Letters
January 31-February 4, 2000 / Bahman 11-15, 1378
Today
* Prostitution:
- Revealing
- Taboo
- Touch of humor
- Rated T (trash)
Previous
* Prostitution:
- Necessary and timely
- Hoping for a better piece
- Amazing
- Trashy
- Price to be paid
- Free expression
* Identity
- Born in Australia, 100% Iranian
* Iran
- CIA dad
* Jews:
- Frankly, I'm jealous!
* Zoroastrian:
- Ahura Mazada has no equal
* Iran Air:
- Joojeh kabab does it
email us
Friday,
February 4, 2000
* Revealing
This Internet revolution has helped shorten some people's fuses and
given them a way to shoot their mouths off quickly, without putting too
much rational thinking behind their rapid firebacks, with seeming impunity.
Some have been conditioned in typically low quality chatrooms and newsgroups,
which collectively have the cognitive value of a broomstick. In those newsgroups
and chatrooms the prevailing mindset seems to be how much you can type
without waking up your brain, how loud you can yell to compensate for the
lack of substance behind your say, and to what ridiculous extents you can
take arguments that go on ad-infinitum.
From time to time you can see the same mindset creeping into Iranian.com.
You can see it in how people react to articles, how they feel entitled
to debasing and insulting authors of those articles or the publisher of
the magazine and whole groups of people of a belief system in the process.
Their protestations amount to something to the effect of "I didn't
agree with your viewpoint therefore your mother is a whore" or "I
didn't like the article that you published, therefore you're a sag
Bahai." >>>
FULL TEXT
Hamid Taghavi
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* Taboo
I would like to comment on your sexual adeventure in Tijuana ["Nice
ladies, amigo?"]. This article offended many Iranians for many
reasons, namely because we Iranians, like others from Eastern and Muslim
countries, consider sex outside marriage a taboo. For many Iranians, sex
must be done WHITHIN marriage.
And in Iran you have boys and girls who fall in love or they are physically
attracted to each other but they cannot have sex because society can't
in anyway accept sexual relations whitout getting married.
And as an Iranian boy who grew up in Iran, I know about sexual needs
and sexual hunger. Maybe many Mexican prostitutes know Iranians, but believe
me, many prostitutes in Dubai and Istanbul know Iranians very well also.
Amin
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* Touch of humor
For god's sake, give me a break. What the hell is wrong with a story
about a little whorehouse where some of our countymen hang out ["Nice
ladies, amigo?"]. Not being a night club or a bar person, I found
the story very refreshing with a touch of humor.
M. Asadi
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* Rated T (trash)
I am outraged with the letters expressing discontents to the article
"Nice
ladies, amigo?". For those people who are not happy because the
article has no literary value I must say that, the author never claimed
he was writing a masterpiece, or an investigative report. He was simply
talking about his personal experience ...
I have a recommendation: maybe it is time that The Iranian starts
using some sort of rating and warning system. I am not suggesting that
you can't criticize an idea or the style of an article. I am suggesting,
STOP saying "I Don't Like It, Take It Out". I am sick and tired
of reading these types of comments over and over again. It is sickening
to hear this from people who ran away from laws like that >>>
FULL TEXT
Davood M.
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Thursday
February 3, 2000
* Necessary and timely
In reply to Ali
Akbar Mahdi
I can appreciate your reservations about informative, investigative,
or literary merits of this article (for a few seconds only!) ["Nice
ladies, amigo?"]. Then I'll have to object to your very "intellectually
fulfilling" opinion on the grounds that the report in question is
about a very REAL and HAPPENING Tehrangeles fact of life!
It is so true that it was time for someone to put a pen to paper! The
same thing is happening in a couple of Mexican "fun-towns" across
Texas borders! Of course, there are only about an estimated 70-80 thousand
Iranian-Americans in Texas (mostly in Houston and then in Dallas) but the
Iranian wives in Texas may want to start paying attention!
The next past due article has to be about opium consumption by Iranian
males in America!
Since the sentence "hey khaashar, your seemingly happy shohar visits
Mexican prostitutes across the border every other weekend!" couldn't
be spray-painted on the backyard fences all over Los Angeles and Orange
County, then it had to be brought forward in an article. This sounds about
as necessary and timely as any literary and artistic work that fits in
the current trends of a society (or community in case of Iranians in USA).
B. Bagheri
Texas
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* Hoping for a better piece
In reply to B. Bagheri (above)
All I can say in response to your comment is to repeat what I said to
another gentleman who thought I was "abhorrently offended" by
this piece. Here is what I wrote to him:
"Please read my comments carefully. I am not offended by the subject
or the fact that Iranian men buy sex on the other side of the border. Iranian
men do many more things and everyone is free to let others know about what
they do. Nor did I object to publication of this gentleman's view about
his trip. My objection was to the POOR quality of this piece. Read my two
comments carefully. Any magazine is free to cover any subject it deems
appropriate. However, magazines, like schools, set standards for themselves
and try to maintain those standards. The Iranian is not a SOAP magazine.
It could have covered this issue with a better piece, not one with an "Akh
Joon" ending."
Hope this explains where I come from. I believe it is a very interesting
subject and you, or someone who knows and cares about these issues, should
write a piece on the case of Texas too. My hope is that whoever does this,
does it right and does not limit his observations to ONE BAR and three
girls and a taxi driver.
For a generalized observation to be valid, one has to have more than
a few cases. S/he should be careful to avoid "sensationalism"
of the topic and write about "facts." Studies show that when
it comes to sex, there is a tendency for both exaggeration and denial,
depending on who is talking and what is being talked about.
Ali Akbar Mahdi
Associate professor of sociology
Ohio Wesleyan University
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* Born in Australia, 100% Iranian
I am an Iranian guy who was born and lives in Sydney, Australia. I am
21 years old. Firstly I like to congradulate you on becoming an Aussie
["Proud
Australian"] but I really don't understand why you did this because
to me that's like taking your identity away and forgetting who you are!
My dad came to Australia from Iran in 1972 and still to this day he
has not become an Aussie and still has his Iranain passport this is the
same for my mum and they both are very proud of thier culture and the fact
that they are Iranians.
As I say, I was born in Australia and I consider myself 100% Iranian
and I am proud to be Iranian. I think we have the greatest culture in the
world! Why you would become an Aussie is above my head I really don't understand!
Shahab
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Wednesday
February 2, 2000
* Amazing
I am surprised at all the fuss over this article ["Nice
ladies, amigo?"]. Is it because it touches on the subject of prostitution?
Is it because it involves some "fat, bald headed Iranian men?"Or
is it because it was not scholarly?
I agree that as far as the subject or the "literary value"
goes, it does not compare with many articles published in The Iranian.
however, it was an amuzing piece. While not all Iranian men frequent brothels,
many do; as men from all other cultures do. Iranian men also go to Dubai,
and anywhere else that offers sex for sale, incluing locations within Iran.
Have we forgotten, that there were times when women could not wait for
taxi cabs in many respectable areas of Tehran without being harrassed?
I think Mr. Mahdi is being a bit of a "molla loghati". We
all know that this article was written just for the fun of it. We all know
that The Iranian is not a refereed journal, it is merely a forum.
This article did not mean to and will not change anyone's view about prostitutes
or prostitution; about women; about Iranian men; or about Mexico and Mexican
people.
It is upsetting to ask for one's name to be removed from a list just
because of one written piece -- it is denying oneself from a feast of good
writings and information. Please get real, so to speak.
Shahin Shoar
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* Trashy
You should seriously think twice about putting trashy articles in your
magazine ["Nice
ladies, amigo?"]. You are not the National Enquirer. If
you enjoy these articles, maybe you should start another magazine specifically
with this kind of material, but it just doesn't suit The Iranian.
Iran Javid
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* CIA dad
I enjoyed your reading about your experiences in Iran. Very focused
and I thought your writing was awesome. I was there in 1961 and was born
there while my dad was in service for the army. I also returned in 76-78
to live there a second time while he worked for the CIA as engineer for
our listening stations on the Caspian. I graduated from the American high
school and we have reunions etc.
Dave Brown
Knoxville, Tennessee
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Tuesday
February 1, 2000
* Frankly, I'm jealous!
This is a letter I wrote to an Iranian Jew in reply to a topic called
"Why do Iranians hate Jews?"
Dear Moshe,
I enjoyed reading about Isfahan and the brief history of the Iranian
Jewish community. When it comes to discrimination against minorities (Jews
in particular) in Iran, I agree with you 100%. Often the unkown or a mystery
creates prejudice. And often the unknown is translated into hatred. As
they say, not knowing is the greatest fear. I think in regards to the Jewish
community there are many unkowns for some of us non-Jewish Iranians which
can be translated into an "anti-semitic" outlook. I hope by writing
this letter I can express our sense of confusion with the Jewish community.
I also hope that in writing you this letter, you won't confuse my questioning
or curiosity with "prejudice" or an "anti-Semitic"
attitude.
The majority of Muslim Iranians don't like minorities. They are called
"najes". In fact some consider them "smelly"! Sounds
funny, but it's true. For instance, when my mother was growing up in the
province of Azarbaijan, she was told not to go out alone cause the Jews
will kidnap her! That was some 50 to 55 years ago >>>
FULL TEXT
Saghi Zarinkalk
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* Ahura Mazada has no equal
Please do not refer to Meher Yazad as God in any form, for the Yazads
hold a very unique place in Zarthushtras religion, they cannot be called
gods, for this word suggests the independent divine beings of a pagan pantheon,
the origin of most of the yazatas as pagan divinities and their position
still as being worthy of worship in their own right makes them more than
the angels with which their monotheism's have bridged the gulf between
man and divinity.
As for Meher Yazad, with whom the sun was linked, like the other Ahuras,
was a lesser created being, according to th revelations. They are SERVANTS
of the lord, like all the other Yazads, to whom veneration should be duly
accorded.
Ahura Mazda's creation of the Amesha Spentas and the Yazads being compared
to the lighting of a torch from a torch. All these Yazads were part of
the creation of Ahura Mazda, brought into being to help him oppose the
forces of evil owing him utter loyalty and obedience.
This, to sum up, is the monotheism of Iran, that in the beginning Ahura
Mazda alone existed as a being worthy of worship -- the sole Yazata the
only uncreated God, wholly wise, just and good, for after bringing into
being his divine helpers (Yazads) he proceeded through them to fashion
the world and all that is good in it, as a further means of confounding
evil and and bringing it to nothingness in the end.
Feroz Dinshah
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Monday
January 31, 2000
* Price to be paid
What is Mr. Mahdi really saying? That by admitting the existence of
three unfortunate Iranian prostitutes in Mexico, we're showing that all
Iranians are prostitutes? Then what are we promoting by forbidding the
publication of such descriptions? That there are NO Iranian prostitutes
anywhere in the world? That our race is incapable of producing prostitutes?
That Obeyd-e
Zakani and Sa'di and many other poets were all liars? That Iraj Mirza
and Parvin-e Etessami were spreaders of untruths? Are we not making an
ignorant bunch out of ourselves, then?
To me, writing about and publishing the ugly truths about ourselves
is a sign of maturity. Let the stone-throwers fling their stones and hurt
us. There's a price to be paid for attaining high culture, and someone's
got to foot the bill >>>
MORE
Massud Alemi
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* Free expression
In reference to what should and should not be covered by The Iranian
It is sad that some of us just don't get it. If The Iranian censured
every letter in its own liking, it would not be a medium of free expression
and not so many of us would read it.
To me, the most important service of The Iranian is that it is
a medium of freedom of expression that is a unique privilege of living
in America. As we know this privilege is in process of erosion all over
the world including America >>>
MORE
Ali A. Parsa
Go to tp
* Joojeh kabab does it
I am not sure Iran
Air's ad for their 50th anniversary was a joke. I rather fly Iran Air
to Iran from Europe than fly KLM or Swissair and such, because I feel more
comfortable in it . They all are good airlines but Iran Air is a bit better
in my opinion. In addition they serve "joojeh kabab" and/or "baaghalaa
polo".
Hosain Massiha
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