You’ve probably seen the meme above, which has been making the rounds on the web for the last three days. The graphic was originally published on Reddit by its creator CarpeDonktum, along with the following caption:
Where are all the “Feminists” today? The ones that wore hijabs in solidarity and gushed over the call to prayer during the Women’s March. There is a deafening silence today about ACTUAL feminist warriors suffering
LEGITIMATE oppression in Iran. Disgusting
The image on the left is the headscarf designed by American activists to show solidarity with Muslim women here and in the Arab world. The image on the right is a screen cap from a video of an unidentified Muslim in Iran standing up to the oppression of the government by publicly removing her hijab, much to her peril.
One of the sites on which you will find this pair of images is BuzzFeed News, which in a related tweet refers to the photo on the right as “old.” The article explains:
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
… [T[he image … was first posted online last week — and she had nothing to do with the current protests sweeping Iran. Her personal action was part of a longer-running protest movement against women being forced to wear the hijab in public.
The article goes on to note that the woman has “been protesting on Enqelab Street, in Tehran” since Wednesday, Dec. 27. Wow, that’s, like, a whole week!
Somehow in BuzzFeed’s distorted view of the contemporary political scene worldwide, that difference is as plain as night and day. You almost have to feel sorry for these clowns.
