 Number one
Atefeh's defiance of all conceited Iranian social
and cultural values is what makes her my number one girl
Siamack Baniameri
September 25, 2004
iranian.com
In the past twenty some years, I have seen them come
and I've seen them go. Some live, some die, and some disappear.
Some are executed, some are tortured, some are rotting in prisons,
and some are rotting in hell or heaven -- depends on who you talk
to.
It doesn't bother me none. They have chosen that path and
they have bigger balls than you and I. They have been around for
thousands of years and they'll be around for thousands more:
the rebels, revolutionaries, freedom fighters, activists, and whatnot.
But seeing her picture, hanging from a rope, broke my heart. I
generally don't give a shit, but this one, I couldn't
stomach. Dead, she looked more human than many of
the living in this jungle of inhumanity.
Atefeh Rajabi was my kind of a girl: a hard-drinking, sex-loving,
foul-mouthed, rebellious, defiant, seductive teenager who didn't
take shit from grownups and made no attempt to sugarcoat her demeanor
the way Iranian women often do.
She was a type of a teenager
who would look us straight in the eyes and tell us to go to hell.
She didn't put up with our rules and laws and traditions
and social standards and religious beliefs or code of conduct.
She didn't buy any of our bullshit. She didn't care
anymore. She had enough of our crap.
Atefeh did what she liked and for that she stays on my cool-list.
Atefeh's defiance of all conceited Iranian social and cultural
values is what makes her my number one girl.
 Some of you are probably thinking that admiring a teenager who
exhibited immoral and decadent behavior is inappropriate and
sets a bad example. The only answer I have for you is what most
likely Atefeh would've told you to fuck off. You created
Atefeh and many like her. And you -- that's right, you --
tie the rope around their necks every single day
of their young lives.
Atefeh and many like her are byproducts of dysfunctional Iranian
culture that push teenage girls underground in search of answers
to some fundamental human questions and needs. A sick culture
that is cherished by many of us because it feeds our egos and
band-aids
our defeats and deficiencies.
We have managed to deprive our
teenage girls from every essence that makes them human. We
have managed
to take away their desires, curiosity, self-respect, wit,
and the most basic instinct of every human: to seek happiness.
We get offended by Atefeh Rajabi and others like her because
she challenges every fiber of our traditional pride and she
questions everything that is sacred to us. Atefeh was poison
to Iranian
values and she needed to be silenced. And that's exactly
what we did.
While thousands of execution enthusiasts watched
her little neck snap like a toothpick and her small body
dangling from a rope for twenty minutes, not a single asshole said
a
damn thing to stop it. Boy, am I proud to be an Iranian.
I wish I knew her. Like her big brother, I can picture myself
having a lively conversation with her over a shot of chilled
vodka and
maasto-khiaar. Would I have a drink with my teenage sister?
Why the hell not!
 I would've told her a dirty joke or two and I'm sure
she would've matched with some of her own.
I would have asked her if there was a guy in the 'hood that
she had her eyes on. I would've asked her who her favorite
singer
was or what kind of music she listened to. I would have thanked
her for being who she was and kissed her small hands for
no particular reason.
For many self-righteous Iranian folks who abandon Atefeh
and many like her because she was a "whore" or "misfit,"
take a good look at that small girl's body hanging from a crane.
This is your daughter.
.................... Say
goodbye to spam! *
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Number one
