Every political movement has its attendant male hairstyle, from the Roman-inspired dos of Napoleonic France to Maoist bowl cuts to the shellacked pompadours of ‘80s Republicans. A man can tell his barber his political party and come away looking the part. It’s harder for a woman. Women’s hairstyles are usually about signaling one’s position on the Venn diagram of sexy/old/professional, with various subcategories for things like what kind of mom you are and what sort of human you want to be naked with. With all that going on, it’s hard to also make sure that your haircut is feminist.
Well, never fear. Your coiffure is feminist if you are. Perhaps, like Yoko Ono, you have yards of the stuff. Or maybe you’ve taken it back to baby-fuzz like Sinead O’Connor. Or you have just a soupçon, perfectly dolloped atop an angular visage, like Alison Bechdel. All these styles and a zillion more have sprouted from the heads of feminists. And like other things that have sprouted from the heads of feminists — philosophy, legislation, activist strategy, art — they are open to debate. Which styles qualify as the greatest feminist hairstyles of all time? Click through our slideshow to see.