Dissident Spotlight: Masih Alinejad
Masih Alinejad is an Iranian journalist whose work reveals the crimes against women in Iran and other fundamentalist countries.
From a young age, Masih Alinejad was interested in politics. Alinejad grew up after the Islamic Revolution when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini took over Iran and enshrined a fundamentalist version of Islam into Iranian law. She was arrested for the first time before she began her career as a journalist after distributing leaflets critical of the Islamic government in Iran.
Her campaign for women’s rights in Iran stretched the length of her journalism career. In 2018, Alinejad wrote a memoir, The Wind in My Hair, about her life, fighting against compulsory veiling, and leaving Iran.
She’s also faced resistance from Western women who should be among her staunchest allies. Instead, they’ve misunderstood her mission and her country, leading to unreasonable hostility and indifference from people who should know better.
The Tragedy of the Iranian Revolution
Before the Revolution, Iranian women enjoyed many of the same rights as men. They could choose their careers, their method of dress, and their religious expression. The Shah who preceded Khomeini was a corrupt leader but attempted to secularize and modernize Iran.
Khomeini spoke to the frustrations with the Shah’s weak government, and left-wing organizations who opposed the Shah initially welcomed Khomeini’s revolution. However, everyone from communists to secular liberals found themselves at the wrong end of Khomeini’s guns when he came to power. Khomeini had no interest in sharing power, and he imprisoned, tormented, and killed opponents across the political spectrum.
Women had the most to lose under Khomeini’s regime. They were forced to wear the hijab regardless of their religious beliefs. Over time, Iranian women lost their right to work where they wanted. They also had to adhere to guardianship laws which placed their fathers and husbands in charge of fundamental aspects of their lives.
The ripsaw from the ability to wear shorts in public to arrest and state-sanctioned rape for incorrectly wearing a hijab in public illustrates the tragedy of a revolution taken over by one of the most cunning and evil men of his time.
Fighting Religion Meant Fighting Government
Throughout her journalism career, she published articles exposing government corruption in Iran. In 2009, she fled Iran where she soon began leading online protests against Iran’s compulsory veiling law.
My Stealthy Freedom was the culmination of her work and what she’s known for today. In 2014, Alinejad posted a picture of herself in London without a headscarf. Then she started getting pictures from Iranian women showing their hair. The volume of emails launched My Stealthy Freedom, an organization dedicated to fighting for women’s rights in Iran.
Iranian women weren’t the only ones who noticed. The Iranian government tried to kidnap Alinejad in 2021 and assassinate her in 2022. Her would-be assassin was found outside her home with an AK-47 and still faces trial.
Not Everyone Supports Iranian Women
Alinejad has faced predictable criticism from theocrats who want to impose religious decisions on women instead of allowing them to navigate those choices themselves. Western feminists have misunderstood Alinejad and in some cases, supported the Iranian regime instead of the women.
Alinejad has taken issue with women who travel to Iran and veil themselves to “respect Iran’s culture.” The problem is, compulsory veiling is a policy of Iran’s dictatorship, not a special part of Iranian culture. Women could walk in shorts and go to the beach in bikinis before the Islamic Revolution.
Hijabs were optional and carried spiritual significance for women who chose to wear it. Today, a devout Muslim woman who chooses to wear the hijab can’t be recognized from women — including other Muslim women — who feel trapped by it.
On Sam Harris’ podcast in June 2024, Alinejad spoke about her experience sharing videos of women showing their faces in Iran — not their hair, just their faces:
“After me sharing their videos, I got attacked by the Islamic Republic and the Left outside [Iran] telling me that this is causing Islamophobia. They were saying that [the] hijab is part of the culture of Iran and we should not ask the leaders of democratic countries, especially those high-ranking members, female politicians of the West to interfere in internal matter[s].”
Alinejad fights a two-front war. One is against a government that took a people, a country, and a culture hostage. The other is against a political group too afraid of “punching down” to recognize the similarities between their work and hers.
Allinejad’s fearsome bravery in the face of assassination attempts and denunciations of her work is an inspiration. As readers attuned to fine details, it’s our job to recognize her work as heroic and avoid being manipulated by governments and political groups who don’t want to look closely at the horrors she wars against.