This is my favorite picture of the Iran trip

[MissHoneychurch]

It is in Esfahan, at the Imam Square, formerly known as Shah Square. It was shortly after the Friday prayer. These two ladies passed by. In the back you see the Sheikh Lotf Allah Mosque, one of the most impressive mosques ever.

[Mira]

1. PHenomenal Shot! You are rightfully proud of it.

Having had the good fortune to see Mosques of substance and beauty in Egypt I have a little point of reference. The thought of what we destroyed and turned into rubble in Iraq is hard to hold in my brain.
Thank you for showing us this one.
I have very much loved the photos you posted in the Lounge.
If you have a link please post it for us here.

[MissHoneychurch]

2. Thank you Mira

All my pictures can be seen in my Journal http://journals.democraticunderground.com/MissHoneychurch

[DrDan]

3. some beautiful carpets come from this region - great shot!

[MissHoneychurch]

4. I've seen the work that is in those carpets

beautiful beautiful carpets. No wonder they cost what they cost. That is the reason I couldn't afford to bring one home with me. But I got me a woven carpet :)

[Mira]

5. Let me recommend a book:

"The Blood of Flowers"by Anita Amirrezvani

Debut novelist Amirrezvani delicately weaves this sumptuous tale of female fortitude and ingenuity in seventeenth-century Persia. When her beloved father dies unexpectedly, the marital hopes of a 14-year-old girl are prematurely dashed. Bereft and impoverished, the girl and her mother are forced to move from their village to Isfahan, where they become servants in the house of an uncle. All is not lost, however, since the uncle is a favored rug designer in the court of Shah Abbas the Great. Although she is forced into a less-than-desirable temporary marriage contract, she learns the carpet trade, blossoming as a clever designer and talented knotter. Interwoven with traditional Iranian folktales, as well as fascinating details of the art of the Persian rug, this shimmering fable also owes a significant debt to 1001 Arabian Nights.

I really loved that book!

[MissHoneychurch]

7. Thanks for the tip Mira

I put it on my want-to-read-list.

[Celebration]

6. I read a children's story once that made a huge impression on me

I was about ten years old at the time, and I think the story was in Highlights for Children or similar magazine. It was about a child about my age who did not want to wear a burka when she became the age that she had to wear on (twelve or so). Basically she liked her relative freedom as a kid. The upshot of the story was that she accepted the burka, and it wasn't as bad at all! She still felt free! And she was proud of her heritage!

It may have been the first time of my life when I felt I was reading propaganda. It didn't really have anything to do with religion, but the moral of the story was about the necessity and positive aspects of conforming to the dominant culture. I thought it was basically a crock of crap then, and I had (again for the first time) the feeling of trying to be manipulated.

Every time I see heavily veiled women like this I am reminded of that story, and my reaction. And seeing a picture brings back that same feeling.

I feel sad for anyone who feels that they need to cover a portion of their face in public. And I feel that they have been manipulated into accepting that.

[MissHoneychurch]

8. The women in the Iran don't have to cover their faces

the picture suggest it as both women are holding their chadors in front of the face. But you have to remember, those women probably are very religious as they went to the Friday prayer at the square.

Women in the Iran don't even have to wear the chador. The hijab is the only head covering they have to wear.

[Celebration]

9. they look like they are choosing to cover their faces

I didn't say they had to..........

I feel sad that they feel the need to make that "choice" (if you can call it a choice).

Admittedly, the story I read was about a full blown burka, and this is far less extreme.

Anyway, I am now out as a bit of an anarchist. If someone tells me I need to do X, I want to do Y--the exact opposite of the message of the story I read.