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Iran’s government newspaper has used Photoshop to make three Iranian actresses look more “Islamic”.
The daily newspaper “Iran” is the official newspaper of the Iranian government and the moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who in his election campaign urged for gender equality and the promotion of women’s rights.
But now his newspaper has resorted to Photoshop to cover the hair of three female actresses completely.
The picture was taken at a press conference for the release of the Iranian TV series Shahrzad on Monday.
On Tueday, after the Iran Daily Newspaper had published the picture, one of the actresses, the award-winning Taraneh Alidoosti, posted the edited image of herself and her two collegues on Instagram.
“The award for best Photoshop editor goes to…” she wrote.
It is not unusual that Iranian media, especially state television, modify foreign content so that it is in-line with the state’s so-called Islamic values. Foreign films and TV series are frequently edited with special software, particularly in instances where an actress’ clothing is thought to be too revealing.
In 2013, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency photoshopped pictures of the US first lady Michelle Obama at the Oscars ceremony so her dress covered her chest and shoulders.
But it was not expected that the newspaper of the supposedly moderate government would resort to this method. Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad, founder of My Stealthy Freedom, an online campaign promoting gender equality in Iran, commented on the images:
“It is very contradictory that they are resorting to Photoshop to cover what they apparently deem the “Unislamic” hijab of these actresses whereas Rouhani had time and again promised greater social freedoms,” she wrote on the campaign's Facebook page.
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