Hairstyles where hair is pulled back and secured at the back of the head, resembling a pony's tail.
A compound of 'pony' (small horse) and 'tail,' created in the 1950s when this hairstyle became popular. The term is a direct comparison to an animal's appearance.
Ponytails were actually controversial when they first became mainstream in the 1950s-60s because they showed the neck and were seen as 'masculine' or 'athletic'—now they're so normalized that few people realize this hairstyle was once seen as daring. Fashion's 'shocking' is just yesterday's normal waiting a few decades.
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