In this image taken from video, Oscar-winning actress Juliette Binoche chops off a lock of her hair to support Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of Mahsa Amini. Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in Iran while in police custody, was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating its strictly-enforced dress code.
“For freedom,” Binoche said as she hacked a large handful of hair off the top of her head with a pair of scissors, before brandishing it in front of the camera.
The video, hashtagged HairForFreedom, comes with Iran engulfed by anti-government protests. They were sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.
In this image taken from video, French actress Isabelle Huppert holds a lock of her hair she has just chopped off as a symbol of support for Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of Mahsa Amini. Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in Iran while in police custody, was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating its strictly-enforced dress code.
Some of the Iranian demonstrators have publicly hacked off locks of hair at the protests, and the gesture has spread.
Images of women elsewhere cutting their hair to show solidarity with Iranian women have gone viral — from Turkish singer Melek Mosso on stage last week, to women in Lebanon and Syria, to Swedish lawmaker Abir Al-Sahlani in the halls of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday. A museum in Rome is collecting locks of hair to present to the Iranian Embassy.
In this image taken from video, Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard chops off a lock of her hair to support Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of Mahsa Amini. Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in Iran while in police custody, was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating its strictly-enforced dress code.
“For women to cut their hair in Iran is a form of protest … a symbol to stand against the mandatory hijab,” said Dorna Javan, an Iranian political scientist based in France and specialized in Iran. Such a visual gesture is a way for women across the world to rally around the Iranian women’s plight, she added.
The video of Cotillard, Binoche and dozens of other women cutting off locks of their hair was released on an Instagram account, “soutienfemmesiran” — which translates as “support women in Iran.”
FILE – Actress Juliette Binoche poses during a photo-call at the 70th San Sebastian Film Festival, in San Sebastian, northern Spain, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022. Oscar-winning actresses Marion Cotillard and Juliette Binoche, as well as other French stars of screen and music, filmed themselves chopping off locks of their hair in a video posted Wednesday in support of protesters in Iran. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos, File)
“These women, these men are asking for our support. Their courage and their dignity obliges us,” said a post with the video.
“We have decided to respond to the appeal made to us by cutting — us too — some of these locks.”
Some of the other women who took part included actors Charlotte Rampling and Charlotte Gainsbourg, who was also filmed cutting off a lock of hair from the head of her mother, singer Jane Birkin.
FILE – Marion Cotillard poses for photographers at the photo call for the film ‘Brother and Sister’ at the 75th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 21, 2022. Oscar-winning actresses Marion Cotillard and Juliette Binoche, as well as other French stars of screen and music, filmed themselves chopping off locks of their hair in a video posted Wednesday Oct.5, 2022 in support of protesters in Iran. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)
This highly symbolic gesture also echoes Iranian history and folklore in which for women to chop their hair is a sign of protest. The Shahnameh (“The Book of Kings”), a national epic of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between 977 and 1010 A.D., refers to a princess chopping her hair to protest against the death of her husband seen as unfair.
A man rides bicycle front of a mural signed by Clacks-one and Heartcraft_Street art, depicting women cutting their hair to show support for Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of a young woman in police custody, in a tunnel in Paris, France, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets over the last two weeks to protest the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been detained by Iran’s morality police in the capital of Tehran for allegedly not adhering to Iran’s strict Islamic dress code. Mural reads : “I was born to know you to name you”, “Woman Life Freedom”. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
“Women cutting their hair is an ancient Persian tradition also found in the Shahnameh, when the fury is stronger than the power of the oppressor,” tweeted Shara Atashi, an Iranian writer based in Wales.
Women ride bicycles front of a mural signed by Clacks-one and Heartcraft_Street art, depicting women cutting their hair to show support for Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of a young woman in police custody, in a tunnel in Paris, France, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets over the last two weeks to protest the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been detained by Iran’s morality police in the capital of Tehran for allegedly not adhering to Iran’s strict Islamic dress code.Mural reads : “I was born to know you to name you”, “Woman Life Freedom”. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
Researcher Javan described it as a “benevolent gesture,” and called for more robust political action from the international community to support Iranian protesters.
“We can’t reduce the fight of Iranian women for their rights — which dates back to the second half of the 19th century — to the gesture of cutting their hair,” she said. “But these viral videos are a way to give an international impact to their fight.”
