Wednesday
August 2, 2000
Sympathy for prostitutes
In response to the
man who is/was so outraged at the prostitution
link. Yes - it may be sensationalistic - but both you and I have joined
the ranks of those writing about it and reading it. Who do you seek to
blame if a Jasmine-paragraph achieves thousands of hits? These are after
all, your precious and "refined" Iranians.
I agree with the reader who once wrote in a blurb to The Iranian
that life is occasionally about movements to "break the glass of imaginary
things." This is beautiful advice and if you feel it in your bones
you will understand.
But on the rare occasion that you still completely disagree: what does
prostitution MEAN to you? Is it, say, Iranian-American women who are motivated
by a man's checkbook or mode of transportation? Is it American girls who
"pimp" themselves seeking to be "wined and dined" by
the men they date?
What do you make of women who wear large, ridiculous, and aesthetically
uninspiring cliches on their wedding fingers as a prize or expression of
self-worth? Are these accepted bougeoisie ways of living among the sexes
(although they are generalized and being reformed in most communities)
a form of "prostitution" ?
My intent here is not to insult mainstream women, but to point out some
similarities in lifestyle that will hopefully enable you to understand
or feel sympathetic for prostitutes themselves.
And on the other hand, perhaps Jasmine is no victim at all. Maybe she
is simply liberated and removed from these "imaginery things"
that people like you and I are slaves of.
And in response to Shireen
A. and girl with dog and girl with wedding dress, I know nothing of
this Farhad character and I should probably refrain from commenting, BUT
do you really really really think that one man is capable and hence responsible
for "depriving women of diginity and..." Seems a much to simplistic
understanding of power.
And on one hand, you say that something shocking would be "interesting,"
on the other, you compliment the refinement and taste of (Iranian) culture.
In life, where do the avant-garde or attempts to shock and intrigue conflict
with refinement?
Anything shocking is completely arbitrary and solely depends on what
is in fact NOT shocking - what is tasteful and accepted. It's all bullshit
but beautiful and great fun to be the creator of something deemed shocking
in one time and place. And the ".... past the point of both reason
and beauty, and therefore unforgiveable." What?!
I think the underlying motivation of much of Art - be it fashion or
interior design or poetry or performance/conceptual art is to reasses what
is Beautiful, or to question how objects or ideas achieve value in our
world. In your opinion, this designer's great sin is betraying "reason
and beauty" ? Reason is hardly something natural or objective. Both
"reason" and "beauty" are often man-made constructions.
If you'd like to adhere to the constructs - great. If you want to shit
on them - great.
One more obvious point on the wedding "dress" - there are
clear expectations of what people accept to see one wear in a wedding ceremony.
Clothing resembling a bathing suit is perhaps not one of them. Both bathing
suits and wedding dresses are acceptable in society, albeit in different
contexts.
Ignoring practical considerations like climate, there is no REAL reason
why one should not wear a wedding dress to the ocean or a bathing suit
down the aisle. I think it was the artist Richard Serra (?) who said "places
engender thoughts". Do you see the connection(s)? Places and peoples
external to us dictate our perceptions and normalities.
And, lastly, is anything REALLY "unforgiveable" ?
Leyla Momeny
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