Before Father and I left for Iran I told myself I would not post about politics. I'm still very hesitant to do so, mostly because people will think I have 'gone native' if I do. But sometimes it's just more important to report what I see, no matter how far away it is from the Western media portrayal of Iran. In Iran's case the reality of life could not be any farther away from the American perception of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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But there is progress: several weeks ago about 100 women went to a soccer match, actually forced their way into it, and sat where they pleased. No one stopped them.
And who did they find their inspiration from? In their quest for equal treatment in the eyes of their fellow citizens, Iranian women invoked the name of the patron saint of the American civil rights movement: Rosa Parks. In their struggle to put an end to the constant stream of slights and indignities thrust upon them by the clerical establishment they looked to us, to America. They looked to our soft power, our ideas, our values, or as Lincoln would say, "our better angels."
But that's just the negative side of the ledger, so let's take a look at the positive. Women can drive. Women can vote. Women can work. Women can smoke. They have free and unfettered access (at least in the big cities) to contraception and this is legal and tolerated by the theocratic establishment! Women hold 30 seats in the Iranian parliament, more than the full total in America. And the huge population bulge of 30 something's and younger is forcing changes on the country as I type.
Did you know that men and women are living with each for years at a time without getting married? To many people in America this is still scandalous behavior. (Personally I think it unwise, but I believe in people making their own choices.) Did you know that when people are inside the home what is done there is considered inviolable? The Iranians have parties, they dance, they drink and they smoke, all without the onerous hejab restrictions.
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