Women’s Exercise Performance in Kasr-e Shirin Met with Basij and Government Officials’ Objections
A group of women performing collective exercise movements accompanied by music in front of Islamic Republic officials in the city of Kasr-e Shirin became controversial.
On Wednesday, 24 Esfand, a group of women at a women’s sports festival in a park in Kasr-e Shirin, Kermanshah Province, performed aerobics accompanied by music in front of Iranian sports officials. This action sparked strong reactions from the Basij force in this city and some media outlets close to the Revolutionary Guards.
Following this ceremony, the Kasr-e Shirin Basij Resistance Base immediately issued a statement condemning the action, describing it as “contrary to women’s lofty and valuable status in Islam.” The FARS News Agency also reported that the director general of Kermanshah’s sports department apologized for such an incident.
The Islamic Republic calls sports accompanied by music a type of “synchronized movements” that women are not permitted to perform. In Iran, not only is dancing prohibited for women, but sports such as Zumba that involve movement are also banned in state-run fitness clubs.
Women in Iran are only allowed to participate in certain international-level sports if they wear mandatory hijab. However, after 40 years of the Islamic Republic, women are unable to participate in aquatic sports, gymnastics, some martial arts disciplines, and any sport involving movement and music at the international level.
After the Islamic Republic came to power, many of women’s rights and freedoms were taken away, and they were set back many years.
In part of a detailed conversation with Star of Splendor, head of the Voice of America’s Persian service, Shahbanu Farah Pahlavi described regulations regarding women in Iran as “horrible” and said: “Before the revolution, freedoms and opportunities were given to women that did not even exist in societies like America.”
Previously, Brian Hook, U.S. State Department Special Representative for Iranian Affairs, had stated that before Ayatollah [Khomeini] came to power in 1357, the Iranian people enjoyed many personal freedoms. “And particularly in the realm of women’s rights, Ayatollah Khomeini quickly set them back.”
This is not the first time that women’s presence in public places under the name of performing “synchronized movements” or dancing in Iran has become controversial. Previously, several children performing dance in front of Tehran’s then-mayor also caused controversy, and some even attributed Mohammad Ali Najafi’s withdrawal to this event and the subsequent protests.
Source: Voice of America
