American pop star Selena Gomez took to Instagram to praise the spirit of five young Iranian women who went viral earlier this month dancing without headscarves to the song ‘Calm Down’ by Nigerian Afrobeats singer and rapper Rema. Had happened. Gomez shared a reel of viral videos posted on the Meta-owned social media platform, which purportedly inspired the group of girls to challenge the Islamic republic, where dress codes for women were largely banned last year. But there was opposition.
“To these young women and all the women in Iran who continue to be courageous, demanding fundamental change, please know that your strength is inspiring,” the singer wrote in her Instagram story.
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Gomez, who is often seen celebrating ‘woman power’ in public interviews, was praised after Nigerian rapper Rema on Tuesday retweeted a video of her dancing shared by a local Iranian media on Twitter, saying that she inspired by this act. “To all the beautiful women fighting for a better world, I am inspired by you, I sing for you and I dream with you.”
The video was shot in the Ekbatan neighborhood of Tehran, the capital of Iran. A few days after it went viral around International Women’s Day on March 8, another video had also surfaced, showing four women with their heads fully covered, standing together to express regret over the incident. They stepped forward one by one, which also raised fears for their safety, reported news agency AFP. In Iran, it is illegal for women to dance in public as well as not wearing a headscarf and performers can be accused of acts of ‘immorality’ for showing disobedience to Islamic laws.
The 2022 song ‘Calm Down’ has become a global hit and went viral on the short video sharing platform after Rema released the remix with superstar Selena Gomez.
The buzz around the video began when Iran was in the international news for seeing widespread demonstrations since September last year following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was allegedly being held in police custody for dressing up by ‘morality police’. Had died after. out of place’. The country’s morality police (Guidance Patrol), set up to ‘spread a culture of modesty and hijab’, was reportedly disbanded in December after months of clashes between protesters and security forces, news agency AFP said. .
