No to Mandatory Hijab; A Social Movement

A thought-provoking social wave protesting mandatory hijab has recently impacted a significant part of Iranian society, a movement that openly challenges the current unfavorable situation regarding dress codes and seeks change in a civil and peaceful manner. In the first week of December last year, an anonymous girl—later identified as Vida Mohammadi—hung her headscarf on a stick in Tehran's Enghelab Street. She stood on a platform without a headscarf covering her hair, expressing her protest against mandatory dress codes silently. This meaningful action initially went unnoticed amidst the protests in December. A few weeks later, on February 9, another girl (Narges Hosseini) expressed a similar protest at the same location, this time wearing a green bracelet; her protest, like the first famous case, resulted in her arrest. However, on that day—and thereafter—other women and girls in Tehran and some cities in Iran hung their scarves and shawls on sticks to protest mandatory hijab, a protest that has continued despite police and judicial crackdowns, reflecting various responses (both supportive and opposing). A significant empathetic reaction was a design drawn by Zahra Rahnavard from her seven-year house arrest, on which she wrote: 'I oppose mandatory hijab.' It seems that what has become known as the protest against mandatory hijab, and is being shared and promoted online under the title 'Girls of Enghelab Street' and the related hashtag, can be examined from the perspective of social movements. Social scientists emphasize the following distinguishing features and definitions of social movements (especially new social movements): Protesters were not and are not members of a political organization; they acted to create new values and change rules and norms, an action stemming from their individual feelings of deprivation that connected the activists through empathy and a shared identity. It is a reaction to critical situations that often arises from the formation of a shared identity as a new organization for collective solidarity. It is an effort to create new values or a new understanding of norms, and an attempt to change rules, aiming to achieve a 'desired situation' through critiquing the 'existing situation'; an action that is the product of collective action and reflects the feeling of deprivation among the movement's sympathizers, linking them through a shared identity. It is a non-organizational interaction among various activists, a fluid phenomenon; an action with empathetic bias and shared awareness and feelings of empathy among activists and participants to pursue common goals and visions. The collective identity of the activists is their 'subject of struggle,' and their social vision or model and ultimate goal define and clarify it. A shared set of beliefs and attachments creates a kind of political conflict or cultural dispute with the established order; a challenge that benefits from public and open protests to achieve its goals. It is an important witness and sign of social transformation that the established order is unable to control and contain; a transformation that aligns and empathizes various social layers across different ages. It is the main source of conflict and change, and the first joint for connecting with new political views that exert pressure on political regimes to recognize concerns and articulate new demands. It is the central part of what is described with concepts and terms such as 'civil society' or 'public sphere.' Among the methods through which the moral perspectives and general demands and inspirations of citizens are transformed into political and managerial demands. It is a rational and civil effort aimed at positive outcomes that focuses on expanding and deepening citizens' rights and establishing a rational government to reduce social inequalities. It is a purposeful and pragmatic effort in the public sphere that aims to change the balance of power between civil society and government, and impose demands on the political system. Group action patterns based on non-violence and civil disobedience tend to decentralization and autonomy of groups and self-reference of activists, contrary to centralized bureaucracies and classic political parties. Notably, the social capital of social movements is reproduced and strengthened along their path, providing a basis for increasing their capability and impact. No to Mandatory Hijab; A New Social Movement From the perspective of the features and components outlined above, particularly relying on the characteristics of new social movements, what is currently occurring in the form of protests against mandatory dress codes in Iran shows prominent signs of social movements. Anonymous girls and women, peacefully and civilly standing on platforms and hanging their scarves and shawls on sticks, are not only protesting in the capital or a specific area of Tehran. Among them, there are young, middle-aged, and elderly individuals, from the cultural middle class to affluent layers. Even in Mashhad—characterized by its unique cultural, religious, and political features—a girl in a chador expressed similar empathy and solidarity with the hijab-less protesters in Tehran. The activists of this movement protest the unfavorable situation regarding mandatory dress codes, pursue their desired situation, have civilly paid the cost of expressing their dissent, and seek to change the official and imposed norms by the government. The comments of some activists in this social movement are also thought-provoking and reflect some of its dimensions; they emphasize that they have consciously and personally engaged in this protest to respect their beliefs and norms, standing firm on the costs of their actions and not regretting their actions. Protesters against mandatory hijab seek to change the balance of power between civil society and the government—regarding mandatory dress codes—by relying on civil disobedience and non-violent protests. This effort, however, has not been without costs. Protesters against mandatory hijab have engaged in tangible activism and practical expression within Iranian civil society, provoking a wave of negative and positive reactions. Their actions have elicited responses from senior judicial officials, Friday prayer leaders, members of parliament, city council members, as well as political analysts and artists. Protesters were not and are not members of a political organization; they acted to create new values and change rules and norms, an action that stemmed from their feelings of deprivation and connected the activists through empathy and a shared identity. Their activism in the public sphere has become an important topic for dialogue and exchange of ideas and has sparked an unavoidable controversy. Protesters against mandatory hijab seek to change the balance of power between civil society and the government—regarding mandatory dress codes—by relying on civil disobedience and non-violent protests. This effort has not been without costs; heavy bail for detainees, threats with serious charges and judicial sentences, and strict measures against them even in detention (such as the lack of necessary legal and medical attention to Maryam Shariati, a girl who was thrown down from a platform by a police officer and suffered leg injuries) are some of the costs imposed on the protesters and accepted by them. Despite these challenges, it seems that the protest movement against mandatory hijab, based on its components and the characteristics it has displayed, has not only not come to an end but will continue.