<p>Apparently, equine and porcine posteriors are the inspiration behind ponytails and pigtails—two hairstyles quite popular with girls. But now a new trend is emerging. Young and not-so-young men are growing their tresses long enough to wear them as a ponytail—or even balled up as a bun, earlier confined only to women. It’s rather unorthodox, no doubt, but then non-conformism is the order of the day.</p>.<p>Does a ponytail look better on a man? Some men certainly seem to think so and flaunt it with panache to prove their point. Of course, wearing his hair long doesn’t make a man feminine any more than sporting a crew cut (or a tonsured head like Persis Khambatta once did) makes a woman masculine.</p>.<p>Yet, the new tonsorial trend encourages speculation. If more men opt for the ponytailed look, could the day be far off when they’ll choose to wear pigtails too, like the hard-hitting Obelix in the popular comic strip Asterix? And if the burly Obelix is any indication, the braided pigtail look would also in no way detract from a man’s masculinity. Further, perhaps letting down his hair will now come more easily to the ponytailed or pigtailed male—though, of course, he wouldn’t be able to wiggle his ‘extension’ as effortlessly as a wagtail does!</p>.<p>I must confess to a sneaking admiration for the robust, ponytailed male. Maybe it’s the striking novelty of his appearance or the fact that it sets him apart from others, making him stand out in a crowd. I enjoy vicariously observing a shaggy head of hair nicely slicked down into a tidy ponytail. Much as I would like to, I’ve absolutely no hope of growing a ponytail myself, having shed my thinning ‘thatch’ years ago, faster than a tree casts off its foliage in autumn!</p>.<p>Speculating further, to a mischievous tyke, there’s something droll and irresistible about a ponytail adorning a male head—it makes his fingers twitch with gleeful anticipation. Perhaps he will now be tempted to slyly yank the hairy protrusion sticking out invitingly in front of him in a semi-darkened cinema theater—rather than flick a groundnut at a balding cranium as we sometimes perversely did as boys, feigning innocence convincingly. For me, incidentally, the wheel turned full cycle a few years back when a mop-headed kid brazenly scored a bull’s-eye on my own shiny pate with a groundnut!</p>.<p>Yet, I suppose the cynic will insist that a tail (whether truncated or not) looks better on a pony as much as a mane (however hirsute it may be) looks better on a horse than a man. However, as an unabashed admirer of manly ponytails, I beg to differ.</p>
<p>Apparently, equine and porcine posteriors are the inspiration behind ponytails and pigtails—two hairstyles quite popular with girls. But now a new trend is emerging. Young and not-so-young men are growing their tresses long enough to wear them as a ponytail—or even balled up as a bun, earlier confined only to women. It’s rather unorthodox, no doubt, but then non-conformism is the order of the day.</p>.<p>Does a ponytail look better on a man? Some men certainly seem to think so and flaunt it with panache to prove their point. Of course, wearing his hair long doesn’t make a man feminine any more than sporting a crew cut (or a tonsured head like Persis Khambatta once did) makes a woman masculine.</p>.<p>Yet, the new tonsorial trend encourages speculation. If more men opt for the ponytailed look, could the day be far off when they’ll choose to wear pigtails too, like the hard-hitting Obelix in the popular comic strip Asterix? And if the burly Obelix is any indication, the braided pigtail look would also in no way detract from a man’s masculinity. Further, perhaps letting down his hair will now come more easily to the ponytailed or pigtailed male—though, of course, he wouldn’t be able to wiggle his ‘extension’ as effortlessly as a wagtail does!</p>.<p>I must confess to a sneaking admiration for the robust, ponytailed male. Maybe it’s the striking novelty of his appearance or the fact that it sets him apart from others, making him stand out in a crowd. I enjoy vicariously observing a shaggy head of hair nicely slicked down into a tidy ponytail. Much as I would like to, I’ve absolutely no hope of growing a ponytail myself, having shed my thinning ‘thatch’ years ago, faster than a tree casts off its foliage in autumn!</p>.<p>Speculating further, to a mischievous tyke, there’s something droll and irresistible about a ponytail adorning a male head—it makes his fingers twitch with gleeful anticipation. Perhaps he will now be tempted to slyly yank the hairy protrusion sticking out invitingly in front of him in a semi-darkened cinema theater—rather than flick a groundnut at a balding cranium as we sometimes perversely did as boys, feigning innocence convincingly. For me, incidentally, the wheel turned full cycle a few years back when a mop-headed kid brazenly scored a bull’s-eye on my own shiny pate with a groundnut!</p>.<p>Yet, I suppose the cynic will insist that a tail (whether truncated or not) looks better on a pony as much as a mane (however hirsute it may be) looks better on a horse than a man. However, as an unabashed admirer of manly ponytails, I beg to differ.</p>