Many of these images are going around the world and surely you have already seen them on social networks: women cutting their hair as a form of protest and solidarity with the demonstrations that have been taking place for weeks in Iran .
The protests, described as a women’s revolution in the conservative Middle Eastern country, were provoked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman Kurdish from years that she fell into a coma after being arrested by the morality police on 13 September in Tehran, for allegedly violating the law that requires women to cover their hair with a veil or handkerchief.
Amini died in hospital three days later.
The police maintain that he collapsed in a detention center after suffering a heart attack, but his family alleges that the officers beat him They hit her head with a baton and hit her against one of her vehicles
Since then, the protests spread and included other demands such as putting an end to to mandatory hijab (veil covering the head) laws. Now they have become national demonstrations against the leaders of Iran and the entire clerical establishment.
Iranian women carry out symbolic acts such as throwing their hijabs in the air, chanting slogans against the government and cutting a lock of their hair in protest.
Now, this act of cutting hair is is becoming a symbol of solidarity in Iran and internationally.
But where does this gesture come from?
A symbol of sadness and anger
Activists have commented that the symbol of cutting hair is an ancient Persian tradition of protest and sadness.
Shara Atashi, a writer and translator based in Wales, said on Twitter that this tradition can be found in the Shahnameh, an ancient and famous epic of the Persian world written around the year 976 by Ferdowsi, considered one of the most important authors of the Persian language.
According to Mehrdad Darvishpour, an Iranian sociologist at the University of Malardalen in Sweden, tells the BBC Mundo, this tradition has been mutating in meaning.
“Historically, in the province of Kurdistan, when people lost their a close friend or family member, cut their hair as a sign of sadness“, explains Darvishpur.
“In fact, it currently started to show sadness and solidarity for the death of Masha Amini, but now it is more of a protest action against the government , also a sign of anger“, adds the sociologist.
“Traditionally, long hair is very important for our women, so cutting it is a protest action against anti-feminine ideology and now also a symbol of solidarity“, says Darvishpour.
Who has shown public solidarity?
Several videos on social networks have shown women in Iran and the world cutting their hair.
One of the most outstanding public acts was that of Abir al Sahlani, a Swedish deputy of Iraqi origin in the European Parliament.
Full When speaking before Parliament, Al Sahlani took out a pair of scissors, cut a lock of hair and called for more action by the European Union (EU) against Iran.
“We, citizens of the EU, demand the immediate and unconditional stop of the violence against women and men in Iran”, said the deputy last Tuesday.
“Women, life, freedom!”, she shouted while holding her cut hair.
The same day, various stars of French cinema such as Isabelle Huppert, Juliette Binoche and Marion Cotillard posted videos on Instagram cutting their hair.
Days before, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian citizen who spent six years in jail in Iran, also posted a video of himself cutting his hair.
Worldwide , solidarity protests in different countries have also involved images of women cutting their hair.
Inclusive protests
Civil freedom groups have denounced for years the discrimination of Iranian women, an entire part of society considered the great loser after the Islamic revolution of 1979.
Iranian women were forced to wear the hijab shortly after the revolution and lost many of their rights.
The current protests have been described by analysts as much more inclusive than others that have happened in recent decades.
“The fact that many men join to the protests indicates that society has moved towards more progressive demands”, says Darvishpour.
The slogan pronounced by the Swedish parliamentarian, “Women, Life, Freedom”, is considered as a call for equality and a stance against religious fundamentalism.
In 2009, the so-called Revolution Iran’s Green mainly involved the middle class protesting against accusations of electoral fraud.
These were widespread demonstrations, although they were concentrated in the big cities. In 2017 and 2019 more protests took place, although these were limited to impoverished areas.
But the current movement seems to involve both middle class and working class citizens. In that sense, they seem to be much more inclusive.
“We are witnessing the birth of a super movement”, Darvishpour says.
A movement that was being led by women but has managed to bring together many others, including strong international support and solidarity from many other citizens in the world.
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