Does Hair Drive People Crazy? Veiling as a System

Film & discussion (in German) with Fathiyeh Naghibzadeh & Nina Scholz

Note: Event held in German!
Film: French and Persian with German subtitles

Where Islamist forces are in charge, be it via state power or via social pressure, women are obliged to mark themselves with a piece of clothing that emphasizes their inferior role in society. While women in the "Islamic Republic" of Iran have fought back against the forced veil in many ways, women in Western countries often tend to downplay or culturally relativize oppression. Fathiyeh Naghibzadeh will talk about the "phallocentric regime of the Mullahs" and its understanding of the "meaningful and precious role of a woman" in Islam, highlight the type of masculinity embodied in the regime’s repression apparatus and examine the relationship of this constellation towards the Iranian society. Nina Scholz will discuss the role of the headscarf and veiling as symbols of gender inequality and trademarks of Islamism. She will highlight the reactionary concepts of gender and society in some trends among Muslim feminists as well as recent identitarian feminists and shed a light on the worldwide rise of Islamism and the consequences for Europe.

Before the discussion: Screening of "The Liberation Movement of Iranian Women - Year Zero", a short documentary filmed by French feminists about the mass demonstrations against the introduction of forced veiling in Tehran in 1979.

Fathiyeh Naghibzadeh took part in women’s demonstrations in March 1979 in Iran and later fled Iran 20 years ago. Today she lives in Berlin and is an exiled Iranian activist at the Mideast Freedom Forum Berlin and for the STOP THE BOMB campaign. She is the co-author of the books "Der Iran - Analyse einer islamischen Diktatur und ihrer europäischen Förderer“ and „Iran im Weltsystem. Bündnisse des Regimes und Perspektiven der Freiheitsbewegung".

Nina Scholz is a political scientist and author based in Vienna. Her research focuses on areas like National Socialism, antisemitism, Islam and human rights. She is the editor of „Gewalt im Namen der Ehre“ and together with Heiko Heinisch she published „Europa, Menschenrechte und Islam – ein Kulturkampf ?“ as well as „Charlie versus Mohammed, Plädoyer für die Meinungsfreiheit“ (Passagen Verlag).

Mahsa Abdolzadeh is a political scientist, author of "Demokratieversuche der Frauenbewegung im Iran. Eine historische Analyse mit Beispielen aus dem 20. Jahrhundert" and a Green district councilwoman in Vienna.