Iran has one of the strictest laws surrounding women in the world.
Currently, it is a criminal offence for a woman to walk down the street with her hair exposed for everyone to see. The country enforces these strict rules with the help of the Gashte Ershad, or the ‘morality police’ as they are commonly known.
The Economist, who have written about the morality police before, set the scene quite well.
“The morality police are a common sight on Tehran’s busy street corners, accompanied by chadoe-clad female assistants who have the grisly task of forcing unco-operative women into the back of minivans. Detained women are then driven to the Vozara correctional facility, where they are lectured on how to be better citizens”
However, Iranian women have been pushing back at the conservative governments oppressive laws, using social media to leverage their cause.
In 2014, political journalist Masih Alinejad created a Facebook page asking women to pose in public places without wearing a hijab and post it online.
The page, My Stealthy Family, soon became a forum and a refuge for many women who felt that the laws were really outdated. It became quite popular, not only in Iran, but all over the world.
The newest act of defiance from an increasingly awake Iranian population has been the hashtag #meninhijab. Where males comprised of brothers, fathers, cousins and friends post a photo of themselves online wearing a hijab to highlight how this particular item of clothing is outdated and restricted. The posts urge more men to try it and see how it feels.
Hundreds of men have been posting to the Facebook page recently, wearing the hijab to show solidarity with their female family members and friends.
It’s really sweet:
It’s certainly a small step but, it’s one in the right direction.
