New attitudes color Iranian society, culture

[democratic]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-02-28-iran-pink_x.htm

New attitudes color Iranian society, culture
By Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY

Iran's Islamic rulers appear to have given up trying to make women observe more than the letter of the hijab, the Koran's admonition that Muslim women outside their homes should cover everything but their faces, hands and feet. The change has been gradual, but this year coats have gotten shorter, brighter and tighter, heels higher and scarves have slipped farther back to reveal most of women's hair.

Iran's "pink revolution" is a silent fashion statement that sends a powerful message. Unable to act overtly against the rigid Islamism that has shaped Iranian political and cultural life since the U.S.-backed shah was overthrown in 1979, many Iranians express their contempt for the government through their clothing.

For women, that means the sexiest, most fashionable attire possible while still covering the requisite body parts. For men, dissatisfaction takes the form of clean shaves — Islam encourages beards — publicly shaking hands with unrelated women and wearing jeans and long hair.

Of the more than 50 Iranians interviewed here during a two-week visit, most were contemptuous of their government and the direction the country is moving. "This life is like death," says Mohammed Mohammedi, 26, a jeans-clad English teacher in Tehran who works odd jobs to make ends meet

Ever since the 1979 revolution, Iranian hard-liners have retained their grip on political power. A reform movement that began in 1997 with the election of moderate cleric Mohammad Khatami as president was quickly beaten back. Reform-minded journalists and bloggers have been jailed. Hard-liners ejected moderate politicians from the Cabinet and barred them from running in last year's parliamentary elections. The economy, despite record oil prices, is plagued by chronic inflation, corruption, high unemployment and an official unwillingness to allow the private sector to flourish.

Yet, the country has changed in ways that have contradicted the Islamic tenets on which the revolution was based. For every weblog shut down, two more seem to emerge. New, reform-leaning newspapers regularly challenge government policies. Reformist politicians are hoping for a comeback. And in a society where more than half the population is under the age of 30, young Iranians are staging a non-violent but potent counterrevolution not only through fashion, but also with their music and relations between the sexes that defy the strict Islamism dictated by the ruling mullahs.

[kineneb]

1. The irrepressible spirit of Persia

It has been my experience that while the mullahs think they are running things, it has always been the women in the background making things go. And many of the Iranian women have a great fashion sense.

Persian culture is non-Arabic, and has many Zoroastrian holdovers. Islam is merely a late addition on top of an existing ancient culture. My aunt says that before the revolution, there were two sections of Persian history taught in school: Pre-Islamic and Post-Islamic.

Trying to repress the old tradition is like playing "whack-a-mole." The mullahs whack the culture down over there and it pops up here. The national hobby is trying to figure out how to beat the system. Everyone pushes the envelope of rules. The mullahs rule is bound to fail eventually, simply because they are fighting a loosing battle.

And of course BushCo will find some way to screw things up there.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. I recently saw a newish Iranian movie called The Lizard

and unlike previous Iranian films that I've seen, where the women are in black from head to toe and have their hair completely covered, the women in this newer film wore colorful clothing and wore their hijabs back from their foreheads so that their hair showed.

[applegrove]

3. They are doing okay. Bride them with contracts to stop building the bomb

right away. Don't attack.