A Decolonial View

Recently I saw a video on social media of a discussion between Ms. Masih
Alinejad, a women activist and journalist, and Ms. Ann Linde, the Swedish
Foreign Minister, which was very interesting to me. In this interview, Masih
Alinejad strongly criticizes Ms. Linde for wearing a headscarf during her
diplomatic visit and talking with Iranian government officials in Iran. Her
argument was, while Ms. Linde is a feminist who strives for equal rights for
women and men, she herself is forced to surrender to a country with the law of
compulsory hijab and to accept compulsory hijab at that time and place.

What comes to mind at first glance? Is Ms. Linde entering into negotiations
with government leaders in a contradictory move that openly violates women’s
freedom and equality? Is Ms. Linde just looking to develop Sweden’s political
interests and wear a feminist mask? Has Ms. Linde neglected the rights of
Iranian women? Is Ms. Linde really a feminist?

The answer to this question is beautifully given by Ms. Anne Linde, she can
choose to be a feminist woman and only care about the freedom of her dress and not enter into negotiations with the leaders of Iran for anything. At the same
time, she can be a feminist and choose to accept the forced hijab for a short time
in order to achieve a greater goal and help free some political prisoners. which
one is better? Getting a little of what we want or getting nothing?

The ability to solve a problem is one of the most basic life skills and is a sign of
having white literacy, and in order to be able to solve a problem, one must first
be able to identify priorities. What the Swedish Foreign Minister is aware of,
but many women’s rights activists in Iran and in other places are not paying
attention to. Thus, this inaccuracy causes them to focus only on the goal and the
result instead of focusing on the solutions to solve the problem, and try to
achieve the result in any way, unaware that the goal does not justify the device.
To achieve the goal, you must use the right way, and the right way is in the right
training.

Watch the video here!

Fatemeh Shirazizadeh