http://twitchy.com/aaronwalker/2026/01/11/smoking-iranian-women-go-viral-n2423771
Although getting good information is a challenge, it appears that, as we write this, there are massive protests in Iran ... ordinary Iranians appear to be fighting back ... and the regime is trying to suppress them with atrocities. We don’t know if there will be a successful revolution this time, but we are praying for it. And because J.K. Rowling actually cares about freedom, especially for women, she made it clear which side she supported:
J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) ~ If you claim to support human rights yet can’t bring yourself to show solidarity with those fighting for their liberty in Iran, you’ve revealed yourself. You don’t give a damn about people being oppressed and brutalised so long as it’s being done by the enemies of your enemies.
J.K. Rowling is what a feminist looks like when that feminist is consistent.
This image of a woman burning Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s picture while using the fire to light a cigarette is stylized, but not made up. It is one of several images of Iranian women doing that exact thing:
Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) ~ These women have more bravery in their pinky finger, than the entire UN Women organization.
For years, Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds argued that successful movements needed to have "protest babes." He might have a point. Sex sells and so does beauty, and if you want to sell a political idea or movement, having a pretty woman involved helps. Love it or hate it, it helps.
But, this is arguably an upgrade: Move over "protest babes." Here comes the smoking, hot Iranian women!
(Please note our comma placement is extremely intentional and constitutes an inexcusably terrible pun.)
The image that Rowling’s "poster" is taken from appears to be a still from this video:
Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) ~ Iranian woman lights her cigarette with a burning photo of the ayatollah. This is braver than anything an American feminist has done in the 21st century. Actual badass:
Video ~ http://twitter.com/i/status/2009827645794730265
That video is being shared by Clay Travis, who once said that he loves the First Amendment and boobs. So, this is all pretty in-character for him: Freedom of expression and a beautiful woman.
Melissa Chen (@MsMelChen) ~ In a normal world, this badass photograph would be immortalized as an iconic feminist symbol.
It would be stylized, posterized and plastered all over merchandise marketed as empowering for young girls of this generation and beyond.
It's the sheer audacity of Iranian women - unsheathed and in their full feminine glory - lighting up a cigarette almost nonchalantly, their pretty faces glowing in the light of a flickering flame from a burning picture of the Ayatollah Khamenei (their actual oppressor).
In this one act, they broke so many rules all at once, risking imprisonment, torture and death. It is dangerously titillating, especially in a world of sanitized corporate pride parades and student revolutionary LARPers on Ivy League campuses.
I don't care what all the health bodies and governments have tried to push with their data-driven decrees and attempts to vilify smoking. It's just cool.
While the technocrats discourage cigarettes in the name of "protecting bodies," Iranian women are wielding them to assert their liberty and as a symbol of rebellion against the regime.
I JUST LOVE IT!
Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) ~ Young Iranian women smoking cigarettes with a little extra on the side. 🔥
Flopping Aces (@FloppingAces) ~ These Iranian women are showing their faces, no burkas, no fear ... inside Iran ... calmly smoking while burning a photo of Khamenei. That takes more courage than the entire Western left-wing feminist class combined. These women aren’t posting slogans or trying to run over law enforcement. They’re risking their lives for freedom.
Stephen Palmer (@PalmerStephenD) ~ You may be cool, but you'll never be Iranian-woman-using-burning-picture-of-ayatollah-to-light-a-cigarette cool.
Eve Barlow (@Eve_Barlow) ~ Nobody will do anything this cool at the Golden Globes.
The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. ~ D.H. Lawrence
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