“Though Iranian officials have only just now designated the mullet as a form of ‘Western cultural invasion,’ the haircut has always been with us.” Slate gives a history of the hairdo. “When long locks became popular for men in the early 1970s, along with afros, ponytails, and shaggy sideburns, the mullet was simply another stylized variant. Cultural observers credit Paul McCartney’s “Wings of Pegasus” and David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust mane with catalyzing the mullet’s ascendance. The style finally attained mainstream popularity in the 1980s, when a large proportion of musicians, actors, and athletes adopted the hairdo.”