The Western Carolina Pagan Student Association hosted a Silence Against Violence event last semester and some of the students protested the treatment and violence against woman in Iran.
The participating members all wore black as a symbol, a tradition started in 2001 where women hold silent vigils to protest against violence. Jenna Orbeck, the head of PSA stood as still as a statue while holding a sign explaining their purpose and showing support to Mahsa Amini and her family. “Be in the way” the engage post said, a huge contrast to what young girls and women are commonly taught in western culture.
In response to the murder of Masha Amini, Iran citizens have taken to the streets in protests of the Regime and the Morality police treatment towards Iranian citizens. Women and men are burning hijabs and cutting their hair as an act of defiance towards the strict rules placed on them by the Iranian regime.
The morality Police is formally known in Iran as the Guidance Patrol and are responsible for upholding and spreading Iran’s moral culture of modesty and hijab. To be a woman in Iran means that you are forced to wear a hijab, among other restrictions. When the hijab is worn incorrectly or not at all, it would be the morality police who would ask them to fix it. The police in question took it a step further, getting physical with Amini to the point of her death in their custody.
Two employees of WCU, a Professor H and an adjunct instructor M, came forward as anonymous sources for this story. Their families are still in Iran facing repercussions for speaking out against the Iranian government, so we are keeping their names and departments anonymous. The two are a married couple having left Iran for education and opportunities several years ago.
When talking about Amini’s death, H asked, “What had she done wrong that she deserved to die?” However, he did express that it had put something in motion, saying that protests like this, especially from women, were almost unheard of. “Her dying was a trigger, it started something,” he said.
He went on to explain that what took place to lead up to Amini’s death wasn’t necessarily within the Morality Police’s role in Iran, “A comment to fix her head scarf and move on was all; not to get physical with the citizen, that’s not their job. Not even what their local laws say would give them the right,” he said.
Unfortunately, he expressed that the corruption of the morality police wasn’t unheard of but still bothered him all the same. “To me, that’s not the morality police, that’s the immorality police.”
After moving to the states 13 years ago, his perspective of Iran changed, stating that there was a limited worldview in Iran. “I used to think; ‘Its the West whose not allowing Iran to progress.’ As I came here and had more access to information about Iran, which is not reflected in the media back home but it is reflected here in other forms of media, I figured that its governing body in Iran who can’t tolerate and can’t handle the reformists who want change.”
His wife, working as an instructor on campus, says that since moving to the United States that she had a more enriching experience than what she would have living in Iran.
“Compared to Iran, diversity is cherished, it is something they enjoy to have versus Iran, which I think minorities have always been oppressed and disempowered.” Because of this, she hopes that students appreciate the diversity on and off campus.
A popular form of protest in Iran is to sneak up on clerics and knock off their hijabs, which has been received by the media with mixed opinions. M’s take is that this is deserved, saying that it is ‘unfortunately’ a symbol of the Islamic republic right now and therefore a symbol of their oppressive nature. “Now have a taste of what you gave us. If attire is not a choice for us, why should it be a choice for you?” She said.
As for the possible results of the protests, their opinions differ.
“I am being very pessimistic about it all,” said H. “I really used to think Iran could change but I don’t think that the regime would bend over and surrender or accept the will of the people, so I doubt we’d see any fundamental change.”
On the other hand, M. had a very different take on the protests. “I would say that there is no other path. It’s going to end with very fundamental changes. When people of this number come out into the streets, when people of this number are angry with Iran, there’s going to be changes,” she said.
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