Commentaire de caricature

This cartoon deals with a story that made headlines last week. And this event is the resistance of an Iranian student, named Ahou Daryaei.

On November 2, she was at her university, surely on her way to class.

When university security confronted her, accusing her of supposedly violating the hijab wearing rule. This led to an argument with the security team. But above all, she protested by stripping to her underwear. And she stood up in front of everyone, walking around the campus without clothes. Of course she was arrested a few minutes after, and she was taken into a psychiatric hospital to keep her quiet. But quite an act of courage, isn’t it !

In the cartoon we can notice she only wears a bra, pants and socks. The lines all around her symbolize her movement out of the grip of the Iranian islamic law. She was here to study and she is prevented from studying because of clothes… because of the way men look at us, at our bodies and its forms.

To her left, there is an Iranian man who is holding the suit she has just escaped. His dress is white in a way to make a contrast, and suggest that the student's black dress should be his own because it matches with his turban. He seems overwhelmed by the liberation of the young lady, because he has drops of sweat and is above ground.

Above the characters, there is a quote “women, life, liberty”. These words are the tagline of Iranian women’s uprising. Indeed, the student isn’t the first woman to protest against their lack of liberty. We remember the tragic death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. But many other women burned their hijabs, cut their hair, and spoke out publicly to defy these restrictions and assert their autonomy. And the resistance is far from over.

It’s really important to remember her name and her action because the Iranian government threatens to erase who she truly was, and all the others who have protested as her. They attribute all these women's actions to mental health issues, and continue to reinforce the morality police. However, according to a recent survey the majority of the population wants to live under a secular system.

The news quickly spread to the international community and they asked for her immediate release in the name of individual freedom. What’s relevant it’s that this kind of bold action is precious. Not only for all the Iranian women who mustn't stop struggling, but for all the women in this planet who need hope in a tomorrow with better rights. Especially in a context when Trump has just been elected and abortions are in risk.

To conclude she became a symbol of the Iranian resistance led by women against suffocating religious laws. But in fact her protest won’t change anything immediately because the system of oppression is extremely well-oiled.

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