A unique aspect of the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising is how youth-led the movement ones. Most of the protesters were young girls and women, and schoolgirls became a symbol of the movement. Instead of being a movement for older generations, many of whom remember when the hijab became mandatory, Woman, Life, Freedom created a space for the Iranian Gen Z to make their voice heard. But how and why did this movement galvanize the youth? And is their support sustainable or quick and reactionary?

          Well, the aspect of Iranian Gen Z that makes them different from the past generations is their access to media. Certainly, before the internet there were counterculture movements in the form of contraband vcr’s and dvd’s and satellite dishes that could catch Baywatch, but the internet opened up the general population to more than just some media (Aalaei, 2023). Iranians could now communicate easily with the outside world, first in chatrooms and then on social media. Young Iranians now strive for the freedoms to express themselves and their own unique identities that we take for granted in our western nations, and in response the regime has harshly cracked down on them. The deaths of Sarina Esmailzadeh and Nika Shakarami, both sixteen, are a cruel example of this.The internet let the both of them express themselves in ways they couldn’t have in their public lives. Sarina enjoyed discussing fashion and her day to day life on Youtube, and made videos to songs like Irish singer Hozier’s Take Me To Church. Nika used Instagram to connect with a girl named Nele from Germany, and they bonded over things like true crime, anime, and music. They eventually began dating online through chatrooms.
           Knowing that the internet is an outlet for Iranian Gen Z in the same way it is for most of us young people in the west, it is no surprise the movement is very social-media focused, or that it became globalized so quickly. Gen Z are leading these movements, and they are disseminating information at til-now unforeseen rate. And like most movements that catch fire, the easy dissemination made it easy for others to join. Like said in the article “‘No Going Back’: Gen Z at the forefront of protests in Iran”, by Ivana Saric “If they continue civil disobedience, there isn't much that the state can do, you know? What can a state do if 20 million women decide they're not going to do something, arrest a fourth of the country?”

- KC