Here’s a Facebook page that’s worth liking: The Kurd Men for Equality campaign. Kurdish men in Iran started the campaign in response to what they believed to be misogyny in a local court case.  A man who was convicted of domestic abuse was forced to parade the streets in a dress and hijab, the traditional women’s clothing, as public humiliation. To express their disapproval of the judge’s degradation of women, ... Read More

Though some viewers thought that Michelle Obama’s moment on the Oscars was exciting, show-stopping, or (at the very least) innocent enough, there were many others who expressed outrage at her appearance. In Iran, the network Fars News photoshopped the First Lady into a more modest ensemble, adding sleeves and a higher neckline to her Naeem Khan gown.  An Iranian woman appearing on state TV must wear a hijab that covers her arms, ... Read More

It already sucks to be a woman in Iran. Under Sharia law, Iranian women cannot marry non-Islamic men, they must cover their hair at all times, and their testimony in court is worth half that of a man’s. Furthermore, Iranian women can only divorce their husbands under extreme conditions. While none of this injustice is breaking news, one more ludicrous law is threatening to be added on to the heap. According to Hossein ... Read More

  Sosan Firooz, the first Afghani female rapper, has recently been hit with a spate of menacing text messages and phone calls demanding that she stop performing.  “If your daughter appears on TV again,” one caller said to her mother, “we will cut off your head.” This seems nuts—but considering recent news from her home country, it doesn’t seem impossible. Sosan, 23, performs with her hair ... Read More

Yes. This five-minute gem of a video gets everything right.  Released in 1997, the group is made up of Lili, Tahmineh and Sepideh - three Iranian-American ladies who reside in California but sing in Farsi. Apparently, the group is the first all-women Iranian band. The single title  "Khorshid Khanoom" means Lady Sun in Farsi, and the video reflects the ladies' Earth Mother sensibility. With different colored hair pieces representing ... Read More