Like a butterfly's fragile wing
Like a butterfly's fragile wing
The wing that fluttering flies away when attempted to be caught.
Only by being careful with gentleness
can you redeem its trust and get close.
If you then deceive and chain it in your hands, lock it in a cage.
Then the winged one closes its wings of beauty and begins to suffocate.
Without light, turning into a dark shadow,
fearfully freezing into the corner of the cage.
You wonder and shout angrily
where did the fragile beautiful winged one disappear.
That which you fell in love with and wanted as your own
on your own terms, you squeezed into your fist.
Closing into the dark shadow as the colors of the mind disappear
with the light, merging into the dark outer form.
Love stiffens into fear, hate, into a frustrated longing for freedom.
Open the latch of my cage, set me free, let me fly, only then
will I come to you beautiful, out of my own free will.
Only then will you get what you need, my love.
Only in the light are my inner colors, only in the light does my mind paint,
only in the light can I see myself and you and am able to love.
And only then will you be happy from my happiness.
Only in freedom can you admire the carrying force
of a butterfly's delicate wings.
The right to feel the freedom of the gentle wind.
Minna Pietarinen
2022
Mahsa Amini
The right to freedom
Mahsa Amini's real name was Jina Amini (Zhina Amini). She was Kurdish, and used the name Mahsa Amini because Kurdish names are illegal in Iran.
Iran's morality police arrested 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 14, 2022. The reason for the arrest was for violating Iran's strict hijab-related dress code. The hijab is a scarf worn by Muslim women. In Iran, the law still defines how women should dress.
Just a few hours after her arrest, Amini was in a coma in the hospital. She died two days after her arrest, on September 16, 2022. Amini's arrest and death triggered nationwide protests and demonstrations in Iran. Both women and men rose up to oppose the discriminatory and strict rules and restrictions especially against women, and to demand justice for Amini.
Women and girls should have an unrestricted right to dress and behave exactly as they want, including the right to choose whether or not they want to wear, for example, the hijab. For millennia, efforts have been made to restrict women's behavior, the way they dress, their status, their social participation and their voice through patriarchal means, with oppressive laws, discriminatory structures and often violence. The right of women and girls to decide their own clothing is at the heart of the right to self-determination, and yet countless girls and women still have to fight for this right around the world, putting their own health and even their lives at risk.
Every single day, girls and women lose their lives to gender-based violence. The rights and freedoms of girls and women are still debated, as if it were a matter of opinion - but human rights are not negotiable. Mahsa Amini's death is a shocking and unbearable reminder of how far we are from a world where the human dignity of girls and women is truly respected, and where the patriarchal social structure does not threaten the rights, safety and life of girls and women.
Iranian women and girls have risen up to demand respect for their basic rights, often at the risk of their own safety and even their lives. No girl or woman should have to choose between self-determination and life.
In a statement, UN Women expressed its full support for the women of Iran in their struggle for their fundamental human rights. Around the world, UN Women works relentlessly so that every woman and girl can freely and without fear of violence make decisions about their own body, what they wear and life.
UN Women is the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting the needs of women and girls worldwide. UN Women Finland is the Finnish National Committee of UN Women. The accompanying texts telling the stories of the women in the paintings and the rights that are depicted were written by Emma Winiecki, Head of Communications for UN Women Finland.
Sinako Interaction Art ry
Finland