The Plight of Women's Clothing Revolt

A poem to mourn the death of Mahsa Amini

An Iranian woman cuts off her hair to protest the death of Mahsa Amini

“While one fights to liberate the nipple, the other fights to cover it. While one fights to rid the hijab, the other fights to keep it… It isn't irony, but Freedom of Choice best describes it. Revolution happens when we try to exercise this freedom, but society tries to restrict it.“

—Bavishya Tai

The Plight of Women's Clothing Revolt

In the city starring Lady Liberty, 
where patriarchal modesty was imposed,
American women held campaigns for the right to 
liberate their breasts.
In the lands of Travancore, 
where casteist dishonour was imposed,
Nadar women fought for the right to 
cover their breasts. 

In a demonstration overlooking the Eiffel Tower, 
where xenophobic bigotry was imposed, 
Muslim women protested for the right to 
cover their bodies. 
In the streets of Iran, 
where religious misogyny was imposed,
Iranian women marched for the right to 
liberate their bodies.  

While one fights to liberate the nipple, 
the other fights to cover it. 
While one fights to rid the hijab, 
the other fights to keep it.  

Ignorance says: 
"The feminist movement is contradictory. 
Irony and inconsistency run deep within this staged clownery."
But Revolution knows: 
There has always been a consistency. 
The fight was against a system that forced us into conformity.  

When you impose conformity, 
the woman who does not wear a hijab will rebelliously wear it; 
to show her disgust with the system, to show her solidarity with the movement. 
When you impose conformity, 
the woman who covers her breasts will rip her blouse apart; 
to show her anger with your laws, to show her solidarity with her sisters. 

This is the plight of women's clothing revolt: 
We fight for the right to discard 
that which the system forces us into wearing. 
We fight for the choice to wear 
that which the system prohibits us from wearing.  

It isn't irony,
but Freedom of Choice best describes it. 
Revolution happens when we try to exercise this freedom, 
but society tries to restrict it.  

When the world forces us to stick to a path, 
the only way to march is against it. 
When you try to push us into your box of conformity, 
we will fight together until we break it.  

Woman protesting ban of Hijab for under 18s in France.

Statue of Nangeli: The Ezhava caste woman who cut off her breast to protest the breast-tax imposed by upper caste men during the Colonial era.

Iranian women rebel against the 1979 hijab law.