Iranian Women Teach Us To Reclaim Autonomy Over Our Bodies

Iran is going through a tumultuous period due to the uprising wave which has swept the country since the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. Her death over a violation of the country's strict hijab rules has catalysed a wave of protests against the Iranian government. The protesters seek to go beyond merely reforming the strict rules about women’s dress and extend to broadly expanding freedoms.

Moreover, it is the women’s outrage that is the real driving force, it is their pent-up determination that seeks to create real change in the Islamic Republic.

Amini had been detained by the country's morality police on September 13 for allegedly wearing her hijab too loosely in violation of strictures imposed on women; she died three days later. Iranian authorities said she had a heart attack but hadn't been harmed. Her family, on the other hand, disputed these claims, leading to a public outcry. Massive protests started after the 22-year-old's funeral, with the Iranian government pushing back, clashing with demonstrators and clamping down on internet access.

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Iran Protests: Women Reclaim Autonomy Over Their Rights, Bodies

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Iranian-American writer Masih Alinejad spoke about the messages she's received in recent days from women in Iran protesting against their government.

She said they talk about the risks in facing off against government forces that have a long history of cracking down on dissent. They share stories of saying goodbye to their parents, possibly for the last time. Women have also sent her videos of confrontations with police, of removing their state-mandated head coverings and cutting their hair.

“We deserve the same freedom," Alinejad said. “We are fighting for our dignity. We are fighting for the same slogan — My body, my choice." Alinejad, an opposition activist and writer in exile, has been living in New York City since fleeing Iran following the 2009 election.

Two-time Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (A Separation), who is currently presiding over the Zurich Film Festival jury, issued a statement and a video appeal urging artists around the world to proclaim their solidarity with the Iranian women.

“I saw them closely these nights,” Farhadi said in his appeal. “Most of them are very young — 17 years old, 20 years old. I saw outrage and hope in their faces and in the way they marched in the streets,” the director noted.

“I deeply respect their struggle for freedom and the right to choose their own destiny despite all the brutality they are subjected to. I am proud of my country’s powerful women, and I sincerely hope that through their efforts, they reach their goals,” he added.

Despite the anger, protests and support, people are bullied, discriminated against and arrested, simply for making choices about their bodies and their lives. A woman is refused contraception, a teenager is denied a life-saving termination because abortion is illegal in her country and a young woman is killed for a loose head scarf. All in the name of state intervention.

Time and again, we hear ourselves repeating that it's her choice, it is the right of an individual woman to decide how to clothe herself, and how much she'll cover herself. And yet it is she who suffers for merely exercising her right.

Women’s bodies have been, for far too long, controlled by the male gaze, inadvertently putting many in a vulnerable state. It is insane how a piece of clothing on a woman is seen as a measure of society's progress. Why do leaders, particularly men in power, around the world feel they need to set imperatives for women's clothes and lifestyles, thus curbing their choices? Regardless of whether it's due to governance or adherence to religion, they cannot set precedents aligning with their point of view.

It is important to pass laws that actively affirm fundamental equality—such that women have control over their lives—otherwise, we remain perpetually vulnerable. People should be held accountable for their actions, not for their appearance or choices.

Views expressed by the author are their own.

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