'I Oppose the Mandatory Hijab' Button Campaign Puts Iranian Women's Rights Front and Center

‘I Oppose the Mandatory Hijab’ Button Campaign Puts Iranian Women’s Rights Front and Center
4/3/2023 by Parisa Saranj
Buttons that say “I oppose the mandatory hijab” in Persian are cropping up around the world and on social media—showing that the fight for women’s rights in Iran is a global one.

Last week, I received in the mail three buttons with the Iranian flag’s white, green and red colors. The package came from Jeff Kaufman and Marcia Ross, the director and producer (respectively) of the documentary Nasrin (2021) and the force behind a global solidarity campaign supporting the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran. Dubbed the #FreedomButton, they read, “I oppose the mandatory hijab” in Persian.


iran-women-hijab-headscarf-rightsParisa Saranj wears the #FreedomButton.


For me, the word hijab evokes a flood of thoughts and emotions. Wearing it never bothered me when I was growing up in Isfahan, a small, conservative town in central Iran. It was the 1990s, and most things, including following strict laws, were matters of survival. The lines were clear: To live in Iran is to live a double life, where the public and the private are kept apart. At home, my parents never cared how much of my hair peeped under my headscarf.

It wasn’t until I came to America when I was 18 that, for the first time, the debate around hijab grabbed my attention. I met first-generation Iranians who were forced by their religious parents to wear the hijab. I also met children of Muslim immigrants who wanted to wear the hijab, but were forbidden by their parents who, in the rise of post-9/11 Islamophobia, were concerned for their safety. I realized wearing the hijab had never bothered me because I had the sanctuary of my home and progressive parents. Most importantly, I was privileged to have the luxury of immigrating to America. I had a choice. The “I oppose the mandatory hijab” buttons represent Iranian women today who don’t have choices.



Demonstrators burn headscarves during a solidarity protest outside the United Nations’ offices in the city of Qamishli in Syria’s northeastern Hasakeh province on Oct. 10, 2022. The banner depicts 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. (Delil Souleiman / AFP via Getty Images)

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iran-women-hijab-headscarf-rightsNasrin Sotoudeh (left) wearing two Freedom Buttons, Farhad Meysami and Reza Khandan. (Courtesy)
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Today’s #FreedomButton Campaign

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Nasrin Sotoudeh played a large role in making the fight for the hijab one that demands global attention. Sotoudeh’s famous quote: “If the government can dictate what you have on your head, it can dictate what you have in your head,” inspired Elise Auerbach, the Iran country specialist at Amnesty USA, to get involved in the fight.

The #FreedomButton campaign is about standing up to oppressive authoritarians and their brutal crackdowns on women—but it is also about recognizing how the Iranian government pits ordinary citizens against one another. CCTV footage from a grocery store in Iran surfaced last week, in which a man arguing with two young women about their lack of headscarves takes a tub of yogurt out of the refrigerator and throws it at them. It might seem ridiculous or even funny at first, but this is just the beginning. “Sometimes a tub of yogurt; sometimes a bottle of acid,” one response warned.
Maz Jobrani, comedian.

You don’t have to be Iranian to wear the button. In fact, that’s the point: global solidarity. The freedom to choose hijab—which seems to be the main demand of today’s Iranian protesters—carries within it a long list of demands calling for basic human rights. Here in America, many don’t have ownership of their bodies or are being threatened daily for their sexual orientation. Anyone who can name one or two of their fundamental rights under threat should wear a button, take a picture and post it on social media.

To request a button, or for more information, email: freedombutton2023@gmail.com.

https://msmagazine.com/2023/04/03/iran-women-hijab-headscarf-rights/