V stands for victory. For victory. At least since Churchill. Tehran on Thursday, it is the eighth week of the Iranian people’s uprising against the Islamic Republic, the struggle for freedom and civil rights. This is about sports. Archery, award ceremony of a team competition.
Archer Parmida Ghassemi is the winner, one of four on her team. In front of the winner’s podium are men, probably sports officials, also a woman in a black chador. Music is playing, the women are showing their medals.
But Parmida Ghassemi also shows something else: her hair. For a moment it looks as if one of Ghassemi’s teammates wants to pull the headscarf off her shoulder towards her head again, but Parmida Ghassemi rejects her.
No more headscarves. The index and middle fingers of her left hand form a V. Her eyes are looking for the mobile phone camera, which is filming her and the soundtrack of which can be heard as various spectators cheer what she is doing there: “Mashallah, Parmida!” Bravo. Parmida Ghassemi’s eyes find the camera, she forms the victory sign again. V stands for direct hit. V stands for victory.
