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Wattie Buchan, lawless frontman for the punk rock band, The Exploited, sprouted a Mohawk and crooned two-minute songs of ferocity. Songs about destruction, anarchy, violence, and corrupt politics. Wattie's Mohawk was synonymous with Anarchy or at least anti-establishment. His dedication to mayhem and filth defined post Sex Pistol punk and may be credited for propelling the "hairstyle" into the music scene and ultimately, "fashion".

Sporting a Mohawk in public is a rite of passage for many. It forces confrontation, demands attention, sparks anger in some on-lookers, and confusion in others. If nothing else, it attempts to pull Johnny Public out of his urban box of normalcy and at least query other avenues of life.

Unpredictable comments from people on the street forces a reaction, counter remark, or act of kindness to offset the intimidating sharpness of the Mohawk. People spend a lifetime hiding their emotions and restraining their thoughts for fear of being different or weird. In reality everybody is different and weird. It is weird to conform to others' agenda.

That is why the Mohawk has found a home rooted within the barbed wire encrusted hearts of timeless punks. It says very loud and clear, "I am independent and will not conform".

It is a symbol of ones belief. The spiked chaos could be construed as a manufactured adaptation bestowing confidence, courage, and independence (thus liberty spikes?) into one who wears it. The Mohawk did for punk what the Tam did for reggae or tattoos did for rogue bikers. It is a harsh visual statement.

The only irony of the anti-fashion, anti-vanity statement of the Mohawk is that it takes quite a bit of time to create and maintain. It's mortar ranges from various combinations of hairspray and gels to Mom's floor scrubbing agent, Mop and Glow. In many cases, it may be colored, ironed, and blown dry. It doesn't get more vain then spending over an hour doing hair. In today's culture, we would curse that with the term "metro-sexual".

I am a big proponent of punk rock, the Mohawk, and all things that express individualism. Punk has gone from a way of life, to a fashion that can be bought at the local mall. The commercial success of punk, has softened the quills of a radical Mohawk. However, sporting a Mohawk can still be very liberating. It's like walking around with a colorful exclamation point on the top of your head!

From a modernistic approach, people do not wear Mohawks because of the tribal meanings and potential origins. Punk has trumped those ideas and catapulted it into a subculture of which has now merged with mainstream. Hair that defies one of Mother Earth's cardinal laws, gravity, encourages us to consider redefining punk as a lifestyle, independent and lawless.

Learn more about this author, Marc Melville.
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