A 22-year-old woman named Mahsa Amini breathed her last after morality police arrested her for not wearing her hijab properly. Her death set the country on fire of protests. Many Iranian women took to the streets to vent their frustration against the oppressive state laws. Not just that they have also given up their hijabs to show their resistance.  

Women have always found themselves at the receiving end when it comes to oppressive state rules. The scenario attains its worst form when one ventures into the middle-east countries. However it takes only a flash of brutality to upend the exploitative set-up. Something of that sort is brewing in Iran. The country is toiling in the whirl of protests. Women are pushing their hijabs back to show their resentment against state’s stature. Not just that the protests have also taken up international colors.

It only takes a spark to gut down the entire empire. This stands very true for Iran. In 2022 a 22-year-old woman named Mahsa Amini died in the custody of the morality police in Iran. The morality police arrested Amini for not wearing her hijab properly. Her death stirred public outrage. Women began to jump on the street to raise their voices against the brutal state laws. Not just that they also showed their contempt by taking off their hijabs in full public view.

Iran made hijab mandatory for women in 1981. Since then many women have overtaken that law. But this time it is not one or two women. Scores of women have ripped the law apart to voice their calls for freedom. For instance two young women celebrated their breakfast time in a restaurant in Tehran with hijabs. They also posted their picture.

Another woman marched on the road in Tehran without her hijab on and holding a placard. The placard read “Women life freedom.” The caption of the video said “A powerful solo protest in the Iranian capital: a woman is walking hijabless with a sign that says: Woman life freedom.” Well these daring acts have not gone unnoticed. The state authorities have responded with many stringent measures. Police cracked down on the sea of protestors.

However that has not thwarted women from expressing their stance against the state. According to Paris-based Iranian-French sociologist Azadeh Kian “More and more women are likely to remove their headscarves in public and resist the compulsory hijab law. Until now they didn't dare to walk bareheaded in public. Today they have found the courage.”

Well protests do not signal an ephemeral scenario. Many experts expect it to leave a long-lasting impact on the social and political structure of the country. Women are also not ready to give in without winning their due freedom. Taking on that Kian shared “Without changing the hijab law they could become more lax towards women violating it but they will pay a price because more women will be encouraged to follow suit.”

Another woman in Tehran also shared a similar view. She said “I used to remove my headscarf in some restaurants where I knew the owners. I'm now determined to do it more often in public it's the least I can do after the death of Amini and the [state] violence.” According to her “things won't go back to the way they were.”          

Well protests have seen the participation of women from all walks of life. Actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya addressed the media at the public funeral in Tehran without wearing her hijab. Many actresses have also posted their pictures without wearing their hijabs.