Iranian and American Feminists Declare Solidarity during Iran-wide Protests
FSR, Inc. invites you to read this signed message of solidarity between Iranian and American feminists, which includes some members of the FSR, Inc. organization:
Iranian and American Feminists Declare Solidarity during Iran-wide Protests
January 16, 2018
As the largest wave of protests since the 2009 Green Movement erupted across more than 80 cities and towns in Iran (in late December 2017 to early January of 2018), we again saw women’s active participation.
Women have played an active role in people’s fighting back against the economic hardship, increasing corruption, and oppressive rules in Iran, especially discrimination and violence on the bases of gender, sexuality, religion and ethnic differences. Furthermore, in the past 30 years, the women’s rights movement has become an essential part of the civil rights and pro-democracy struggles of Iranians under the theocratic regime.
However, as in many other Muslim-majority countries, Iranian feminists and gender activists frequently get caught within a double bind: On one hand, there is a patriarchal cultural and legal system reinforced by the ruling clerics and fundamentalists inside the country; on the other are interventionist forces in the West who exploit women’s rights for their own benefit.
On December 26, just a couple of days preceding the surge of protests in Iran, the photo of a brave Iranian woman objecting to the compulsory hijab in Tehran went viral. The woman, seen standing on a platform with her white scarf tied to a pole she is waving gently and her head bare, was not the first one to defy the compulsory veiling; her action was part of the women’s rights movement in Iran, specifically the campaign for freedom of choice concerning women’s dress code.
Unfortunately, some right-wing individuals or media outlets have used the aforementioned anti-compulsory hijab action to score points against American feminists who have been at the forefront of the resistance movement against the sexist actions and regressive policies shown by any governments in the U.S., past or present—especially those of President Trump. Some who have no record of advocacy for American women’s rights at home have suddenly become advocates of women’s rights abroad, particularly in Iran—and, ironically, have used their sudden fervor as an excuse to attack women’s groups, activists and feminist activism in efforts such as the Women’s March and the #MeToo movement. Of particular note were their attacks on some participants or organizers of the Women’s March who were wearing headscarves; attempting to pit them against that brave Iranian woman who had taken off her headscarf. (link)
We hereby raise our objection to such opportunistic and divisive tactics. The struggle of Iranian women should not be used to undermine the work of American feminists, especially those who have worked to build the largest day of an inclusive global protest in the history of the world. While the Iranian women protesting compulsory hijab policies reckon with them by removing their scarves, the campaign’s message is even more astute. Their campaign is one for a woman’s right to wear or not wear a headscarf by their own choosing—not by force and state imposition. Painting an American Muslim woman activist with a headscarf as a “fake feminist” and pitting her against that bare-headed Iranian woman is no more than a cynical attempt to cause conflict—and does nothing to further international solidarity and transnational sisterhood among women fighting for equal rights and freedom of choice. (link)
The women challenging the compulsory hijab in Iran are fighting for their dignity—just as generations of Iranian women have since the first Iranian feminists began organizing in the early 20th century. Iranian women have been tirelessly challenging inequality in every possible area of their public and personal lives—from fighting unjust family laws, to the equal access to education and employment, for the right to play and watch sports in stadiums, to the right to participate in political leadership of their country as a presidential candidate. And so are the women marching in the U.S.—who are, with more energy than ever, fighting hard to end sexual harassment, demanding freedom of choice and challenging racism, homophobia, xenophobia and exploitation.
Just as Americans stood with Iranians and other immigrant groups opposing the unjust travel ban, American feminists have and will continue to stand with Iranian women in their fight for equality at home in Iran and abroad as immigrants. We will not let our mutual struggles for freedom and justice be appropriated and used to attack other defenders of women’s rights. We will not allow the fight of Iranian women for freedom, equality and justice to be co-opted and used against women elsewhere.
We can, and must, ensure that our fight for women’s rights and freedoms are aligned and intersectional. We will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in this fight for the common causes of democracy, equal rights, peace and non-violence—nationally and transnationally—across ideological or sectarian, racial, ethnic, sexual or national backgrounds.
Feminism is a movement built on solidarity and intersectionality, and our fight for gender equality knows no borders.
Click here to see the full list of signatures of the joint solidarity message (Google doc).