Friday, October 14, 2022

Authorities in Iran Forced to Remove Poster of Women in Hijabs after PR Fiasco

THE GUARDIAN: Montage in Tehran taken down within 24 hours after prominent women and relatives denounce use of their photos

At least three of the women pictured in the Tehran billboard objected to their image being misused, including the actor Fatemeh Motamed-Arya. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

The Iranian authorities suffered a PR fiasco after being forced to take down a giant billboard in a central square in Tehran when women in the poster, or their relatives, objected to being depicted as supporters of the government and the compulsory-wearing of the hijab.

The billboard controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was a montage of about 50 Iranian women wearing the hijab under the slogan “Women of my Land”. It was taken down within 24 hours after at least three of the women pictured said they objected to their image being misused.

Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, a multiaward-winning actor was the first to protest, releasing a video. Not wearing the hijab, she said: “I am not considered a woman in a land where young children, little girls and freedom-loving youths are killed in its fields.” » | Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor | Friday, October 14, 2022

Ladies: Have courage! Take those hijabs, those unsightly, mediaeval rags, to the public square and set fire to them. The damn lot of them! Liberate yourselves from the oppression of those reactionary old fogies. Choose vitamin D over darkness and shade! Your health will thank you for it. And, whilst you're at it, restore the Peacosk Throne and bring back the Shah. Reject mediaeval thinking! Choose modernity! – © Mark Alexander