Middle East have to deal with every day.
Posted by: Attmay | Jun 16, 2011 3:01:34 PM
When will the lunacy end?
Posted by: Joel | Jun 16, 2011 4:31:02 PM
bunch of assholes running that place.
and for those of u who've related this to Islam, just f-off. Islam sucks in every single way but nobody talks about ponytails and mullets in it.
Posted by: Farbud | Jun 16, 2011 5:35:23 PM
doesn't make the "Grammar Nazis" seem so bad...
Posted by: mike/ | Jun 16, 2011 6:51:46 PM
It's true that when I ponder ponytails and mullets, glamour is definitely the first thing that comes to mind.
Will they next forbid men from buying hair gel? I wouldn't be surprised.
@Farbud: you can't condemn an entire religion. Iran is run by paranoid zealots. Indonesia, by contrast, has the world's fourth largest population, and terrorist events are rare relative to the country's size. They happen, but we have people blowing up building and shooting abortion doctors in the US, in the name of Christianity. So I would be more likely to agree with you if you condemned all religion, even if that sounds inconsistent.
Posted by: Paul R | Jun 16, 2011 7:10:05 PM
I can get behind prohibiting mullets.
Posted by: Joseph Singer | Jun 16, 2011 11:06:26 PM
sorry Iran people that you have to live with such restrictive and moronic rules. Better luck next life!
Posted by: KevinD | Jun 16, 2011 11:26:24 PM
I can really see how this helps them deal with their inflation and unemployment problems. Next.
Posted by: Derek Pearce | Jun 17, 2011 2:46:45 AM
It would be hilarious if only it wasn't so depressing.
When they run out of stupid things to ban and the ordinary people of that country finally snap, and they will, it's gonna be a shitstorm.
Posted by: Tangina The Psychic | Jun 17, 2011 4:06:00 AM
From his privileged perch in the US, the cynic in me would recommend that the Green Movement in Iran should organize a "Million Mullet March" but then reality kicks in and says that that would end very very badly for the Iranian people, who deserve much better than this regime of idiots.
Posted by: Andalusian Dog | Jun 17, 2011 1:12:23 PM
Muslim law is very strict and always different from many others. But it is always the law enforcers who are committing the 'unlawful' act, e.g. drinking, prostitution etc. But at the other end, they keep their people they must behave!
Posted by: spanish fly | Jun 18, 2011 5:31:20 AM
i think this is just sensible because having simple and clean hair cut would make them more formal to look at like any military man.
Posted by: Michael | Feb 16, 2012 2:56:37 AM
how about the tourists? are they implementing the same rules?
Posted by: female sex drive | Apr 25, 2012 12:52:12 PM