Perhaps their actions won’t result in the kind of political change they desire. But Iranian women’s en masse presence in the post-election protests is both powerful and significant.

Photo via: misterarasmus

By now, she’s a household name.

Neda Agha-Soltan, who was killed by a sniper over the weekend, became a media sensation overnight, thanks, in part, to the circulation of the video which documented her death as it was occurring.

But for all the focus on Agha-Soltan–who was not actually participating in a protest–there are thousands more Iranian women who have taken to the streets, risking social, political, and religious condemnation, as well as their very lives.

Here are images of some of them:

Photo via: misterarasmus

Photo via: .faramarz

Photo via: .faramarz

Photo via: .faramarz

About The Author

Julie Schwietert

Julie Schwietert Collazo is a writer, editor, researcher, and translator currently in New York, formerly of Mexico City and San Juan. She is Matador's managing editor and is the lead faculty member of MatadorU's travel writing program.

  • http://www.evaholland.com Eva

    Neda wasn’t protesting?

  • http://collazoprojects.com/ Julie Schwietert

    Not according to the NY Times; she was merely riding in a car near a street where protests were occurring when she got out of the car for some fresh air and was shot. In fact, the article (linked above) described her as rather apolitical. Interestingly, the US media and many US politicians, have portrayed her as a political martyr.

  • http://pulltheroot.wordpress.com Ryan Van Lenning

    Powerful! Since I don’t know how to say it in Farsi, “Viva las Mujeres!!”

  • http://www.evaholland.com Eva

    Huh, wow. So many different variations circulating on her. The LAT says she’d always been apolitical, but that she was stirred to action over the election results.

    http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-neda23-2009jun23,0,366975,full.story

  • http://collazoprojects.com/ Julie Schwietert

    Eva-

    It IS interesting– and I think it brings us back around to the issues we’ve been discussing over on Change about the use, reliability, and reliance upon social media (Twitter, YouTube, etc.) in the reporting about what’s going on in Iran.

  • http://www.evaholland.com Eva

    Agreed. It really makes you think, when two major MSM sources are reporting two completely different sets of “facts” – while bloggers, Twitter, etc are criticized for spreading rumors. This all will make a fascinating media study someday, assuming some missing puzzle pieces can be filled in once things calm down in Iran.

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