Why I Don’t Take the Right to Perform Freely for Granted
In June, an Iranian court sentenced a female singer Parastoo Ahmadi to 74 lashes for performing at a 2024 concert without wearing a hijab. As the New York Times reported, the Iran sentencing occurred closed trial in late June, in the Qom Province along with eight band and crew colleagues, indicated a possible tightening of religious rules for women under an Iranian political order reshaped by war.
As a woman who performs in crop tops and spends an hour fixing her hair prior to getting on stage, I find this reminder of women’s lack of personal freedoms shocking.
By all accounts, the December 2024 performance posted on social media looked pretty normal by American standards. Viewers saw a 29-year-old singer belting her heart out while wearing a long, black sleeveless, dress. Her rendition of a patriotic song, “Az Khoon-e Javanan-e Vatan” (From the Blood of the Youth of the Homeland), without a head covering, was simple and lovely. But when a livestream of the performance went viral, Ahmadi became an overnight criminal.
Iran isn’t the only country that imposes strict regulations on artistic and personal expression.
Most infamously, Pussy Riot’s founding members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were arrested in 2012 and sentenced to two years in prison for “hooliganism” after staging an anti-Putin protest inside Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral. Over the years, the band’s members are continually arrested for 15-day jail sentences for seemingly minor infractions actions like attending anti-government rallies. In October 2025, musicians Diana Loginova (Naoko), guitarist Aleksandr Orlov and drummer Vladislav Leontyev of the band Stoptime were arrested after a video of them performing songs by exiled Russian musicians in Saint Petersburg went viral. Crowds apparently joined in singing lyrics critical of the authorities, human rights violations and the war against Ukraine.
Yet, Ahmadi’s punishment in Iran feels particularly chilling. Prison time is one thing. But getting physically beaten, or lashed, is inhumane and humiliating. On top of that, she’s barred from performing two years. Just imagine that. Finally going viral for your talent, then having the government take it away.
It’s also disheartening in the backdrop of the current U.S. war with Iran, and proof that little has changed since early 2026. As Iranian-British actor Nazanin Boniadi was quoted in the Guardian, “The sentencing of singer Parastoo Ahmadi to flogging for the simple act of singing publicly without a hijab is a stark reminder that, despite talk in Washington of a ‘new regime’ in Iran, the Islamic republic’s machinery of repression remains unchanged.”
But, perhaps, there is a silver lining in the wake of Ahmadi’s brave act of resistance.
The Iranian actor Setareh Maleki, who was forced into exile after starring in Mohammad Rasoulof’s Oscar-nominated film The Seed of the Sacred Fig told the Guardian.“When I watched the video of Parastoo Ahmadi’s concert, it reignited the spirit of resistance in me. For days, I kept watching the videos over and over again, and I felt immensely proud of Parastoo.
“Knowing all the consequences she would have to face, she still refused to give up her right, as a woman, to live, to sing and to be heard. Iranian women never stop fighting against tyranny, not even for a moment, and that is truly remarkable.”
A very informative article and one that has importance in today’s restrictive society.