“Suddenly Saudi women draw ahead”, Le Monde diplomatique
By Camelia Entekhabifard, Paris, March 2018 Issue
Recent protests in towns and cities across Iran have challenged the authority of the Islamic regime. The weak economy is among the grievances, and demands for economic reform have turned into calls for regime change. Protests against women being forced to cover their heads in public places have taken a new turn. What began with individual women protesting the law grew into a movement, as women jumped up on available platforms (a power supply box, a bench) to address fellow protestors, taking off their headscarves and hoisting them on poles.
Though many were arrested, the symbolic demonstrations are forcing Iranian politicians to discuss the issue publicly. Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejehi, number two in Iran’s judicial system, has indicated that the regime may be prepared to tolerate bare heads provided the motive is not political. The warning is clear: don’t use the issue to challenge the regime.
The creation of a guidance squad in the early days of the Islamic Revolution – an armed team of men and women patrolling the streets to arrest those who do not observe strict Islamic dress code – is evidence of its importance to the regime’s rulers. The name of the squad has changed several times and its enforcement may be less strict, but it is still in place.
The law on dress is now seen as a serious challenge to the Islamic Republic. The nation is highly politicised and polarised, with a deep divide between people and state hierarchy (and its supporters, associated with the security services and militia). And it is harder to tell people to act in a civic manner if no one listens.
In Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and custodian of the holy sites, an even stricter dress code has been in place, with women forced to cover their faces, along with many other restrictions. The Saudi mutawa – like Iran’s guidance squad – used to beat up women not observing the dress code publicly.
Scattered protests against the Saudi regime in 2011-12 were harshly put down. But with a new crown prince, Muhammad Bin Salman (MBS) in place, the kingdom has now restrained the religious police and relaxed the dress code. The message of Saudi women – after a long, hard struggle – has at last been heard. Headscarves in Jeddah and Riyadh may now be worn more loosely, without fear of arrest or punishment, to reveal immaculate makeup and hair. Last autumn the voice of Egypt’s legendary Umm Kalthoum was aired on a local Saudi TV channel, Al Thakafiyah TV, for the first time in 30 years (1) and women were allowed to go to a Jeddah stadium this January to watch football for the first time. Now the kingdom is to host the first Arab Fashion Week in Riyadh in March.
The Saudis see these reforms, introduced without much noise or fanfare, as necessary for the continuation of the Al-Saud dynasty. That makes Iranian women feel left behind, where once they saw themselves as trendsetters in the Gulf. But the region is porous. Iran’s Green Movement, triggered by a disputed presidential election in 2009, might have encouraged the Arab Spring uprisings. The new Saudi reforms might impact young Iranians, and even their rulers.
Camelia Entekhabifard is a journalist and author of Camelia: Save Yourself By Telling the Truth, Seven Stories Press, New York, 2008.