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How did societies start policing women's bodies?
We live in a world where women’s bodies are inherently politicized. How much or how little a woman wears is used to make crude assumptions about her character, and even used to blame her for inviting violence. This even goes to the extreme of using clothing as an excuse to commit violence against women. Mahsa Amini's murder in Iran is one of the most recent examples of this.
Long ago, cultures used to exist where women’s bodies were politically neutral. Where they could wear as little or as much as they wanted, without it being seen as an invitation for harassment or prejudice. These cultures have been almost wiped out after the creation of class societies. This is when resources stopped being communally owned, with women sidelined as private property and reduced to objects. This allowed men and those in power to feel a sense of ownership over them, to control how they dress, and how they behave.
It’s not surprising that this phenomenon went from an interpersonal occurrence to also a tool that’s weaponized by states. Countries feel comfortable creating laws about how women should dress and whether they should veil or not veil. When this happens, it becomes much more than about personal “choice” - it becomes a justification for femicide and police brutality, like the case of Mahsa Amini in Iran.
The consequences of hijab mandates in Iran
Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old Kurdish woman from the city of Saqez, in Iran-occupied Kurdistan. Her actual name was Jina but she was legally known as Mahsa since Kurdish names aren’t allowed in Iran. Jina was accused of wearing the hijab loosely, with her hair being visible, so she was arrested by the Iranian “morality police”, who are responsible for enforcing proper hijab. She was beaten inside a police van whilst being driven to a detention center. The injuries sent her into a coma, killing her 3 days later. Mahsa’s murder triggered protests by the Kurdish and Iranian people, who were tired of the unnecessary hijab laws. Iranian women who live in other countries also showed solidarity by cutting their hair.
This case of police brutality and femicide is rooted in misogyny, as well as the persecution of the Kurdish people - an indigenous minority in the MENA region. Women in Iran and Iran-occupied Kurdistan are no stranger to being harassed by the morality police for compulsory hijab. “White Wednesdays” are a social media campaign where Iranian women have uploaded videos of resisting the hijab mandates. Separately, many Iranian and Kurdish women post clips of getting harassed by the morality police in public transport, with some even getting imprisoned and assaulted. Footage has shown even little girls being forced to comply by these laws in school.
However, many Kurdish people are rightfully pointing out that Jina’s brutal treatment was also motivated by her ethnicity and not just by gender. Even though Iranian women are also persecuted under hijab laws, they haven’t been beaten to the point of death. This happening to a Kurdish woman shows how the police had a dehumanized view of her to put her through this. It also fits into the pattern of Kurdish persecution by Iranians. In fact, it’s globally understood that ethnic/religious minorities bear the brunt of police brutality, like Black people in the USA and Muslims in India.
Kurdish-leftist parties, such as the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, have organized protests against the killing of Jina. The Iranian government retaliated to this by drone-striking these parties and killing at least 9 people. The total death toll of their repression of the wider protests is known to be up to 85 people.
International solidarity
The protests by the Kurdish and Iranian people are a great display of courage and resistance, of people standing up to an oppressive state for the sake of women and an ethnic minority. There’s a lot to be appreciated and learned from that and as important as international solidarity is, we need to be cautious to ensure that this solidarity and visibility doesn’t get co-opted by ongoing efforts to justify imperialism.
The Kurdish and Iranian people are ideologically diverse with different opinions on how to deal with the current regime. While recognizing this, we need to be aware of the historical context of hijab laws in Iran. Turning to the west as a savior is not going to help, as women and children are the primary victims of imperialist interventions. In fact, western intervention is partly to blame for the current regime’s hijab laws. The hijab mandates and morality police can be traced to a certain conservative interpretation of Sharia law, which isn’t unique to Iran. Many Islamic states like Saudi Arabia had these practices but this shared cultural interpretation of religion isn’t the only cause.
The Origin of Hijab Laws in Iran
Laws controlling women’s clothing in Iran started with a west-backed ruler, Reza Shah. He issued Kashf-e-Hijab, a decree that banned all Islamic veils. Although now we can recognize this as cultural imperialism, at that time, it was seen as an effort to “modernize” and “westernize” Iran. It was welcomed by progressives and even several women’s rights groups. This was enforced in a similar way to how Iran’s morality police functions now, just with a different goal. The police ordered women to remove their veils. Those who refused were beaten, with their scarves and chadors being ripped off. Many religious Muslim women refused to leave their homes to avoid this treatment, being erased from public life if they wanted to freely practice their faith. A few even committed suicide.
Imperialists in power brutalize women, just as much as fundamentalist religious leaders do. This is why western intervention mustn't be seen as a solution to the women's issues in Iran, since it's western intervention that played a role in creating this issue in the first place.
Forms of intervention like military interference and crushing economic sanctions by imperial powers will never be the solution. Economic instability increases violence against women, bringing people into poverty and taking away women’s ability to be financially independent. Consequently, this reduces their ability to organize against issues that affect them.
The people in Iran are fighting their own issues and internal oppressions, as well as imperialism and foreign powers hijacking their issues to justify it. Solidarity which doesn’t acknowledge both of these struggles is incomplete. We must stand with the Iranian and Kurdish people, just as we should stand against all states that treat women like property and discard the lives of indigenous ethnic minorities.
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