These Brave Women In Iran Are Shedding Their Hijabs And Posting The Pictures To Facebook (Photos)
In Iran, it's been against the law for over 30 years for women to leave the house without their heads covered in some way.
Although punishments range from fines to imprisonment, these days, more and more women are taking off their hijabs to allow themselves a bit more personal freedom.
Now trending in Tehran, women have started posting photos of themselves minus headscarves onto a Facebook page, "My Stealthy Freedom." The page was originally started by political journalist Masih Alinejad. Now living in the UK, she posted a photo of herself without the hijab and received thousands of likes.
With "My Stealthy Freedom," which has already garnered 130,000 likes, Alinejad is encouraging other women to do the same — or at least explore the idea of whether they want to be walking around with their heads covered or not.
"My hair was like a hostage to the government. The government still has a lot of hostages."
Since its inception, the Facebook page has posted around 150 photos of Iranian women who have taken off the headscarves, but Alinejad insists that the page itself is not political. Rather, she said, it's about personal decision.
"These are not women activists, but just ordinary women talking from their hearts."
But in a country where law dictates that women can not be in public without proper covering, the movement to allow more women freedom of dress is inherently political. And women are clearly appreciating having a space where they can, in a little way, allow themselves to be heard and seen for who they really are.
One poster to the Facebook page wrote that her issue was "not having to wear the headscarf. My problem is not having a choice." Another echoed those sentiments, writing that "Stealthy freedom means, just for a few seconds, I will be what I want to be."
In showing how Iranian women live their lives — at the beach or on a hike, for example — just as normally without the headscarf, hopefully this Facebook page will continue to open up a dialogue about the laws dictating how women must cover up, inviting more women to be participants in the fight to see their own rights realized.
