Thursday
November 4, 1999
Mocking the chador
I am writing this letter in regard to your article ["Halloween
1999"]. Apparently, the pictures show some young people dressed
in different costumes at a Halloween party. From what I see in those
distorted pictures, some of the costumes also appear to depict the traditional
Iranian dress -- the chador (veil). If this is the case, I like to express
my deepest disappointment in the attitude of such young compatriots who
humiliate and demean a traditional dress worn by our mothers and great
grandmothers.
It is extremely sad to see the young generation, whom we hope to preserve
our culture and traditions, to make a mockery of a traditional dress which
represents deep emotional belief in a large sector of our people. Unfortunately,
the mind of our new Iranian generation has been clouded with the notion
that blue-eyed, large-breasted women with blond hair who dress erotically
are the ideal. How about if we respect the way that other people think
and dress, and try to free ourselves from self-centeredness that the West
has imposed on us.
Those who wear chador BY CHOICE are not ignorant as some may think.
They know what they are doing. What kind of message are we implying by
mocking them? Such displays are as bad as those who force women to wear
the chador, and those who forcefully prevented them to follow their belief.
Many years ago, a dictator also believed that the chador represents
backwardness, and that to become civilized women must be forced to remove
their veil and look like Western women. Our mothers and grandmothers
resisted with everything they had, and did not submit themselves to these
pressures.
Haven't our women been harassed and humiliated enough in our male-chauvinist
society back home? Do we really need to make a mockery of the way they
dress, and humiliate them further? Every day we see our nationality,
culture, and traditions disgraced. These pictures are like arrows thru
our hearts.
Isa Tanha
