These 21 brave women could be arrested for sharing these photos.
In 2013, Masih Alinejad took a selfie and posted it on Facebook.
At first glance, this might not sound revolutionary. But for the Iranian-born journalist, it was a powerful act of political protest because she showed off her flowing, curly hair in the photo.
“Women in Iran are breaking the law every day just to be ourselves,” she explained in an interview with the New York Times. “And I’m a master criminal because the government thinks I have too much hair, too much voice, and I am too much of a woman.”
Masih Alinejad at the Women in the World Summit. Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images.
In Iran, women have to wear hijab head coverings in public, and they can be punished harshly if they don't.
But as Alinejad explained, many Iranian women also know how to steal small moments of stealthy freedom for themselves, moments when they’re hidden from the prying eyes of the piety police and are free to look the way they want.
After her selfie, Alinejad launched My Stealthy Freedom, an online movement encouraging other women to defy oppressive laws through the rebellious act of ... sharing photos of themselves.
Within 10 days, she had a Facebook following of more than 130,000 people. Just over a year later, Alinejad received the women’s rights award from the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy for her revolutionary campaign.
As of 2016, My Stealthy Freedom has built a fanbase of more than a million people, all of whom follow and engage with the selfies and stories of different Iranian and Muslim women every day. Every photo is its own small act of serious insurrection.
Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images.
To celebrate, here are 21 photos of beautiful, courageous, and revolutionary Iranian and Muslim women rebelling against that compulsory hijab:
1. "To those who say I should leave the country if I don't want to wear the hijab, I say the hijab wasn't my choice. I want to have freedom in my country."
All images and quotes courtesy of My Stealthy Freedom/Facebook, used with permission.
2. "Blowing of the wind through their hair is my nation's girl's dream."
3. "I have always dreamed, and still do, that Iran would become a free Iran. Free so that all of us, especially women, can dress however they please and are comfortable with and be able to leave the house, without fearing that their choice of clothing is considered a crime."
4. "This is all I can do to make my voice reach those who don't see us; or make programs against us to be shown on our own national TV. I salute knowledge and freedom."
5. "I have never neither insulted nor hurt anyone. So I asked everyone to do the same. Don't hurt me and and don't insult me. Please respect how we want to live."
6. "Don't be surprised if you see a girl who is tempted to escape from this cruel, nonsense obligations that have come out of your mind. The air is hers as well."
7. "These are all our rights; no difference whether we are women or men."
8. "In my country, sleeping is the only time to feel real freedom, 'cause there's no rules in dreaming."
9. "I loathe the hijab. I too like my hair to feel the sun and the wind to touch my hair. Is this a big sin?"
Of course, there are also women who do wear the hijab and who are also participating in the movement to show it's the individual choice that really matters.
“I have no intention whatsoever to encourage people to defy the forced hijab or stand up against it,” Alinejad said in an interview with The Guardian. “I just want to give voice to thousands and thousands of Iranian women who think they have no platform to have their say.”
10. "I believe in hijab but hate obligatory hijab!"
11. "Here is me and my best friend in Isfahan and this is freedom of choice."
12. "Hijab is a choice, not an obligation."
It's not just a youth movement, either. Older women are also sharing their stealth freedoms.
13. "Third World is where the greatest girlish dream is the feeling of the blowing wind through their hair."
14. "Mother and daughter, Beautiful Beach."
15. "As I got out of the car a strong wind began to blow and disheveled my hair. I got angry at first and tried to tidy it up; then I said to myself, 'Don’t be a fool! This is the wind you have dreamed of, it's blowing through your hair all your life!'"
16. "This is the voice of a girl, whose dream is not dead-ended. The fence of your thought doesn't fit me."
Some women even shared photos of themselves posing with their husbands or fathers — because there are plenty of men who support these women's rights to choose hijab or not.
In an interview with Vice News, Alinejad added, "Compulsory hijab affects those women who believe in hijab, and those men who are not forced to wear hijab. ... It's an insult to men because it says men can not control themselves."
17. "This place is the tomb of Saadi in Shiraz, a very crowded place. I took this photo to show my support for freedom of clothing for all Iranian women."
18. "Justice means that my share of freedom would be the same as my husband's."
19. "I wish I could have kissed you ... here, right in this photo."
20. "We don't want a lot. Just let us be the way we are. By the way, if you look at the blue van which is parked by the road, you'll notice our risk."
21. "My father was a religious man. He said all of his prayers and fasted. He had also gone for Hajj. But he never even made his children say their prayers or fast during Ramadan; let alone forcing them to wear the hijab."
If these don't strike you as the most audacious form of defiance, just remember: Every single one of these women could be arrested for posting these selfies.
"Social media is a tool and weapon for Iranian people who have been censored for more than 30 years," Alinejad said in an interview with Vice.
"The government of Iran has guns, bullets, prisons, and power, but the people of Iran have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, social media, and their own words."
That's why a campaign like My Stealthy Freedom is so important, perhaps now more than ever — because sometimes even something as simple as a selfie can be a tool for empowerment.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."