The horrific death of Mahsa Amini on September 16 in Iran is a brutal reminder of how fear, disrespect and hatred of women perpetuates world-wide. The 22-year-old was killed in police custody by the Iranian Morality Police for wearing her hijab “incorrectly.”  The Islamic decree that a woman’s hair must remain concealed epitomizes the way women are subjugated. Hair suggests vitality, beauty, and self-expression, what we know in yoga circles as “shakti.” Hair is potency. The fact that a woman is condemned and killed for revealing her vitality is repressive. This plight of repression is not isolated to fundamentalist regimes half-way across the globe. Here in America, the Supreme Court just ruled against a woman’s right to choose, shooting down access to abortion and reproductive rights. A healthy society is a society where women have equal rights and do not have to stay hidden. At Prajna Yoga, we feel it necessary to stand up against reactionary forces that curtail fundamental human rights toward self-expression. The amazing Iranian visual artist Shirin Neshat spoke out against this horrific crime in Vogue here: https://en.vogue.me/culture/iranian-artist-shirin-neshat-protests-mahsa-amini-death-hijab/.Â
We encourage you to stand up against the forces of bigotry that aim to squelch women by keeping them sequestered, out of the workplace, in the home, and relegated to second class citizens.
