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Older man with a rattail.

A rattail is a haircut that is characterized by a long "tail" of hair growing from the back of the head. The rattail usually curls naturally; however, it can be braided, treated as a dread, permed, straightened, or curled with an iron. This hairstyle saw a brief period of mainstream popularity during the 1980's and has rapidly fallen out of vogue, only remaining visible within the circles of die hard rat tail enthusiasts. However, it has recently seen renewed popularity. In some instances, an individual might choose to grow several tails as opposed to a single very long tail.

This hairstyle seems to be rather commonly seen on manga characters. For example, Dr. Tofu (a character in Ranma 1/2) and Masaharu Niou from Prince of Tennis all have small ponytails resembling rattails. Tenchi Masaki also is seen with a rattail. Auron from Final Fantasy X also sports a rattail in a concept art by Tetsuya Nomura (it is not visible in game because of his high-brim collar). However, this may be due to the hairstyle's similarity to the queue. This overtly "low-brow" hairstyle can also be seen prevalently in the movie Joe Dirt starring David Spade, a movie which was intended to poke fun at the redneck subculture of which this hairstyle is closely connected.

As the hairstyle has become less popular, it has been increasingly associated with redneck culture and is a common characteristic found in stereotypes of lower class North Americans.^{[citation needed]}

Shaved head with long braided rattail

Some punks and rivetheads have been known to support them also, although in a much more punky style, totally shaven head, except for a tuft of hair at the back, usually dyed in various luminous colours. In Australia it has become synonymous with the "Lad" subculture, i.e. Teenagers and to a lesser extent, young adults who engage in drug and alcohol use, graffiti, and street-fighting.

Former junior welterweight boxing champion Kostya Tszyu sported a rather famous rattail throughout his career.

The Guinness World Record for longest rattail measures 4 feet 9 inches held by Grant Ruramora.

Dog the Bounty Hunter stars Leland Chapman and Tim Chapman both have a variation of this haircut.

Cristiano Ronaldo has a variation of this haircut as it originated in his native country.

David Shallow, a professional poker player from Essex, also sports this haircut and has been recorded showing it off on the PartyPoker European Open heats which were broadcast on TV.

[edit] See also

• Sikha
• Pigtail