Young man wearing a Mohawk.
The Mohawk or Mohican is a hairstyle. In the most common variety, both sides of the head are shaved leaving a strip of noticeably longer hair in the centre. Mohawks became common in punk subculture and Rivethead subculture in the early 1980s and were then adopted by various other groups, becoming more diverse in style. Today, Mohawks are still associated with the punk subculture, but have also become part of mainstream fashion.
Poet Roger Bonair-Agard wearing a mohawk in 2007
The Mohawk hairstyle is named for, and often associated with, the people of the Mohawk nation, an indigenous people of North America who originally inhabited the Mohawk Valley in upstate New York to southern Quebec and eastern Ontario.
mens Mohawk Punk Hairstyle
In modern punk fashion, the Mohawk is often dyed brilliant colors and worn so that it points straight up, often to impressive height. The Mohawk is also a feature of goth fashion. The Mohawk is also known as the signature hairstyle of Mr. T, the actor who first became famous playing the boxer Clubber Lang in the movie Rocky III and later as Sgt. B.A. Baracus in the television series The A-Team.
Mohawk hairstyle
Depending on how it is worn, the Mohawk can be a high-maintenance style. Regular, careful shaving or trimming is required to maintain a clean line between the shaven and unshaven (or short and long) portions of the hair; this can be especially complicated in bi- and tri- hawks.
If the hair is to be worn up, brushing, backcombing, blow-drying, and twisting are required, as well as the application of sprays and in some cases other holding agents like white or clear glue, egg whites, cornstarch, or gelatin. The amount of time required for styling may increase considerably with longer hair or complicated styles such as liberty spikes (sometimes known as a libertyhawk).
Some wearers enhance the look of their Mohawks with hair dyes. This, too can require a great deal of initial effort and maintenance, especially in styles where the color(s) form an integral part of the style. In some cases, for example, Mohawk-wearers who normally wear their hair up in a fan style dye the hair in even lines or stripes of color, either horizontal or vertical.
