The women using hair dye as their latest weapon against the morality police

It is just over a year since 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died after being accused by Iran’s morality police of not wearing her hijab properly.

The student from Kurdistan was coming out of a metro station in Tehran with family members when she was arrested by ‘guidance patrols’ for alleged non-compliance with the country’s mandatory dress code.

Her veil was worn too loosely for the officers’ liking, and a few strands of her hair were visible to passing crowds.

Mahsa was put in a van and taken to a ‘re-education centre’ where women are taught how to dress properly. While there she collapsed and was taken to hospital, where she later died.

Iranian authorities blamed a heart attack, but her parents said she may have been beaten to death.

The frightening incident sparked waves of protests across Iran and women took to the streets, burning headscarves and chanting ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’, and thousands were arrested.

In continued protest, Gen Z women are now dying their hair bright colours in defiance of the rules, despite the potentially devastating consequences.

Photographer Shiva Khademi has published a book about these young women, known as ‘the Smarties’ about how they are using art, culture and forbidden fashion shows in protest to the oppressive regime.

Shiva writes in  ‘Woman Life Freedom’: ‘While I have never coloured my own hair, I was amazed by the bravery of these young women, and I wanted to find out more. I was struck by the fact these women did not cover their hair, despite it being compulsory in Iran.’

Under Iranian law, which is based on the country’s interpretation of Sharia, women must cover their hair with a hijab (headscarf) and wear long, loose-fitting clothing to disguise their figures. The rules are enforced by guidance patrols – or the morality police. But many now ignore the rules, like Sahel, pictured, who has dyed her hair red. (Picture: Shiva Khademi)

Shiva Khademi went out onto the streets with her camera hunting for women to take photos of. Normally strangers would refuse her request, but these young women were different, she says. They were eager to be seen and grateful to be taken seriously. Aida, here, says: ‘With colours I can find myself or in other words, I invent myself.’ (Picture: Shiva Khademi)

The women don’t just sacrifice their privacy and safety; they also risk their personal relationships in choosing to stand out. One woman’s father refused to let her into the house when she dyed her hair pink and red. Another said her mother had promised her a holiday if she never dyed her hair orange and yellow again. Anita, pictured here, says: ‘I always wished my hair was pink. When I saw Japanese anime, this passion grew.’ (Picture: Shiva Khademi)

Shiva says: ‘Some of the women I spoke to dyed their hair a different colour every month. The women I met were as diverse and complex in personality as in appearance. For them, the colour of their hair was no superficial thing; it represented an identity they were willing to fight for. Azin, pictured, adds: ‘It’s about the character that I create with each colour. I’m made of colours.’ (Picture: Shiva Khademi)

As Shiva befriended these women, they would walk around town and chat. On one excursion, a police officer warned one of the Smarties, Mahla, about not wearing a hijab and scarf. She immediately told him she was transgender, and the shocked officer let them go. It wasn’t true, but it was a necessary lie to stop the harassment. Hamta, pictured, says: ‘Colours are interesting to me when they can change the nature of things.’ (Picture: Shiva Khademi)

Shiva says: ‘In Mashhad, where I grew up, women typically dressed in black. When I moved to Tehran four years ago, the first thing that caught my eye were the young women you’d see in public with dyed hair. I remember being moved by the flashes of red, green and pink on the city’s crowded underground.’ Marjan, pictured, adds: ‘I always change my identity at the exact moment I begin to feel empty.’ (Picture: Shiva Khademi)

Marzieh, pictured here, says: ‘For me, colours are equal to power and energy.’ The women get stared at for dying their hair or men will stop them and berate them for not being dressed appropriately. Shiva adds: ‘These women were un-phased by the astonished looks they got from strangers; un-phased by being photographed. They were not afraid of being seen. By contrast, I was the opposite; always terrified of being noticed.’ (Picture: Shiva Khademi) (Picture: Shiva Khademi)

The Woman, Life, Freedom movement is now improving life in Tehran. The pioneers’ hard work is having an impact and there has been a noticeable shift over the past year, says Shiva. It is now more common for women and girls to be out in public without a headscarf and there is strength in numbers. As Mahtab says: ‘I love colours. I love their limpidity, and the happiness which lives in it.’ (Picture: Shiva Khademi)

Men can wear what they like in Iran, while for these women, removing their scarves and colouring their hair comes at a price. The punishment for being seen in public without a headscarf can include a prison sentence, flogging or a fine. Many of the Smarties risk social exclusion as well as their own safety and liberty. But, as Setareh (pictured) says: ‘The world is colourful, and so am I.’ (Picture: Shiva Khademi)

In Iran it is illegal for women to sing in public unaccompanied and some women have been jailed for posting their work on social media. Shiva (pictured) is one of the women that the regime has failed to silence. She says: ‘No one’s born with this kind of hair colour, so I dye mine.’ (Picture: Shiva Khademi)

Woman Life Freedom; Voices and Art from the Women’s Protests in Iran, edited by Malu Halasa is available from Saqi Books.

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