A 22-year-old woman answered hundreds of comments about living in Iran on a Reddit Ask Me Anything thread.
The woman, who posted under the username u/just__a__loser, explained in her original post that she wanted to answer any questions about the current turmoil in Iran following the very public death of Mahsa Amini, who was also 22 years old. Amini was taken into a re-education center by Iran’s morality police — a unit within the police department that specifically enforces strict dress codes, especially headscarves for women — and died three days later on Sept. 16.
Since Amini’s death, protests have erupted throughout Iran with women burning their headscarves and cutting off their hair.
“There is a lot going on here and I think there are a lot of questions,” u/just__a__loser wrote in her original post. “We (the people of Iran) are trying to spread the news so ask me anything about recent events or living in Iran as a young woman or why we are protesting or even Iran in general.”
A Reddit moderator left a comment on the thread confirming that u/just__a__loser had privately provided proof of her identity and living situation.
One topic that came up multiple times was whether there was a generational divide between the women participating in the protests and those who weren’t. U/just__a__loser proposed older Iranian women may feel “more suppressed” than her generation, which is why outsiders see more photos of young women protesting in press coverage.
“Most of my generation felt like they don’t have a home or country,” u/just__a__loser explained in another response. “Right now for the first time, we feel like we belong to something, to somewhere and to each other. This is our biggest victory. We are hopeful to win this time and have the freedom to be able to just live, … don’t have to watch the[m] destroy any more life, river, jungle or family.”
One of u/just__a__loser’s messages that drew the most attention was about what people outside of Iran and people with no political power can do to help the protests.
“We need you to talk about it, talk about how we are fighting with nothing in our hand for freedom, how young girls and boys [are] in street shouting ‘WOMEN, LIFE, FREEDOM,’” she said. “This way the regime knows you are watching and they know they have to answer to the world so maybe they [will] be less violent.”
“All we have to do is loudly complain on your behalf?” one person replied. “You came to the right website.”
Read u/just__a__loser’s full AMA here.
The post 22-year-old candidly answers questions about Iran protests in Reddit AMA appeared first on In The Know.
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