Why Aren’t Western Feminists Standing up for Iran’s Women?

Why aren’t Western feminists standing up for Iran’s women? Activists who never miss a chance to condemn microaggressions by white men are conspicuously silent as protesters bravely attempt to throw off the theocratic yolk, says Clarissa Hard in the Spectator. Here’s an excerpt.

As Iranians revolt against the brutal Islamic theocracy that has throttled their civilisation since 1979, striking images of young Persian women have been circulating online. They are lighting cigarettes by burning photographs of Ayatollah Khamenei. With their insouciant attitude, tumbles of curls, kohl-lined eyes and lolling fags, they could be on the cover of an Arcade Fire album.

These women have reignited the same spirit that sparked widespread protests across the country in September 2022, when Mahsa Amini died in custody following her arrest for disobeying the country’s modesty laws. In the aftermath of this, female protesters burnt their veils, cut their hair in public and chanted “Women, Life, Freedom”. Although the grievances of today’s protesters are much broader, with demands for the fall of the Islamic Republic, Iranian women are once again at the forefront of the unrest, demanding their liberation after decades of subjugation.

The bravery on display is breathtaking. In a devil-may-care act of defiance, young ladies are putting their lives on the line by smoking in public, discarding their hijabs and openly insulting the Supreme Leader’s image – a grave crime that could lead to prison, torture and even death. It is a raised middle finger – sometimes quite literally – to a regime intent on eviscerating women’s rights, suppressing dissent and enforcing Islamic governance, including blasphemy laws, the criminalisation of apostasy and mandatory hijabs.

One might expect choruses of violent assent from liberal women in the West, who make it their mission to dismantle the patriarchy one microaggression at a time. Western cities should be full of ardent feminists, cheering on the courage of their Iranian sisters in the face of vicious oppression. And yet their silence is conspicuous. While the women of Iran are taking back the streets, the women of Islington are tutting into their margaritas.

The Guardian has a weekly column called ‘The Week in Patriarchy’. Given the protests kicked off on December 28th, you might think Iran would have featured. Not yet. We have an article on domestic violence offenders in Tennessee and how Zohran Mamdani is “showing what ‘pro-family’ means”. The ‘Feminism’ tag on the Guardian’s website has contained no mention of Iran since the widespread protests began, either. The last entry lauds Brooklyn Beckham for setting an “important trend” by double-barrelling his surname.

Iran is believed to be the world’s number one executioner of women per capita. Surely the demonstrations would be a more important story in the British press? …

Westerner liberals seem uncomfortable conceding that Islamic regimes are far from feminist utopias or that political Islam is a threat to our own societies. The example of Iran since the revolution of 1979 shows that Islamic radicals can and will conquer once-thriving free countries. A secular monarchy can be transformed into a theocratic Islamic Republic, which implements strict Sharia-based laws, in a terrifyingly short period of time, aided and abetted by useful idiots.

A generation of activists has developed a reflexive anti-Westernism, which presents almost any foe of America, Israel or the West in general as virtuous. This can lead them to take the side of Islamists, rather than the people who suffer under Islamic rule. Confusion reigned supreme in Washington this week, for example, where anti-Khamenei Iranians clashed with a group of pro-Hamas white liberal women. As John Cleese remarked, it could be straight out of Monty Python.

It's another Python sketch https://t.co/Ji5pzDiPDD

— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) January 11, 2026

Worth reading in full.