Man-buns are like marmite: you either love them, or you hate them and they leave a nasty taste in your mouth. For Brigham Young University – Idaho, it’s a case of the latter. Last week, the college issued a new rule banning the man-bun, promising to enforce disciplinary action against those wearing their hair in the style.

Over the last few years, the man-bun or “mun” has become as synonymous with “creative” 20-somethings as artisanal coffee shops, rolled-up jeans and gentrification. Often accompanied with a beard, piercings and/or tattoos, the style has Instagram and Tumblr accounts devoted to it such as @manbunmonday and @dailymanbun.

But why has this uni banned it? “We would consider the ‘man-bun’ to be an extreme hairstyle,” Tyler Barton, the university’s student honour administrator told Scroll. “It’s just something that deviates from the norm.” They may deviate from the norm in Idaho, but as far as London is concerned, they’ve become as ubiquitous as Fjällräven rucksacks.

“As part of the dress and grooming code, we commit to avoid extreme hairstyles,” said Kevin Miyasaki, the student services & activities vice president. “A ‘man-bun’ would be considered not consistent with this standard.” Instead, hair should be “clean and neat, avoiding extreme styles or colours and trimmed above the collar leaving the ear uncovered.” Of course, this rule might have the reverse effect; if history and the majority of people’s teenage years are anything to go by, banning something makes it infinitely cooler. 

BYU is a notoriously conservative school and it’s not the first time it’s made headlines because of its puritanical approach to student dress. Last year its president reprimanded students after seeing “pants that did not make it down to the ankle” and “faces of young men not clean-shaven”. The horror.

Brave students of BYU with man-buns: we stand in solidarity with you and fully support your right to freedom of hairstyling expression.