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02-07-2025
- Politics
- News Lens
礦坑中的金絲雀：伊朗女人1979年迄今未醒的一場惡夢 - TNL The News Lens 關鍵評論網
我們為何有時依然會聽到一些包裝成同理心，實際上卻是在美化人權限縮，像是「中東世界女人是自行選擇戴頭巾的」這種言論呢？ 答案是，很多人錯把「文化相對主義」當成否定普世人權的免死金牌。 文：張茵惠 「預測一個國家政治穩定度的最佳指標，不是它的財富水平、民主程度或宗教組成，而是該國女性所受到的待遇。當一個民主國家對婦女暴力程度較高時，它不安全和不穩定的程度無異於非民主國家。」 「當社會中男女因性別所受到的待遇差距越大，一個國家就越有可能發生國內或國家之間的衝突。而且當衝突發生時，這些國家更傾向於訴諸武力，並用更高級別的暴力來解決爭端。」 ——瓦萊麗・M・哈德森等人，《性與世界和平》（Sex and World Peace），2012 「讓我們強制路上每個女人都戴頭巾吧！」全場哄堂大笑 埃及第二任總統賈邁勒・阿卜杜勒・納賽爾被認為是阿拉伯世界最重要的領導人之一，倡導阿拉伯民族主義，並且在多次中東戰爭中頑強力抗以色列。但注意他1958年在這段喚起穆斯林團結為主題的演講中，以反諷的方式提到「強制路上每個女性都戴頭巾……」，立刻引起哄堂大笑。 然而21世紀的現在，不只一個中東回教國家強制全國婦女都需要穿著包覆程度不等的頭巾與面紗。幸運的是，埃及女性至今仍保有選擇是否佩戴頭巾的自由，法律並無強制規定。1923年，埃及女性主義者胡妲・沙拉維（Huda Sha'arawi）象徵性地在媒體面前脫下頭巾，為女性解放開了第一槍。 但歷史並非總是往前進，一度因為統治者大力推動現代化而自由裝扮的伊朗，1970年代開始限縮女性的選擇，到了1979年，政府終於立法強制所有女性都需穿戴希賈布（Hijab）與寬鬆的曼托（mānto）。這個國家在1930到1960年代，都呈現西化的穿著樣式，只有中低階層、保守社區的婦女穿戴傳統服飾，但到了80年代之後，即使上層社會出身、或獨立工作的婦女，都不再擁有露出頭髮的權利。 一系列的歷史照片，對比出了「伊斯蘭革命」發生之前的伊朗女性曾經是多麼充滿力量，服裝又是多麼自由。1979年，大批伊朗女性走上街頭抗議強制頭巾政策，她們在大雪中、在汽車頂上大聲疾呼的身影，被記錄在歷史檔案中，而她們的選擇自由，則依舊被無情的收走。 伊朗女性的遭遇：一個悲劇性的例子 「一九八○年夏天，伊朗人目擊了現代人記憶中的第一次石刑處決：兩名被控賣淫的女性和兩名被控同性戀和通姦的男子遭處決。其他的罪犯受了鞭刑或是槍決。伊朗沒有像沙烏地阿拉伯那樣的絞刑，但是就像沙烏地那樣，現在伊朗有了自己的道德警察：Gasht-e Ershad，或稱指導巡邏隊。他們騷擾那些不遵守規範遮蓋頭髮的女性，因為在何梅尼的新伊朗，不戴頭巾的女性是有罪的。」 ——《黑潮》（Black Wave），金姆．葛塔，2022 2023年諾貝爾和平獎頒給了伊朗異議人士穆哈瑪迪（Narges Mohammadi）。 穆哈瑪迪在1972年出生，在她父母那個世代，伊朗女孩可以打扮的跟西方世界女孩一樣，穿崔姬的貼身洋裝、自由披散秀髮、跟男孩子出去跳舞，但到了1979年，政府立法強制所有女性穿著都需符合宗教規範，從那之後，伊朗女人失去了著裝自由。 等到穆哈瑪迪成年後，她面對的是一個遠比自己父母輩更保守、更封閉的國家與社會。她為了爭取女性人權，反覆入獄，一再被迫與丈夫子女分離。但她要的東西之一，曾經有三十年左右是不用爭取就擁有的自由。這讓人思考，如果推翻君主制度，換來的卻是以「復興固有文化」為名義的高壓神權統治，這真的是一種進展嗎？ 分水嶺正是關鍵的1979年。在此之前的巴列維王朝時期，伊朗女性在受教育、就業、穿著等方面享有相對較多的自由，許多女性在公共場合可以穿著西式服裝，受教育程度和職業參與度也較高。 1979年伊斯蘭革命以後，隨著伊斯蘭共和國的建立，嚴格的伊斯蘭教法被引入國家治理。女性被迫佩戴頭巾，在公共場合必須遵守嚴格的著裝規定，她們的法律地位、教育和就業機會受到極大限制。例如，女性的證詞在法庭上可能只有男性的一半價值，離婚和子女監護權方面也處於劣勢。近年來，包括穆哈瑪迪在內的許多伊朗女性為爭取這些被剝奪的權利而不斷抗爭，甚至付出生命的代價。 「文化相對主義」難以掩蓋的醜陋權力壓迫 伊朗在上世紀的劇烈轉變，乃至近年來波蘭、匈牙利，甚至美國部分州別在羅訴韋德案遭推翻之後的女性身體自主權利侵害，最近的例子如喬治亞州婦女Adriana Smith在懷孕8週時因病腦死，家人卻被法令強迫持續她的「生命」直到分娩，承受心理與經濟重大折磨。全都不禁讓人想問——人權會被「收回」嗎？ 從上面舉出的這些例子來看，答案似乎是肯定的。人權確實可能在特定歷史時期、特定社會環境下被「收回」或受到嚴重限縮。只是，我們為何有時依然會聽到一些包裝成同理心，實際上卻是在美化人權限縮，像是「中東世界女人是自行選擇戴頭巾的」、「我們看她們覺得沒有自由，是因為我們不懂伊斯蘭文化」這種言論呢？ 答案是，很多人錯把「文化相對主義」當成否定普世人權的免死金牌。 文化相對主義最大的盲點在於，它混淆了「理解文化脈絡」與「接受一切以文化為名的做法」。當我們說要「理解」不同文化時，不等於要放棄對基本人權的普世關懷。 當有些人試圖用「文化」來論證限制自由的合理性時，我們應該檢視的是「當女性真正擁有選擇權時，她們的選擇是什麼」。1930到1960年代，伊朗女性在沒有法律強制的情況下，特別是受過教育的女性，大多選擇了不戴頭巾的現代裝扮。如果戴頭巾真的是伊朗女性的「文化本能」或「宗教自覺」，為什麼需要用法律來強制？為什麼在有選擇自由的時代，受過教育的女性卻選擇放棄它？ 更讓人覺得反感的是，這種所謂的「文化堅持」常常特別針對女性和兒童——因為他們是最容易被控制的群體，也是權威結構中最底層的。縱使是移民到西方社會之後，有些中東穆斯林父母依然堅持他們的孩子在學校應該穿戴宗教服飾，造成對於歐洲世俗化國家的挑戰。這經常被認為是需要被平衡的文化多元包容議題，譬如聖誕節似乎不被認為是「宗教節日」，那麼何以女學童不能戴頭巾？ 但真正的問題卻是，你怎麼知道孩童是「真的想戴頭巾」？以及，如果你認同的文化不透過宗教化的服裝規訓就無法傳承下去，這又說明了什麼？ 通不過「無知之幕」檢驗 若有人還覺得「喔，伊朗女人沒有過的不好啊，是你不懂他們文化的美吧」，那就用一個最簡單的標準來看吧，如果你不知道自己會投胎到哪個國家、出生為哪個性別，你會希望自己生在一個女性不戴頭巾會被打死的國家嗎？你會希望自己要時時刻刻擔心名譽殺人嗎？你會希望生在一個說出真心話就會坐牢的國家嗎？如果你不會，憑什麼說伊朗女人都是自願的？ 這個檢驗標準就是大家耳熟能詳，羅爾斯提出的「無知之幕」。如果不知道自己會出生在哪個社會、什麼性別，理性的人會選擇一個保障所有人基本自由的制度，而不是一個以「文化傳統」為名限制特定群體自由的制度。 讓我們回到文章一開始瓦萊麗・M・哈德森等人的理論，她與同事使用當時規模最大的數據庫分析研究了全球女性的地位，發現預測一個國家政治穩定度的最佳指標，不是經濟財富，不是國力強弱，更不是表面上的「民主」程度，而是「那個國家裡女人的地位」。 女性作為主權國家中的「金絲雀」 因此，我將女性比作主權國家中的「金絲雀」（canary in the coal mine）。這個比喻源自於過去礦工會攜帶金絲雀下礦坑，因為金絲雀對空氣中的有毒氣體比人類敏感，一旦金絲雀昏迷或死亡，就代表礦坑內空氣品質惡化，礦工必須立即撤離。 同樣地，瓦萊麗・M・哈德森的研究表明，女性所受到的待遇可以作為一個社會健康、穩定與否的早期預警信號。當一個國家對女性的待遇惡化，就如同礦坑中的毒氣濃度升高，這往往預示著該國將面臨更大的不穩定、衝突甚至衰退的風險。 瓦萊麗・M・哈德森的主張之一是，數據顯示，若一個國家的女性地位低落且承受暴力威脅，那麼那個國家就會「更傾向用不只是暴力，還是高級別的暴力來解決爭端」。 用這個觀點來檢視伊朗的狀況，吻合到讓人心驚。伊朗違背《核武禁擴條約》（NPT），打造核子基地卻沒申報用途；被抓包之後說是要用在能源，但伊朗當地有便宜豐富的大量石油跟天然氣，為什麼要核能？就算真的是要發展能源好了，把鈾提煉到60%做什麼？核能只要3.5%就可以了。 這全都讓人想問，早在1979年開始，這條通往「最高級別暴力」的道路其實就已經鋪好了。為什麼我們卻永遠只能看著女性如同金絲雀一般死在礦坑中，而沒有人願意選擇即時撤退出去？ 本文經 思想坦克 授權轉載，原文 刊載於此 延伸閱讀 【加入關鍵評論網會員】每天精彩好文直送你的信箱，每週獨享編輯精選、時事精選、藝文週報等特製電子報。還可留言與作者、記者、編輯討論文章內容。立刻點擊免費加入會員！ 責任編輯：馮冠維 核稿編輯：王祖鵬
Al Jazeera
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Iran police disperse pro-hijab protest amid security concerns
Tehran, Iran – In a first, Iranian authorities have dispersed a demonstration calling for stricter implementation of the country's dress code rules. On Friday evening, after state-organised Quds Day rallies in support of the Palestinian cause ended, police dispersed dozens who had been camping out in front of the parliament for weeks. The demonstrators, mostly women clad in full-body black chadors, had been there for nearly 50 days to decry what they view as loose enforcement of mandatory hijab, which signifies the abandonment of 'Islamic values' to them. Women and men in Iran are bound by a law passed shortly after the country's 1979 revolution to adhere to strict dress codes – including a veil covering hair for women – on pain of prison, flogging, or financial penalties. For decades, Iranian authorities have enforced the mandatory hijab through patrols by police and security forces. The country's so-called 'morality police', known as 'Gasht-e Ershad' or Islamic guidance patrol, would round up people on the streets for 'undermining public decency' and put them in vans to be 're-educated' at designated centres or be punished through the courts. That is what happened to 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in September 2022, who was arrested in Tehran for alleged non-compliance with hijab laws while out with her family. She died in police custody, her death triggering nationwide protests for months. Hundreds of protesters and dozens of security forces were killed in the unrest, with authorities saying the United States, Israel, and other rivals were behind the 'riots'. The hijab has since become an increasingly hot-button topic. Iranian authorities announced they would suspend the morality police in late 2022, but the force's white vans soon made a comeback to the streets of Tehran and other major cities. Many more women and men have been arrested or had cases opened against them for dress code-related offences. This has ranged from average Iranians on the streets to journalists and veteran actresses who appeared unveiled in public, and businesses or even taxi drivers whose customers were deemed to be violating the law. Faced with increasing hijab-related 'crimes', especially in Tehran, where many women go out without a headscarf, Iranian authorities have been trying to implement new legislation that would boost their authority to crack down on offenders. A new hijab bill that defines heavy punishments, especially ramped-up financial penalties, was passed by Iran's conservative-dominated parliament in September 2023, under the administration of late President Ebrahim Raisi. It was then discussed in top state bodies many times, before finally being backed in September 2024 by the Guardian Council, the 12-member constitutional watchdog that has to greenlight legislation before it can be implemented. But President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has pledged to pursue mandatory hijab through non-confrontational methods like 'education', said his government would be incapable of enforcing the 'impractical' bill. After much speculation, conservative parliament chief and former military commander Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf finally confirmed in March that the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) had ordered the bill's implementation halted. The council agreed that the bill 'could cause tensions in today's society' in the aftermath of the 2022-23 protests, Ghalibaf told state media, adding that the government and parliament are working on finding ways of enforcing it in the future. In the meantime, as authorities battle a budget crunch under sanctions pressure from United States President Donald Trump, they have launched new efforts to crack down on hijab offences. They have set up cameras in public spaces to identify and punish unveiled women, allowed people to report others – and their vehicles, which could be impounded – for hijab offences without providing evidence, and imposed heavy fines or shuttered violating businesses. The dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of women demonstrating in front of the parliament have been making headlines for weeks. Some local media called them 'super-revolutionaries' due to their religious zeal, and they have garnered praise and support from ultraconservative factions within the Iranian establishment. They, along with several hardline legislators in parliament, have been accusing the parliament chief and the president of complacency over the enforcement of the hijab bill. They have described mandatory hijab as a tenet of Iran's theocratic establishment that 'enemies' wish to trample. But Tehran Governor Hossein Khosh-Eghbal said on Saturday that the demonstrations were 'illegal' and warned that police would disperse any further protests held without permits. He did not mention why the demonstrations were tolerated for weeks, or comment on claims, including by conservative legislator Javad Nikbin, that the demonstrators were paid to be there and had been bused in. Police confirmed that many of the women had travelled from the holy Shia city of Qom, some 150km (90 miles) south of Tehran. They also broadcast a short video via state media that showed their officers trying to reason with the shouting protesters and explain why they must disperse by law before taking action. In a viral video filmed by one of the protesters and circulated online, the woman behind the camera can be heard screaming and saying 400 male and female officers descended on them, put them in vans and dropped them in different parts of Tehran to disperse them. The woman showed another chador-clad woman lying on the ground with a bloody face, claiming demonstrators were beaten. The state-run Fars news agency reported that police used 'physical means' to end the protests and left demonstrators on the outskirts of the city in the middle of the night. Police said the video was 'staged' in an attempt to influence public sentiment, and that the wounds were self-inflicted. Politicians with the Paydari (Steadfastness) Front, the ultraconservative faction whose presidential candidate Saeed Jalili was defeated in elections last year, have been lambasting the decision. Hamid Rasaei, a top hardline legislator with the faction, said whoever decided to disperse the protesters did it 'either out of foolishness or due to infiltration'.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mahdieh Mohammadkhani Returns to L.A. for The 2025 Farhang Foundation Nowruz Celebration
Mahdieh Mohammadkhani never wanted to leave Iran. It's the country where she grew up, and where her family and friends remain, but her artistry and desire for freedom was something she was unable to fully express in her a musician, Mohammadkhani faced restrictions in Iran. Under the conservative religious government, Iranian women are only able to sing in public if they're part of a choir, or as solo artists for female-only audiences."I never had any permission to perform in the country, and all my performances were always outside of Iran," she this, Mohammadkhani is a globally acclaimed classical Iranian singer."I've always wanted to stay in Iran, even with all the restrictions that were imposed on me as an artist," Mohammadkhani tells me. "But I have [left] because of the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement and the Mahsa Amini incident."She's talking about the 2022 tragedy when Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman died in custody of Iran's morality police (the Gasht-e Ershad) after she was detained for not wearing her hijab properly (as part of the mandatory Islamic dress code). Following Amini's death, the country fought back and protests rang all throughout the region and the movement quickly grew under the slogan "Woman, Life, Freedom."Mohammadkhani's global performances have only recently resumed because as punishment for her support of "Woman, Life, Freedom," her passport was confiscated and she was stuck in Iran until January 2024. "Over the last few years [in Iran] I was also forbidden to work, even as a [music] instructor, and I was forbidden to leave the country to go and perform outside of Iran," she feminists have been protesting and organizing against the conservative religious rule since its theocratic government was established in 1979, but the government has continued to rule. Amini's death gained global recognition and it became the largest act of protest since the 1979 revolution. This series of protests in Iran left close to 20,000 people arrested and more than 500 dead, as reported by the Human Rights Mohammadkhani's travel ban was lifted, she fled to Dubai, where she currently resides."In picking a country for exile, I selected a country that is closest to my homeland. And in a way, I feel like I still have connections to Iran through the Persian Gulf. I feel my roots there," Mohammadkhani living in Dubai, Mohammadkhani has resumed performing and is "determined to focus on [her] career and expand [her] recordings and live performances," she says. As part of her return, the Iranian singer has come to the United States for the first time in over a decade to perform at the Farhang Foundation's Nowruz concert at Royce Hall UCLA on Sunday, March 9. The concert is part of the Foundation's annual Iranian New Year Celebration in L.A., which begins with a day-long Nowruz festival."Our sole mission is to celebrate and promote Iranian art and culture for the benefit of the global community," says Alireza Ardekani, the CEO of the Farhang Foundation. The Farhang Foundation is a non-political, non-religious, and not-for-profit organization that was founded in 2008 by a group of philanthropists in Southern California."The reason the organization was established was because our founders felt that what the general [public] sees about or hears about Iran is what they see on the news, and specifically, what the current government of Iran is doing," he says. "All the beauty of our culture, our history, our poetry, our every contribution that Iran and Iranians have made to the world over centuries was really simply forgotten."The California-based organization is one of the largest Iranian cultural and arts organizations in the world—globally, they reach over 8.1 million people. This year's free day-long Nowruz festival will begin at 12 p.m. at UCLA's campus. The 6 p.m. concert following the festival will be held at Royce Hall and features Mahdieh Mohammadkhani, Cameron Shahbazi, and The Iranshahr Orchestra."We invite everyone to come and celebrate Nowruz because Noruz is a festival that you don't have to be Iranian to celebrate," Ardekani says. "It's a celebration of mother nature, spring, rebirth, and just the beauty of nature." Plan Your Perfect Weekend! Get the best events, dining, and activities around Los Angeles delivered to your inbox. Sign up for Los Angeles Magazine's Weekend Guide below or by clicking here.
