“Because I am a woman, I blossom through my wounds.”
In 2009, Masih Alinejad was exiled from Iran after speaking out against Iran’s restrictions on women, calling the Hijab “the Berlin Wall” of the regime. Born and raised in Iran, Alinejad worked as a parliamentary journalist in the country’s capital, Tehran. In that capacity, she exposed corrupt lawmakers and challenged establishment political leaders, which exposed her to significant criticism from Iran’s top officials; Supreme Leader Khamenei plotted to kidnap and assassinate her. Although she now resides in New York City, she is far from safe and lives in an FBI safe house with her family.
Masih Alinejad grew up in a tiny village near the Caspian Sea where her father was a sharecropper. After becoming a journalist, she was driven out of Iran after “[asking] too many questions.” In New York City, social media became her weapon against the oppressive regime in Iran. Her campaign, called My Stealthy Freedom, asks women in Iran to record themselves without a hijab, after which she posts the videos on her social media accounts. #WhiteWednesdays became widely popular among thousands of Iranian women who participated in the campaign. Despite being forced to leave the only life she’s ever known, Alinejad uses social media to remain connected to her homeland.
Alinejad calls upon Western female politicians to stand with her in her fight for gender equality in Iran. She asks them to “speak up. Make a video. Cut [their] hair. Burn a headscarf. Share it on social media and boost Iranian voices.” After the death of Mahsa Amini in September of 2022, protests overtook the streets of Iran, calling for the removal of hijabs and justice for the women Iran’s so-called morality police violently beat to death. Alinejad was critical in globalizing this movement. She seeks to put faces to the names of those who were killed. Alinejad states that when these girls were killed, “suddenly they became heroes. Why don’t people pay attention to women when they’re alive?”
Alinjead remains strong even in the face of continued plots against her. Despite residing in the US, the FBI warned her of a private investigator following her every move. In 2021, she was the target of a kidnapping attempt, and in 2022, an assassination attempt. Alinejad stated that unless the United States’ policies towards Iran change, her life will continue to be at risk.
Alinejad is a beacon of strength, perseverance, and unrelenting hope for the women of Iran. Her actions have catapulted the Iranian women’s rights movement to a global stage. She continues to inspire her nearly 9 million followers to stand up for what is right and fight for women, life, and freedom.
