“The Iranian police announced in 2014 that they’ve warned, arrested or sent to court nearly 3.6 million women because of having bad hijab, so these arrests are not new, if people are protesting it’s exactly because of such a crackdown.”

“Forced hijab is the most visible symbol of oppression against women in Iran, that’s why fighting for freedom to wear or not to wear hijab is the first step towards full equality,” Alinejad told the Guardian on Monday. “These women are not protesting against a piece of cloth, it’s about our identity, our dignity, and our freedom of choice. Our body, our choice.”

Marching Saturday, Alinejad said that the display of democracy in action was overwhelming and inspiring. "I am crying here, envying at this freedom," she said. "My dream is to have the same freedom in my own country to protest against our government. I want my women to have the same right in my home and to march freely without getting arrested or being killed."

My Stealthy Freedom is a movement encouraging Iranian women to fight for freedom from hijabs, the head-obscuring garment women have had to wear since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Since Iranian journalist Masih Alineja founded the movement in 2014, women of Iran have engaged in acts of defiance with the way they wear their hijabs and their clothes in general–their collective statement taking on more resonance the more it has spread.

"This woman in Iran took off her Hijab to protest the mandatory Islamic dress code imposed on Iranian women," he tweeted, using the hashtag "#IStandWithHer". The tweet has been retweeted over 15,000 times and liked more than 32,000 times.

“Being a female standup comedian in Iran is like competing in a swimming competition whilst you are three metres behind the starting line and your hands and legs are tied,” she told the Guardian, referring to a comparison one of her fellow comics has made.

The Monir Museum located in Negarestan Garden, a former palace in Tehran, is the first museum in Iran to be devoted to a female artist, reports Tim Cornwell at the Art Newspaper. The museum, which is run by the University of Tehran, includes 50 works from the artist. Farmanfarmaian, who has had a complicated relationship with the politics of her native land but a deep love for its culture, says she sees the museum as her final legacy in an interview with Cornwell. “I can leave this country with a representation of my life’s work,” she says. “My love for my culture is in everything I create.” Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/iran-opens-first-museum-honoring-female-artist-180967549/#yxGuCzbHVfDJo3ub.99 Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter

Iran has opened its first museum dedicated to a solo female artist – Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, who has received widespread international attention during decades of exile. The nonagenarian doyenne of Iranian art and friend of Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, had her first US solo museum exhibition at the Guggenheim in New York in 2015.

Athletes like Alizadeh are emboldening Iranian girls and young women to push the boundaries of personal freedom. Iranian women have long been vulnerable to various forms of suppression and restriction — exerted by their own families as well as by wider society and the political and religious elites — that, in effect, reduce them to second-class citizens.

Dorsa Derakhshani refused to wear the headscarf, known as the hijab, during the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess tournament in February, and joined the U.S. national team.

"I wish I could have gone to school; I only attended until the fifth grade."