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In Iran, apparently the women do not dress conservatively enough for the Iranian leaders. Iranian President Ahmadinejad recently made a statement encouraging the use of a cultural campaign to help curb the recent trend among Iranian women to dress less conservatively, a practice that the President affectionately referred to as “badly-veiled women.” Personally, I need my women to be most-excellently-veiled, and I’ll accept no substitutes. I’m glad the Iranians and I share that view. Jeez.
Other Iranian clerics have openly come out against this statement, as they believe in, among a great deal of other classy things, policing efforts to be the best way to populate the streets with most-excellently-veiled women.
So, let’s be clear. This is a shady attempt to not only continue to oppress women into wearing extremely conservative clothing, but also to take the bad press off of their backs so that they don’t look as bad as they did with their last attempt. The last attempt? The MORALITY police. Believe it. Honestly, this sounds like something my mother would’ve told me in my youth to scare me into behaving (“If you don’t put on a longer skirt, the morality police will come after you!”). Apparently, the morality police is busy keeping the peace by closing stores that sell immodest clothing or by pulling over cars with women. And apparently people think this is a bad thing; I was surprised as well.
But the clerics actually disagree with the President’s idea of a “cultural campaign,” which I imagine can only be political code for “blatant propaganda (am I wrong on this one? Please explain to me what exactly a cultural campaign entails).” The Iranian clerics believe that the best route is to continue with the morality police. I’m kind of torn here, truthfully. On the one hand, under no circumstances do I believe that women should have a morality police (still can’t get over the fact that this exists) on their backs for the way they dress. Wrong. End of story. However, if the “cultural campaign” goes forward, even if there is no direct police enforcement of the dress code (I’m going to go ahead and call it that), it seems likely to me that other fellow concerned Iranians might take care of enforcing these beliefs. I don’t know, either way it’s certainly a lose-lose situation, but I think that the propaganda could potentially be more harmful to Iranian women.
What do you think about this? Do you also think the women should be only most-excellently-veiled?
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I feel that waggling your finger at someone isn’t as bad as a police force. With the morality police you’re still perpetuating the idea that women should be completely covered up, but it’s backed with government force.
The Basij ["the morality police", as the author of this article puts it... it's called research, people!] don’t just wag their finger at people who wear makeup, they take them to holding cells, where if you have the money to pay a fine, you don’t get whipped. That’s just a lucky day. If you do get off with just a warning, they yell at you in the middle of the street for dressing like a whore…
A few posters and tv ads aren’t going to do anything that the Basij haven’t already done.
I think you misread. she’s saying the cultural campaign would be just finger-wagging. The policing does the same thing plus problems, and is thus of more concern.
Whenever I read something about Iran I rethink my anti-nuclear-warfare stance…
Seriously, though, I have yet to hear of anyone with a shred of power in Iran that I do not detest.
Drudge is reporting that 11 U.S. war ships are headed to the Red Sea. That would certainly be an easy way to take the headlines off of the oil spill.
I know! They’re trying to clean up the behaviour of their women in anticipation of joining the UN commission on women’s rights next year!
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/04/29/elects-iran-commission-womens-rights/?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a16:g2:r2:c0.065042:b33473900:z6
The question is, what are the women saying? Do they feel like they are really getting forced into wearing this, or do they feel like it is their duty?
It seems like what we believe is wrong, here in the US, to them might be exactly what they want.
However, if it seems as though there are plenty of women that feel suppressed, there would be an issue. But if the women aren’t unhappy with these regulations, then even though we don’t agree, doesn’t mean it is wrong. Eh?
If it is their duty and preference, then a law is not needed. A law requiring women to cover their face (as one example) is never acceptable. If a woman wants to cover her face, she is certainly welcome to do it. She doesn’t need a law to require her to do it.
Any woman who wants to live according to a set of customs would surely be happier permitted to observe them, without the fear that if she weren’t she’d be imprisoned.
But the fact that they are having problems with women not dressing conservatively enough shows me that at least some women are not choosing to dress this way, but are being forced, if it was all willing and happy happy joy joy there wouldn’t be an issue.
That would be a great tune for Weird Al Jankovitz,sung to the tune of ZZ Tops sharp dressed man. Every mullahs pissed at a badly veiled gal.
Hehe, I would definitely buy such a song.
[...] I have very little opinion on whether the burqa is oppressive or not. I am not Muslim and I have very few Muslim friends. The few Muslim friends I do have do not wear any kind of covering when they go out, but they do worship and practice their religion regularly. I’ve never really asked them about what their family’s stance on the burqa is, but it would certainly seem that they are not forcing it on their daughters. In fact, the Iranian government seems to think that “badly-veiled women” are enough of a problem that they had to set up a morality police force. [...]
[...] behind closed doors in private cafes and clubs, which are often intentionally sex-segregated to avoid the wrath of the plain-clothed “morality police.” Those that do currently smoke argue that the ban will only make hookahs more desirable as they will [...]