Published by the Atlantic
On a busy sidewalk outside a café, a group of young people, many of them women, bob their heads to the beat of “Seven Nation Army,”by the White Stripes. Huddled around a live band, some shake their hair while others rhythmically swing.
The scene wouldn’t raise an eyebrow in most cities. But a clip of it went viral, viewed by millions on X and Instagram, because it happened in Tehran. Western rock music is mostly banned in the Islamic Republic, and women are forbidden to dance in public, smoke, and—most important—bare their hair. Iran’s mandatory-hijab law requires women to cover their head and entire body, except for their face and hands below the wrist. Showing so much as an ear or an elbow could count as a crime.
Rest is in the gift link