#HairForFreedom: A Solidarity Support for Iranian Women
The death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman who died after being arrested by the Iranian morality police, sparked a #HairForFreedom campaign to show support for Iranian women’s freedom. This campaign sees a number of famous French actresses filming themselves cutting their hair off.
The video, which was posted on Wednesday (Oct. 5th), went viral on Instagram and Twitter showing the likes of Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard, Julie Gayet, Isabelle Adjani, Isabelle Hupert, and many others chopping locks of their hair. It is a symbolic gesture to show support for Iranian women asking for their life’s essential: freedom.
The Arrest of Mahsa Amini
Mahsa Amini was arrested on Sept. 13th in Tehran for not wearing her headscarves (hijab) properly in accordance with the country’s strict religious laws. According to the Times of India, under Iran’s law, women need to wear headscarves to completely cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes. Offenders of this law will face public rebuke, fines, or arrest.
Three days later on Sept. 16th, Mahsa Amini died in “morality police” custody. As cited in Deadline.com, “police said she died of a heart attack, but eyewitnesses and people who were detained with the young woman said she was severely beaten.”.
The protest erupts across Iran. BBC reported that this public unrest killed at least 201 people (until Oct. 13th).
Iranian women show their anger against the morality police by cutting their hair and burning their headscarves. In a country where women can’t show their hair, which is a symbol of beauty, cutting off hair is such a strong way to express a protest.
This form of protest didn’t come from nowhere. It has long historical cultural practices. Faezeh Afshan, a 36-year-old Iranian chemical engineer living in Bologna, Italy, told CNN that, “in our literature, cutting the hair is a symbol of mourning, and sometimes a symbol of protesting,”.
This protest has received sympathy worldwide, especially from the Middle East, Europe, and the US. Women around the world show their solidarity for the situation in Iran by cutting their hair in public or being filmed. Then they posted it on social media with the hashtag #HairForFreedom.
Soutienfemmesiran and A Support for Freedom
An Instagram account with the username of ‘soutienfemmesiran’ (which translates as “support women in Iran”) posted several videos (including the one mentioned before) of people cutting their hair off as a support for the protest in Iran.
The one video from soutienfemmesiran that went viral on the internet started with Juliette Binoche holding her hair up high and then cutting off a small portion of her hair whilst yelling “for freedom!”. Afterward, the video continues with the compilation of several public figures cutting their hair off with the music background of the Persian version of Bella Ciao (an Italian anthem for the resistance movement by partisans opposing fascism in the second World War).
In that video, soutienfemmesiran has a strong message to support the women of Iran. Soutienfemmesiran writes that, “these women, these men, are asking for our support. Their courage and dignity compel us. It’s impossible not to denounce again and again this terrible repression. Deaths after deaths are already counted by dozens, including children. The arrests will only increase the number of prisoners already illegally held and too often tortured. So we decided to answer the call that was thrown at us by cutting some of these locks.” #HairForFreedom.
