Iran’s Hijab Revolution

Something amazing is happening in Iran.

Okay, something ‘amazing’ in both extremes of the word has been happening in Iran since the dawn of time, but this something is more gentle, more awe-striking and less covered (no pun intended).

It all started with arrest of Majid Tavakoli on December 7, 2009.

An active student leader, his most recent arrest resulted in pictures being distributed by Raja News of Tavakoli in women’s clothing – images taken while in custody.

The reasoning behind his donnance of the hijab is twofold: primarily, that he was in disguise as he fled the police at Amirkabir University in Tehran; secondly, that the police dressed him thusly in an endeavor to humiliate him.

The second has been viewed as the most plausible, though it has elicited the most beautiful reaction, and one that has re-stimulated the debate on the male hijab.

Whether it is in protest at the lack of women’s rights or the persecution of protesters and the ensuing abrogations of human rights, a solidarity movement manifested by men donning hijabs and posting their images on the Internet and social networking sites is gaining momentum.

What is so admirable is the manner in which the movement has taken an intended humiliation, turned it around and made it a significant tool of protest.

Which is why each and every man doing so is so utterly admirable.

To find out more about the campaign click here, and for a rather compelling dialogue on yesterday’s Women’s Hour on BBC Radio 4 between Baroness Haleh Afshar and Professor Hamid Dabashi, listen again here.