Masih Alinejad has a blunt message for Western feminists trying to help her country’s women: You’re making it worse.
“I keep hearing in the West especially, Western feminists who go to my country — the female politicians — we don’t want to break the country’s law,” Alinejad said at TheWrap’s Power Women Breakfast in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, noting that many well-intentioned foreigners choose to wear veils when traveling in Islamic-dominated countries like Iran.
“Women of Iran don’t want to be slaves,” she said. “They don’t want to be told by men or the law of the Islamic Republic of Iran what to wear.”
Too often, Alinejad said, women seeking to be culturally sensitive in fact manage to exacerbate the problem.
“In America when I talk about compulsory hijab, I often get this question that, ‘You know, this is a cultural issue.’ It’s not,” Alinejad said. “Before the revolution we had the right to choose what we wanted to wear in Iran. Compulsion was never part of Iranian culture.”
In addition, Alinejad said some Western feminists resisted legitimate criticism of the regime out of a desire not to appear in line with the policies of President Donald Trump. This too, she said, was a mistake.
Alinejad, an activist and author of the new book “The Wind in My Hair: My Fight for Freedom in Modern Iran,” has launched a social media campaign against the compulsory head covering, which has often put her on the wrong side of the nation’s ruling clerics.
But her prolific use of social media to connect women in the country has nevertheless made her a powerful force to be reckoned with. She currently lives in exile in Brooklyn, New York.
Alinejad told attendees that she got much of her strength — and wisdom — from her mother.
“If you let your fear win, then the darkness can devour you,” she said her mother told her. “I experienced a lot of darkness in my life. I got expelled from my high school because I had too many questions. I got expelled from parliament again because I had too many questions.”
Michèle Flournoy, a former Under Secretary of Defense also on the panel, shared her own story of being a woman in the Middle East.
“A lot of Western women who go to the Middle East think that they’re being culturally respectful — that’s what you’re told — to put on a scarf, not a hijab necessarily, to cover your hair in some way,” Floournoy said. “I think there is a misunderstanding.
“When I would go to Saudi Arabia, I would not put on a hijab and I would not put on a scarf,” she said, adding she was once told she was able to get away with it because she was an “honorary man.”
“It was supposed to be a great compliment,” said Flournoy.
The Power Women Breakfast series brings together influential women of entertainment, media, technology and brands in key cities to network and connect. TheWrap has built a broad power base of professional women who are decision makers and mothers, leaders and wives, innovators and activists. The franchise is now in six cities including Los Angeles, New York, Austin, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Miami.
In addition to Alinejad and Flournoy, the event hosted panels and welcomed speakers on the Times Up movement in Hollywood and how women photographers and explorers were pushing the envelope for National Geographic. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar also spoke at the event.
The Scene at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast Washington DC (Photos)
TheWrap CEO Sharon Waxman interviews author-activist Masih Alinejad and foreign policy expert Michelle Flournoy at the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) addresses the Power Women Breakfast DC
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
Political consultant Hilary Rosen, actress-activist Amber Tamblyn and TimesUp Legal Defense Fund executive director Sharyn Tejani attend the Power Women Breakfast DC
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Foreign policy expert Michele Flournoy, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), National Geographic editor-in-chief Susan Goldberg and National Geographic Global Networks CEO Courteney Monroe gather at the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
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National Geographic photographers and filmmakers attend the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
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Kim Gillies and Cristina Killingsworth at the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
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Sharon Waxman, Masih Alinejad, and Michèle Flournoy, Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) attends the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
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Megan Swiatowski and Chanda Daniels at the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
The scene at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) opens the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
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Sara Keller and Kim Kahnhauser Freeman at the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Guests at the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Guests at the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
National Geographic Global Networks CEO Courteney Monroe addresses the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
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National Geographic filmmakers and photographers Asha Stuart, Beverly Joubert, Erika Larsen, Hannah Reyes Morales, Jess Cramp, Power Women Breakfast D.C.
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Filmmaker Asha Stuart
Conservationist Jess Cramp makes a point
National Geographic editor-in-chief Susan Goldberg and filmmaker Asha Stuart
Asha Stuart, Beverly Joubert, Erika Larsen, Hannah Reyes Morales and Jess Cramp, Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Susan Goldberg and Asha Stuart
Hannah Reyes Morales and Jess Cramp
Photographer Erika Larsen takes the mic
Asha Stuart, Beverly Joubert, Erika Larsen, Hannah Reyes Morales and Jess Cramp, Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
Jess Cramp makes a point at the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Asha Stuart and conservationist-filmmaker Beverly Joubert
Another view of the National Geographic panel
Elisa Lees Munoz at the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Guests at the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Sara Keller and Kim Kahnhauser Freeman at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
Carletta Hunt at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Janet Donovan at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
TheWrap CEO Sharon Waxman interviews author-activist Masih Alinejad and foreign policy expert Michèle Flournoy at the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
TheWrap CEO Sharon Waxman interviews author-activist Masih Alinejad
Author-activist Masih Alinejad and foreign policy expert Michèle Flournoy at the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
TheWrap CEO Sharon Waxman interviews author-activist Masih Alinejad and foreign policy expert Michèle Flournoy at the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Sharon Waxman and Masih Alinejad, Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Masih Alinejad makes her point at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
Kendrah Polk at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Nicole Strong and Kendrah Polk at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Erin Griffin at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Michal Carr and Courteney Monroe at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Alice Weiss and Barbara Katron at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
"American Fire" author Monica Hesse addresses Power Women Breakfast D.C.
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Actress Amber Tamblyn, Power Women Breakfast D.C.
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Monica Hesse with TimesUp Legal Defense Fund executive director Sharyn Tejani, actress-activist Amber Tamblyn and political consultant Hilary Rosen at the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
TimesUp Legal Defense Fund executive director Sharyn Tejani and actress-activist Amber Tamblyn
TimesUp Legal Defense Fund executive director Sharyn Tejani
Amber Tamblyn and Hilary Rosen, Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
Author Monica Hesse and TimesUp Legal Defense Fund executive director Sharyn Tejani
The scene at the TimesUp panel at the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Masih Alinejad and Sharon Waxman
National Geographic's Susan Goldberg and Rep. Debbie Dingell at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Masih Alinejad and Michèle Flournoy, Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Liana Bright, Murphy Shrub, Aviva Kempner and Guest at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Ashlee Lawson at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Sharon Waxman and a guest at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Penni Berbert and Tami Wahl at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Masih Alinejad and Rebecca Bustamonte at the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Rosemary Reed, Jane Barbara and Guest at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Sharon Waxman and Kim Bassett at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Selfie moment
Sharon Waxman, Masih Alinejad, and Michèle Flournoy, Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
Michele Flournoy and Guest at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Rep. Debbie Dingell Susan Goldberg and Jill Cress at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Liana Bright and Guest at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Masih Alinejad and Sharon Waxman
Michele Flournoy, Alice Keating and Guest at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Tami Wahl and Alice Keating at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Michele Flournoy and Gues at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Masih Alinejad and Michele Flournoy at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
National Geographic editor-in-chief Susan Goldberg, Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
Photographers and filmmakers from National Geographic attend the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Rebecca Bustamonte at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
Leah Wojda and Kendrah Polk of NatGeo Partners, Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
Michèle Flournoy, Power Women Breakfast D.C.
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Author-activist Masih Alinejad attends Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
Jane Barbara, Penni Berbert and Guest at Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
TheWrap founder Sharon Waxman attends the Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
Debbie Dingell, Masih Alinejad, and Michèle Flournoy, Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Penni Berbert and Tami Wahl at Power Women Breakfast D.C
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
Courteney Monroe, Power Women Breakfast D.C.
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
Photographers and fimmakers from National Geographic
Photographed by E. Brady Robinson for TheWrap
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Power Women Breakfast DC: Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Amber Tamblyn and other industry leaders gather at the W Hotel on June 13
