Women in Iran have been chopping off their hair, protesting the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was allegedly assaulted by the country’s morality police for not wearing her hijab properly. Now, a mural of popular cartoon TV sitcom character Marge Simpson chopping off her hair has appeared in Italy’s Milan, extending solidarity to the Iranian women, reported SBS News.
The mural shows Marge holding scissors in her left hand and her chopped-off iconic blue hair in her right hand. In the mural painted by Italian artist AleXsandro Palombo, Marge has a frown on her face. As per SBS, Palombo made the artwork in front of the Iranian Consulate in Milan to “celebrate the courage” of the women against the government.
A mural created by the street artist AleXsandro Palombo shows Marge Simpson cutting her iconic hair in solidarity with Mahsa Amini.
The mural was displayed in front of the Iranian consulate in Milan, Italy. https://t.co/phDv9gSTd5 pic.twitter.com/75AhXqr27k
— ABC News (@ABC) October 5, 2022
Palombo was quoted as saying by Metro UK, “The mural against the Tehran regime portrays Marge Simpson cutting her iconic hairstyle to celebrate the courage of Iranian women and to pay tribute to Mahsa Amini beaten to death by the morality police for failing to properly wear the hijab that let out a lock of hair.”
Notably, The Simpsons toys have been banned in Iran since 2012 to curb the promotion of Western culture among children, the SBS report said.
Palombo told Metro UK, “If Marge Simpson is banned from entering Iran, nothing prevents her from expressing her dissent to the regime in front of the Iranian consulate, here we live in democracy, that universal value of the right to freedom for which the brave Iranian people fight at the cost of their lives.”
Iran has witnessed widespread protests, with women chopping off their hair, burning state-mandated headscarves, chasing school officials etc. since Amini’s death on September 16. In addition, the recent disappearance and death of a 17-year-old girl, Nika Shahkarami, in Tehran has also led to a furore on Iranian social media. During the protests, Shahkarami vanished one night last month and after going missing for a week, her body was found on a Tehran street. While her relatives did not receive an official word related to her death, several activists allege she died in police custody, an Associated Press report said.