France 24 Discovers Women's Rights, But Only When Convenient
France 24 reports on Iranian women pushing back against motorcycle driving bans, framing it as a defiant challenge to authority. While admirable, this newfound media interest in women's rights feels selective. (Where was this feverish reporting when Saudi women fought for the right to drive any vehicle, only just getting it in 2018?) We rarely see such emotionally charged pieces about women's
freedoms in Gulf allies, where women still grapple with male guardianship laws, divorce restrictions, and often lack basic civil liberties. The focus on Iran isn't about universal women's rights; it's a convenient narrative that aligns perfectly with geopolitical agendas, distracting from deeper, uncomfortable truths about our own government's complicity in hindering those same rights elsewhere.