so the question is the authenticity of the photos
i would say that the women of Iran want to be seen, and I respect that wish
you would say it's... staged outside iran? in iran but illegitimate iranians in some way?
just be clear: images like that are part of a centuries old propaganda machine that the Pahlavis knew too well.
when i was a kid, Queen Farah was the only WoC in most fashion magazines sold in Puerto Rico & Latin America. the 1979 uprising was sold as an injustice to her, the Queen of Vogue magazine.
yes, there’s always been dissidents and anti-theocratic movements in Iran. let’s be clear though of how circulating these images are meant to prime people for the violence to come.
so the question is the authenticity of the photos
i would say that the women of Iran want to be seen, and I respect that wish
you would say it's... staged outside iran? in iran but illegitimate iranians in some way?
nonono the issue isn't the authenticity of the photos. the issue is the RESPONSE these photos are meant to produce.
that’s why i made the point of the ghost ads for tobacco in talkies. they were meant to elicit a POSITIVE RESPONSE for a vice capitalists knew was addictive and deadly, causing emphysema & cancer.
these images are #propaganda meant FOR THE USA/EU “WHITE GAZE” MARKET. these are images meant to america/europeanize an uprising, which isn’t about gringos but water
i agree the photos will attract a white male gaze predicated on leering colonist transgression
but if we agree these are authentic iranian women protesting in this way, i choose to see them for what they chose to depict of themselves
the loaded derivative meaning then gets injected into the photos after the women's intentions
i don't know how to solve this problem
maybe iranian women become aware of western gooners, throw up a little in their mouths, and no longer take such photos
@benroyce @blogdiva The women of Iran have been seriously oppressed and suffered for a long time. Let’s not interpret their actions through any lens except empathy — stand in their shoes for a moment. This is their expression of self-determination, and it is very radical relative to the previous norms forced on them. So I say, good for them! Will others try to exploit these images for propaganda? Of course. That is the way of things, and it is good to be mindful of it. Right now, their resistance to the will of the mullahs is akin to the Germans tearing down the Berlin Wall. The joy is infectious.
