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My Stealthy Freedom is an online
movement
Movement may refer to:
Common uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
Arts, entertainment, and media
Literature
* "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...
that was started in 2014 by
Masih Alinejad
Masih Alinejad ( fa, مسیح علینژاد, born Masoumeh Alinejad-Ghomikolayi ( fa, معصومه علینژاد قمی کُلایی), September 11, 1976) is an Iranian-American journalist, author, and women's rights activist. Alinejad c ...
, an Iranian-born journalist and activist based in the United Kingdom and the United States. This movement started as a
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
page, called ''My Stealthy Freedom'', where
women in Iran
Throughout history, women in Iran have played numerous roles, and contributed in many ways, to Iranian society. Historically, tradition maintained that women be confined to their homes so that they could manage the household and raise children ...
post photos of themselves without
scarves
A scarf, plural ''scarves'', is a piece of fabric worn around the neck or head for warmth, sun protection, cleanliness, fashion, religious reasons, or used to show the support for a sports club or team. They can be made in a variety of differ ...
, as a protest against the
compulsory hijab laws in the country. By the end of 2016, the page has surpassed 1 million Facebook likes. The initiative has received wide international and national coverage, and has been both praised and criticized.
Chronology
The Facebook page called Stealthy Freedom was set up on 5 May 2014 and it is dedicated to posting images of women with their hijab (scarf) removed. Many women have submitted their pictures without hijab, taken in various locations: parks, beaches, markets, streets, and elsewhere. Alinejad said that the campaign began rather simply:
In a few days, the page had received over 100,000 likes. In early 2015, it jumped up to 760,000 followers, and by the end of 2016, it reached over 968,000 likes.
In an interview with
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in 2014, Alinejad insisted that women who have sent their photos are "not women activists, but just ordinary women talking from their hearts". Many of the pictures were accompanied by captions, some in a poetic language, and others were mischievous or defiant. Many captions have placed the emphasis on a right to choose or freedom of choice. In January 2015, Alinejad also launched ''#myforbiddensong'' as part of the My Stealthy Freedom campaign, and two months later she revived the
Green movement
Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It be ...
slogan "You are all media".
''My Stealthy Freedom'' has been described as an extremely active and lively space, publishing each month around 35–50 new pieces of content which are shared by hundreds of people. In mid-2014, ''#MyStealthyFreedom'' became an internationally used
hashtag
A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...
on Facebook and Twitter, averaging one million shares per week. By the end of 2016, the page had shared over 2,000 photos of Iranian women without the hijab. The page has gained many international supporters, posts are published mostly in Persian with English and French translations.
In May 2017, Alinejad launched the White Wednesdays campaign, encouraging women to remove their headscarves on Wednesdays or wear white shawls as a sign of protest.
Reactions
Related and rival initiatives
Following Alinejad's initiative,
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
people also opened a Facebook page, ''My Stealthy Homosexual Freedom'', posting images with the inverted aesthetics of covered faces with
rainbow flag
A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the spectral colors of the visible light spectrum.
The LGBT flag introduced in 1978 is the most recognized u ...
s or headless images. Iman Ganji, a doctoral student from
Free University of Berlin
The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...
, sees both pages as a result of general political transformation in mid-2010s, when a new
middle-right government replaced the
far-right one, and states that the struggle for the liberation of desire has long allied women's and queer movements together in Iran. In mid-2016, some Iranian men started ''
Men In Hijab'' campaign, expressing their thoughts as well as briefly wearing the hijab themselves. This Facebook page has received over 100,000 likes and is largest among rival initiatives, but it has been criticized by foreign commentators as "laddish" for containing juvenile jokes, cartoons and videos. Among other smaller rivals is the ''Real Freedom of Iranian Women'' page, launched exactly a week after the ''My Stealthy Freedom'', with a message celebrating the veil: "Beautiful Hijab, My Right, My Choice, My Life". Former page has received less than 10,000 likes and has also been criticized for insisting that Stealthy Freedom is part of a soft war against Iran, and also for trying to generate fear.
Praise
Sedigheh Karimi, a researcher at the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
, argued in 2014 that virtual environment like ''My Stealthy Freedom'' provides opportunities for independent representation and for introducing new identities. Alison N. Novak from
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
and Emad Khazraee from the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
stressed importance of breaking boundaries of
the state's internet censorship efforts: "The goal of My Stealthy Freedom is to mobilize public opinion regarding the issue of women's rights, hijab, and the female body."
Gholam Khiabany
Gholam Khiabany is an Iranian-British media scholar and Reader in Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is known for his works on media in the Middle East and the relationship between media and religion.
Career
Khiaban ...
, a reader in media and communications department at
Goldsmiths, University of London
Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...
, has praised Alinejad's campaign, as has Victoria Tahmasebi-Birgani, an assistant professor of women and gender studies at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
. According to Gi Yeon Koo, a cultural anthropologist from
Seoul National University
Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...
, "This online movement finds its value in that it has become a new platform for women to raise their voices in the public sphere." As Iman Ganji, Koo also aligns the movement with social changes started since
Hassan Rouhani
Hassan Rouhani ( fa, حسن روحانی, Standard Persian pronunciation: ; born Hassan Fereydoun ( fa, حسن فریدون, links=no); 12 November 1948) is an Iranian politician who served as the seventh president of Iran from 2013 to 2021. ...
assumed the presidency. In 2015 the
Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy The Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy is an annual human rights summit sponsored by a coalition of 20 non-governmental organizations. Each year, on the eve of the United Nations Human Rights Council's main annual session, activists from a ...
gave Alinejad its women's rights award for "stirring the conscience of humanity to support the struggle of Iranian women for basic human rights."
Criticism
There are no official statistics to show what percentage of Iranian women is against mandatory wearing of the hijab. One western researcher says, "It is true that there are still many women in Iranian society who choose, of their own will, to retain the image of the hijab and wear the most conservative type of hijab. Furthermore, it cannot be said that the women participating in this stealthy movement of removing their hijab are the majority."
Misinformation
In early June 2014, Masih Alinejad was the target of a misinformation campaign by Iranian state television, which falsely claimed that Alinejad was a target of sexual violence. Alinejad said that the story is false.
See also
*
Blogging in Iran Following a crackdown on Iranian media beginning in 2000 many Iranians turned to weblogging to provide and find political news. The first Persian language blog is thought to have been created by Hossein Derakhshan, (in Canada), in 2001. Derakhshan a ...
*
*
Death of Mahsa Amini
On 16 September 2022, the 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, also known as Jina Amini,; ku, ژینا ئەمینی, Jîna Emînî died in a hospital in Tehran, Iran, under suspicious circumstances. The Guidance Patrol, the religious mor ...
*
International Women's Day Protests in Tehran, 1979
On International Women's Day on March 8, 1979, a women's march took place in Tehran in Iran. The march was originally intended to celebrate the International Women's Day, but transformed into massive protests against the changes taking place in ...
*
Iranian clothing
Traditional Persian clothing can be seen in Persian miniature paintings, employ both vivid and muted colors for clothing, although the colors of paint pigment often do not match the colors of dyes.
The clothing of ancient Iran took an advanced f ...
*
Iranian protests against compulsory hijab
The Girls of Enghelab protests ( fa, دختران انقلاب) are protests against the compulsory hijab in Iran, part of the wider Iranian Democracy Movement. The protests were inspired by Vida Movahed, an Iranian woman known as the Girl of ...
*
Kashf-e hijab
On 8 January 1936, Reza Shah of Iran (Persia) issued a decree known as ''Kashf-e hijab'' (also Romanized as "Kashf-e hijāb" and "Kashf-e hejāb", fa, کشف حجاب, lit=Unveiling) banning all Islamic veils (including hijab and chador), a ...
*
Mahsa Amini protests
Civil unrest and protests against the government of Iran associated with the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini ( fa, مهسا امینی) began on 16 September 2022 and are ongoing as of December 2022. Amini had been arrested by the Guida ...
*
Persian clothing
Traditional Persian clothing can be seen in Persian miniature paintings, employ both vivid and muted colors for clothing, although the colors of paint pigment often do not match the colors of dyes.
The clothing of ancient Iran took an advanced f ...
*
Topfreedom
Topfreedom is a cultural and political movement seeking changes in laws to allow women to be topless in public places where men are permitted to be barechested, as a form of gender equality. Specifically, the movement seeks the repeal or overtur ...
*
Yasmine Mohammed
Yasmine Mohammed is a Canadian university instructor, human rights activist and author. Mohammed, who escaped from a forced, abusive marriage to Al-Qaeda operative Essam Marzouk, became an advocate for women's rights through her non-profit ...
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
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Further reading
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External links
My Stealthy Freedom (official website)My Stealthy Freedom (official website, former domain)
Internet activism
Facebook pages
Islamic extremism
Sex segregation and Islam
Women's rights in Iran
Controversies in the United Kingdom