Men in Iran Are Wearing Hijabs to Show Solidarity With Women

Men in Iran are wearing hijabs to show solidarity with women who are protesting again wearing them.

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Complex Original

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Men in Iran have begun to sport hijabs to show support for women who are forced to wear the head scarf in the country. They are posting photos of themselves online under the hashtag #meninhijab, according to The Independent.

Iranian activist Masih Alinejad started the campaign on July 20, calling on men to speak out against the law that requires women to wear hijabs. Women in the country have been required to wear a head scarf in public since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and those caught wearing one improperly or not wearing one at all by undercover "morality police" can be punished with fines or arrest for "bad hijab." 

Alinejad told the Independent she has received 30 photos of men in hijabs since she put out a call on her group's Facebook page, My Stealthy Freedom. In an interview with the publication, she stressed the importance of men stepping up to protest the requirement even if it does not directly affect them. 

“Most of these men are living inside Iran and they have witnessed how their female relatives have been suffering at the hands of the morality police and humiliation of enforced hijab," she said. “For years, from childhood to womanhood, we’ve been forced to wear the compulsory head scarf and for years we have had to endure the loss of our dignity. Many men have gotten used to seeing women in compulsory hijab every day and you think that is normal. But for millions of Iranian women, this compulsory hijab is an insult to their dignity."

Women have undertaken a variety of campaigns to protest the hijab requirement, including cutting their hair and dressing like men. In the past, Alinejad, who is from Iran but lives in New York, called on Western tourists to eschew the head scarf rule when visiting the country in protest. She also started a campaign that asked women to post photos of themselves without a hijab online and received thousands of photos in response. The difference with this campaign is that it forces men to consider the restriction as well. 

One participant in the #meninhijab campaign said in the caption of a photo of him wearing his female cousin's head scarf that the action has "given way to further discussions and soul-searching about the veil."

"This new campaign launched by men to don the veil might appear to be insignificant to certain people," he said. "However, in retrospect, one cannot refute the fact that this campaign has given way to further discussions and soul-searching about the veil, and in this respect, its utility cannot be challenged. It is useful because it highlights women's rights--that we should not treat women as objects. Just like many educated women in the world, Iranian women should live in full enjoyment of their rights and they should be the ones determining what to wear."

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