روسری مهم‌ترین خطر پیش‌روی دمکراسی غربی

Iran's Danica Patrick (in rosary)

Iran's Danica Patrick (in rosary). 

Although she is nicknamed as "Little Schumacher".

Had she waited for rosay to become history she would not have become history herself.

Sport rosary as in sport bra.

Watch and learn.  They should of course play without rosary but which is better playing with "sport rosary" (as in sport bra :-) or no play at all? "Boycott IRI" until your youth and playing age is gone? This is a rhetorical question of course, you don't have to answer.

downplaying human rights violations is not ok

Jahanshah Rashidian's (french) blog about the Swiss lady minister of foreign affairs wearing the head cover during the signing of the new Gas contract is also making the exact same point

it's shameful for these female politicians to disregard all the pressure that the Iranian women are under for the enforced rules and dress codes and pretend it's all flattering and ok...

and JJ is right, if there were any such "codes" for the men, no western politican would have subjected themselves to it.

as for the Iranian women:

I can't hate anyone for what they choose to wear and I sure can't possibly hate them for what they're forced to wear...

Ionly get mad at the ones who pretend it's ok to be forced to wear it.

IRANdokht

Dear JJ,

It seems we both replied (almost at the same time) to Abarmard! Of course, you said it much better than I did :-) It is nice to see an Iranian man who truly blieves in women's rights...now I feel less "boiled"!

Azarin

hejab darim ta hejab

Women in many nations, cultures, cover their hair in one way or another. Yes, it is the same in many parts of Iran, whether for religious reasons or under ancient customs and tastes. That is all fact and accepted.

The reason why we are having this entire debate, about this particular blog, or in relation to Iran in general, is the use of force. No man, no government has the right to force any woman to cover her hair. Or actually, a woman MUST have the right to decide whether she wants to cover her hair or not.

Reza Shah was wrong in forcing the removal of the Hejab and the Islamic Republic was wrong in reinstating it and thus seriously interfering in the lives of half the population. Not only have the these religious leaders reintroduced the hejab, but also enforced numerous laws that are specific to women and officially reduces them to second-class citizens.

Many Egyptian women wear the hejab. So do those in Turkey, and even Muslims in the U.S. Good for them. But in every country, except Iran and Saudi Arabia (and maybe some other freakishly religious country I don't know of) women have the right NOT to wear the hejab.

So we have the political hejab, forced on women by the Islamic Republic, and we have all sorts of religious and ethnic hejabs that are not mandatory in the legal sense but are accepted by believers and members various ethnic/tribal groups.

The bottom line is: Women are equal to men in their humanity. They can and should decide and choose what they want to wear. It's no one else's business (men's).

Dear abarmard,

Hi Abarmard,

I think you have missed the main point of this blog.

If it is just about a piece of clothing, then what does give some people the right to kill, to torture, to rape anyone who doesn’t follow this fashion?

Please read the blog and the previous comments again, since it is not really about the history of the fashion among women in Iran or in Poland.

It is about the politicized roosari in Iran or other islamic countries forcing it upon their women (as a limited choice between roosari or toosari) and even to any woman-visitor, under the excuse of respecting a country’s law. Something you can call islamic hejab.

Let’s be franc and avoid to "safsateh"!

If our great great great grandparents did something wrong because of their ignorance and lack of education, etc., it doesn’t deprive me, today, from my right to denounce this mistake. (Do you mean I should feel proud of the contribution of Chador by Iranian to Islam?) 

These same people who bring up the reason of a country’s law to shut the free women’s rights, all of a sudden start to believe in the freedom of choice as they go to other countries, just to display their lame beliefs!

Come on! Let’s not justify unfairness.

Azarin

PS: Sorry guys...but the subject boils my blood! It is one of those hidden wells inside i have always avoided to fall in... 

dear Azarin

I believe that you are mistaking the IR's Hejab law with Rusary. Azaries, Lors and Gilakis all wear Rusari. Italians. Polish, and Indians wear Rusary. It's not a religious thing. It has become, but it is part of our history. I think when we speak of Hejab is different than when we speak of clothing, that Rusari is part of it. We had Rusary pre-Islamic era. You may research and see that this was not to cover women's hair to protect them, it was just like a hat for men. Also Chador was an Iranian contribution to Islam!

Please let's be clear when we speak about IR laws of Hejab and the Rusari as a clothing piece.

To Ali P.

Dear Ali P.  

Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t understand why you’re so surprised!

 You are a young man and you have no idea about what some women – and some very young girls -- had (and have) to endure, by these same women in black chador.

If they call me corrupted, it’s fine. I rather be corrupted than backward! There is a hint of intelligence in the corruption, but never in any backwardness.

Actually, this subject was the first thing I wrote about on Iranian.com and I received so many hate-emails following its posting... I guess you hadn’t read this one. It explains my deep hatred of women in roosari, and chador:

  //iranian.com/BTW/2007/April/Hatred/index.html

My hatred is just a reflection. Or a survival instinct.

I know it sounds politically incorrect, but I am not a politician. Plus, I don’t plan to go back to Iran, or to any other country where I am forced to wear a Roosari. Maybe my hatred is just psychological, out of my respect for the friends I lost, or out of my anger for their unexplainable destiny.

I never believed in destiny, but I am ready to fight to death against its devastating randomness.

Azarin

PS: I hate also the men with beard, but it is unrelated to this blog :)

To: Azarin

I remember looking at "beard'" the same way. First it was personal, then after the Revolution, it became the symbol of Islamic facism. In the meanwhile, there were those who just liked to grow beards, regardless of the athmosphere of the day! They didn't want to send a message! They just liked the beard! 

I am surprised by your comment.

 I have seen that attitude from some roosaried(!) women, towards non-roosaried ones too. Why can't this be a private, personal matter, without one group viewing the other as backward , and the other looking at the first as corrupt?

 Let's say some day, we finally reach democracy in Iran. Would you outlaw Roosary? The right to pick your outfit, is the not the very same right we are complaining about under IRI?

 In a democracy, rights are only limited when they enfringe upon others' people's rights to live. We need to develop tolerance for behavior, thoughts and beliefs that may be stupid, tasteless, backward or wrong in our view. As long as they are not shoving it up our noses, let them be.

Of course you should be free to feel any way you want towards Roosary, but it seems like you may do more than that, once you are elected as President :-) I may be wrong.

 Live...

and let live.

That's what I'm talking about!  :-)

Yours,

Ali P. 

Rosary??

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF ROSARY OF" ROSARY"=TUSARY?

PLEASE, INSTEAD OF FUELING THESES ISLAMIC BARBARIC CUSTOM, WE SHOULD THINK ABOUT THE FREEDOM OUR COUNTRY NEEDS.

THE RECENT VISIT FROM SWISS OFFICIAL TO IRAN, WAS ONLY TO GET CHEAP GAS FROM IRAN. THAT WOMAN PROBABLY IS LAUGHING AT US IRANIAN IN HER HOUSE RIGHT NOW!

Women with Roosari...

Before the revolution I didn't like women with roosari...after the revolution I hated them even more :-) For me it always was the symbol of a misogynist society and the women who wear it become the utmost traitors to other women’s rights and freedom. After the revolution it also became the symbol of a sick and murderous ideology.

I have never found any kind of justification or respect for these women.

And such a shame that even foreigners who are supposed to be the representatives of freedom and democracy should be trapped with this political non-sense.

Azarin

an other's funny Jock

//hajiagha.tripod.com
yes and every single Iranian in Iran should became gay or lesbian like we are have almost every where to they respect to human right and democracy .....hahahah

Still not so JJ.

Sang-e bozorg alamat-e nazadne.  Rosary is the biggest problem? Start with rosary first and then work your way down?  The women's rights activits and the more progressive women's rights  forces inside and outisde the regime don't say that.

I believe you work your way up.  You start with things you can change and work your way up.  Like what happened in Khatami era with the Hijab.  First it was other reforms and other things, then came lowering rosary, tight mantos, big makeups and by the end of his presidency open toe flip flops.

Your example on locks hanging on male genitals is useless.  If a country demanded locks on women's breasts would women in that country accept it?  Surely female foreign ambassadors wouldn't comply.  You can wear a rosary loosy goosy these days, like foreign tourists in Iran, with their blonde hairs.  These women in these pictures didn't know how to wear it so they went for the helmet (maghaneh) version.

JJ how long has it been since you went back to Iran?  Iran is changing by the day.  It has changed so much since the past dozen or so years.

I'd say it is nice not to have to wear Hijab but you don't want to isolate a country because of it.  There are bigger fish to be fried in those countries and the world in general.

Yes so

Thanks Anonymouse. In reply:

If a country demanded that all males should wear a lock on their genitals, I don't think any male foreign official would comply out of "respect". So why should female officials humiliate themselves and accept stupid anti-women laws?

You ask, "Have we solved all problems and rosary is the one that is left?" No, the roosari is not the biggest problem. But it is the topic of this blog.

I don't see a problem

My family and I along with our entire neighborhood were against Hejab, but until the Reza Shah, it was customary to wear one. Hejab is not a religious sign. Respecting what the majority wear is a common action for visiting politicians. I don't think anyone should worry too much about that. It is a different story when it comes to the issue of Islamic Republic and its hejab policy, but generally there is nothing wrong with this.

Not so JJ.

You want a short cut?  You think female foreign ambassadors' taking a stand on rosary is going to change anything? Change it may, it may reduce dialogue which I believe is needed for Iran at least.  What about male officials?  Should they take a stand about Hijab or just ignore it since they are not female?

I agree with your first part of Hijab being forced on women and I believe it should be a personal choice not state sponsored and law of the land.  But since it is the law of the land, it should be changed by the people in that land.  Preventing female ambassadors to go to these countries is just a cheap shot giving hate mongers in western societies more ammunition.

Have we solved all problems and rosary is the one that is left?  During this past weekend I went to some Iranian concerts where some young women had their rosaries on and danced the night away.  Should they have taken out their rosaries as a gesture for those who were drinking alchohols and making out with the guys in public?

Nafaset az jaye garm dar miyad.

Hypothetical question:

Hypothetical question:

Would a female official from the Islamic Republic while visiting the secular West respect the culture of the respective country and take off her scarf? would Taking her scarf weaken Islam?

Take a stand

If foreign female officials wear the roosari out of political/diplomatic necessity during trips to conservative Islamic countries, that's one thing. But in general it does not send a good message to half the population. It's not acceptable to say that the hejab should be observed by non-Muslim foreigners out of cultural or religious sensitivity. The hejab is being observed because women are forced to observe it. It's a political issue, not a religious one. Remove the legal obligation and stop covering up girls from childhood and see how many women choose to cover their hair. It would be nice if foreign female officials would take a stand once in a while and refuse to go to Iran or Saudi Arabia as long as the hejab remains mandatory.