As Fewer Women Wear Head Coverings, Iran’s Leaders React

As Fewer Women Wear Head Coverings, Iran’s Leaders React

More Iranian women are choosing not to wear the head covering called the hijab. Since the early years of Iran's Islamic Revolution, women have been required to cover their heads by law. Today, many public signs urge women to wear head coverings to honor their mothers.

In recent weeks, the Iranian government has increased efforts to enforce its law requiring women to wear the hijab.

It has closed some businesses for serving women not covering their heads. The government also has given warnings in public places and sent text message warnings to drivers carrying women without head coverings.

More women have chosen not to wear the hijab after months of protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. Amini died in September 2022 while being detained¹ by police for wearing her hijab too loosely in public.

Some women say they are fighting for more freedom in Iran and for a better future for their daughters. They also say the government will not be able to enforce the hijab law if more women refuse to wear it.

"Do they want to close down all businesses?" said Shervin, a 23-year-old student in Tehran. "If I go to a police station, will they shut it down too?"

However, the women worry about risk. The women who spoke² to the Associated Press only gave their first names because they feared punishment.

Vida is 29. She said a decision by her and two of her friends to stop covering their hair in public is about more than headscarves.

"This is a message for the government, leave us alone," she said.

Before September, it was rare to see women without hijabs. Today, it is common in some areas of Tehran to see women without them.

Many Muslim women wear the hijab as a sign of respect for God and modesty³ in front of men outside of their families.

Before the 1979 Revolution, many middle- and upper-class women chose not to wear the hijab. In 1983, head coverings in public became required by law. Punishments for breaking the hijab law include fines and up to two months in prison.

In early April, Iran's Supreme⁴ Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared that "removing the hijab is not Islamically or politically permissible⁵."

He also claimed that "enemy spies" were the ones pushing women not to wear the hijab.

On April 25, officials closed a large shopping mall in northern Tehran for several days. The move came after women with their hair showing were seen spending time with men in a bowling⁶ alley⁷.

"It is a collective punishment," said Nodding Kasra, a 32-year-old salesman at a clothing shop in the mall. "They closed a mall with hundreds of workers over some customers' hair?"

The reformist Iranian newspaper Shargh said police have shut down over 2,000 businesses across the country over admitting women not wearing the hijab.

Some experts warn that business owners might push back against the government.

However, there are signs the government might enforce the rules even more severely⁸.

Government offices no longer provide services to women not covering their hair, after some had in recent months.

Some religious leaders said the government should use soldiers, as well as the all-volunteer Basij force of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, to enforce the hijab law.

Police also said cameras with "artificial intelligence" will find women not wearing their head covering. However, it is unclear if such a system is currently⁹ working.

Thirty-three-year-old Sorayya said she is already fighting for a bigger goal by going without a headscarf.

"I don't want my daughter to be under the same ideologic pressures that I and my generation lived through," she said. "This is for a better future for my daughter."

Words in This Story

headscarf (headscarves pl.) –n. a cloth covering worn on the head by women and girls

modesty –n. the quality of being restrained in a way that observes norms¹⁰; not acting¹¹ in a proud or a way to get attention

ideological¹² –adj. related to a group of ideas that are held by a group or a political part

1 detained   

留住( detain的过去式和过去分词 )； 耽搁； 拘留； 扣留

参考例句：

• One man has been detained for questioning. 一个男人被拘留审问。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group. 他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 modesty   

n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素

参考例句：

• Industry and modesty are the chief factors of his success.勤奋和谦虚是他成功的主要因素。
• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 permissible   

adj.可允许的，许可的

参考例句：

• Is smoking permissible in the theatre?在剧院里允许吸烟吗？
• Delay is not permissible,even for a single day.不得延误，即使一日亦不可。

6 bowling   

n.保龄球运动

参考例句：

• Bowling is a popular sport with young and old.保龄球是老少都爱的运动。
• Which sport do you 1ike most,golf or bowling?你最喜欢什么运动，高尔夫还是保龄球？

7 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

8 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

9 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

10 norms   

n. 规范 名词norm的复数形式

参考例句：

• deviation from the previously accepted norms 违背事先接受的准则
• Everyone should abide by our social norms. 我们每个人都应该遵守社会行为准则。

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

12 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。