Women in Iran have been deprived of their rights. One-way women were deprived of their rights in Iran was through veiling, unveiling, and re-veiling. The history and the significance of veiling is that through some extent it was a way for men to show their dominance and be allowed to do whatever they want while women were told to do as say. Women after divorce had no right over their children after divorce and depending on your class in society girls were killed when they were born. Raza Shah came along and presented this idea of “unveiling” to “modernize”. For some women, this meant that women were independent and now didn’t have any men dominance over them. Women gained power, marriage laws were brought up, and custody. However, veiling came back in Iran However, this mentality of women being held down has resulted in women to this day not being able to do what they want freely. This is supported by the 1979 Islamic Revolution where the ban was created of women not being allowed to attend stadiums where men are playing. According to Fassihi, Farnaz. “Iran’s ‘Blue Girl’ Wanted to Watch a Soccer Match. She Died Pursuing Her Dream.” The New York Times, The New York Times,10Sept.2019, tps://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/world/middleeast/iran-women-sports-sahar-khodayari.html.” “ Iran barred women from entering soccer stadiums after the 1979 Islamic revolution when religious laws were enforced to segregate men and women in public spaces like schools, buses and sports events. For more than a decade, Iranian rights activists, feminists, and die-hard soccer fans have waged a battle to regain the right for women to attend games”. Recently, women are being neglected of their rights in other ways such as not being able to attend a game because there are men playing. For how long will women in Iran be held down by laws and bans?
Women were banned to attend a stadium where men are playing. Sahar Khodayari dressed up as a man to attend a football game where she was caught and arrested. Khodayari is a woman who poured gasoline over herself and set herself on fire after she was banned to a soccer stadium in Tehran. Khodayari went to jail because she dressed up as a woman and attended a soccer game. After her death, Infantino discussed about the ban. Infantino mentioned how the ban was unacceptable and stressed about how significant it was to remove it. The FIFA conference, Infantino said that women will be allowed in the next Iran’s match in Cambodia.
I believe that it is important for Iran to start pushing towards the right of Iranian women. I also think that having to have such a tragic event happening for this issue to be talked about is really heartbreaking. Why do women have to go to that extent to just be able to attend a game? These laws and bans that are oppressing from simple things such as attending a game is just ridiculous. It is the right of an individual to be in a public place where everyone else is, there was no reason for khodayari to be arrested. According to, “The Washington Post, WP Company, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dear-fifa-remember-blue-girl-and-demand-a-permane”,it states, “Khodayari’s arrest and death resonated far beyond Iran with women who live under oppression. Afghan women at a stadium in Kabul held signs honoring her memory. In Turkey and in Saudi Arabia, women have sent messages to their Iranian sisters declaring solidarity in the fight for women’s rights.” Solidarity and support from people all around the world are important, especially women because of the fact that its women themselves must raise their voices and take peaceful but powerful actions so that there can be a change without women like Khodayari having to go this far.
I am stressing this event because of the problems it can lead to. This tragedy needs to be taken seriously because it may lead to other women taking stands like this, for them to get what they want. Women will see how it took one woman to take such a big sacrifice and it led to a change. There can be more tragedies where women will go to such extreme levels to have their voices heard. There should be feminist movements and social awareness groups that can fight for women’s rights.
I believe that it is important for Iran to start pushing towards the right of Iranian women. There has been a history of Iranian women being neglected of their rights in many ways. They have been deprived of their rights in many ways such as being forbidden from public speaking, having men control them, some being forced to wear the veil, and being segregated by gender. Throughout history, veiling has been a way for men to show their oppression. Women like Khodayari have gone to extreme extents to have their voices heard. It is important for Iranian women to push towards their independence but in a more peaceful matter. We need to organize feminist groups and raise awareness for women in Iran so that such tragedies do not happen again.