Mick Hartley

Ava Homa – Why Iranian women are protesting now against the hijab:

Women in the Islamic Republic of Iran are officially subhuman. Their testimony in a court of law is not equal to that of a man’s. In a family, women can inherit only half of what male members are entitled to. Except for very strict cases, women are denied the right to the custody of their children, to divorce their husbands, or to work, study or travel abroad without their husband's permission.

In 2006, a one-million signature campaign objecting to discriminatory family laws was suppressed. In 2015, a campaign called "My Stealthy Freedom" was launched by the Iranian journalist Masih Alinjed who is based in the US. Women started sharing photos of themselves while defying the compulsory hijab.

"Women realized they are not alone. That they can use hashtags to connect," Masih Alinejad told Al Arabiya English in a phone interview.

"I don't see myself as the leader of the movement," Alinejad said who launched the #WhiteWednesdays movements or Wednesdays Against Compulsion in May 2017. She encouraged women to wear white headscarves or no headscarves on Wednesdays to show their protest to controlling female body.

Alinejad explained that Iranian government can send activists to exile or persecute them in other ways but "when indifferent citizens who mindlessly comply with traditions become conscious and responsible citizens who says no," the government will have to step back because they can arrest only so many people.

"So, even though as a single mother in Iran, I suffered discriminatory family laws, I decided to focus on one aspect of oppression. Forced veiling is the first tool of suppression on women imposed on them since age 7. It makes them carry around a fake identity. Non-Muslims and tourists are also forced to follow the dress code. I was one one of the women who objected to the ban. Women should have the right to choose what they wear," Alinjead explained.

Thus, although headscarves are not Iranian woman's biggest issues, protesting it is the first step in saying no to misogyny and assuming control of female bodies.

Even though dissatisfaction with the current government prevails, as observed in the 2009 and 2017 nation-wide protests, no opposition group has been able to gain the trust of various Iranian components. Suffering from a history of disillusionments and distrust reinforced under the dictatorship, Iranians are divided across the lines of religion, ethnicity, class and sexual orientations.

The anti-compulsory hijab protest has been unique since it has united women of different components. Though faced with some criticism at the beginning, the campaign has been gaining increasing support in Iran as more women have defied the dress code….

The Iranian government proves to be terrified of a highly politicized headscarf which symbolizes women powers and civil disobedience. Four decades of authority, regional proxies, a massive army, billions of dollars in oil money, and state-run tribunes and media have not been able to silence women.

One lot who won't be supporting Iranian women, I think it's safe to assume, will be the left in general and the Labour Party in particular. Great leader Jeremy Corbyn has worked for Iranian Press TV, and taken the regime dollar. Since Iran is hostile to the US, and the left is hostile to the US, loyalties are clear. That's dialectical thinking for you.

Indeed, with perfect timing, we've just had World Hijab Day, in which the great and the good get the chance to do some virtue-signalling by donning a hijab – women only, of course – and singing its praises. Read all about My Hijab is the most empowering garment, and I have never felt more beautiful and confident. 

And if you object, as Jerry Coyne reports, well, they try to get you kicked out of college. That's how empowering it is.