Honestly

I have been accused of posting the most intelligent and original cartoons and comments on this site, so now I have to act intelligently to prove them right. I used to have such a wicked sense of humor but now some sadegh people hold me to higher standards. :O) So, what can I do? If it wasn’t for those damn hydraulic fluid-leaking cranes I might still be drawing half naked people, but it is too late now.

I believe in science and of all the scientific subjects I’m mostly fascinated by the science of evolution. About a year ago for some reason I was thinking about penguins, might have been because of the movie March of the Penguins, and it occurred to me that they look a lot like Iranian women in black chador, the difference being that there are some behavioral patterns that are naturally occurring in some species of animals, and there are those other patterns that is caused by the environment, mainly among primates and some domesticated animals. For example take the goats, tens of thousands of years ago they were roaming freely in the wild, but now they follow their shepherd blindly into slaughterhouses, the same as some masses of people who follow their leader’s guidance to nihility . So, I drew this simple painting a year ago but didn’t turn it in because I didn’t think it was much of anything, but now it looks like someone Aziz from Iran’a pahnavar think somehow they are superior to others because they don’t wear chador.

And also there are those other ones that are racists, but of course in their comments they don’t mention RACIAL superiority but that’s what it adds up to. They think they are racially superior to their own countrymen because they're against chador. Now never mind that nowhere in any credible evolutionary scientific paper there is any correlation between chador and race superiority, but what I want to know is how these people have come to this conclusion that THEIR race is superior to the race of THEIR OWN people? Well, that’s when, according to their beliefs, invasion of Arabs enters into this evolutionary equation, that if someone wears a chador then their genes must have been polluted by the Arabs. If you don’t believe me do a little research on this site (pre new moderation policy) and you’ll find some of their comments here and there. They went as far as throwing racial insults at a male contributor because he wears a goatee beard, but it does not occur to them that Iranian men wore beards thousands of years before there was any Arabian invasion.

Now, is their racist view the same thing as I depicting a bearded man or a veiled woman as a representation of IRI regime? No, what I see is an archaic and unjust system of government that needs to be changed. Two Iranian governments, in the past and present, experimented with forcing women to unveil and veil, and both have failed miserably. Now it’s time for a new RADICAL idea: it’s none of a government’s business to tell people how to dress, other than some Dress Codes to make sure people don’t walk around inappropriately.

P.S. “Miami City, Florida Bans Saggy Pants Fashion. Hold on to your pants folks, the fashion police are on the prowl. Literally. This week, the city of Opa-Locka, Florida passed a controversial dress code by actually banning what can be worn on city property.

Following similar bans in Texas, Georgia, New York and Louisiana, city officials passed the 4-1 vote that aims at eliminating the saggy pants fashion statement. The baggy, sagging pants purpose: brazenly showing off a man’s boxer shorts. Typically bottoms are lowered to have the waste-line of pants or shorts fall just below the butt exposing the underwear. The pants are held there by a belt at the wearer’s thighs.

Sagging pants popularized in the 1990s by hip-hop artists, have become the style for much of today’s youth. This is especially true for African American communities, but in the north Miami-Dade county city of Opa-Locka, where over 74% of its residents are African American, the questionable style is now an offense.”

How about the unspoken rule of inferiority?

When I was a kid, I lived in Shahi/mazandaran and we had a maid almost my age. She was my best friend and we played together and she always wore a white chador with gray dots. One day I asked her to give it to me, because I wanted to use it for one hour or so, as a long dress in my games. Surprisingly, she gave it without any resistance even if it was her only belonging, and I took it as a sign of her inferiority.

Even today, I feel terrible and guilty about my childish behavior and my feelings on that day. Still, when I got older I sensed this unspoken rule about the inferiority of women in a society like Iran, with or without chador. But the sight of a chador as a symbol of the women’s accepted inferiority is an insult to my intellect.

Azarin

I grouped them together

This cartoon is not about some people's delusional superiority over others, but I grouped them together to show natural and environmental behavioral patterns.

"this ignorant species that

"this ignorant species that is black inside and out?"

I'm tired of all the hatred. Just because we are hurt by a group who looks like that doesn't mean anyone who wears a chador is the same. Many in Iran wear a chador because that's what their mothers used to wear... and they have no desire to tell others how to dress.

I feel so bad when I see things like this, just because we are faced with people who are ruthless it doesn't mean we have to be the same.

DON'T HATE PEOPLE FOR THE WAY THEY DRESS. whether it's a thong or it's a chador. It's nobody's business.

Very nice

I like it.

Picture insults penguins

Penguins are universally loved intelligent birds. Why do you insult them by grouping them together with this ignorant species that is black inside and out?

What objection could I possibly have?!

I thought the “Last missing picture” comment in the “In the dark” photo essay was hilarious.

PETA: Please Explain This Acronym :O)

I eat krill, squids, sardines, and anchovies.

good one

nice.

freedom of attire and looks

There are no wild penguins in North Pole, although there was an extinct penguin like bird called Great Auk that lived in that region as late as the mid-19th century.

Contrary to common belief only a few species of penguin actually live so far south as Antarctica. Many of penguin species live in the Temperate Zone between tropics and South Pole region.

The thick layer of feathers on penguins is to keep them warm in water, since heat loss is much greater in water than in the air. In comparison in some of the dry desert condition areas of Iran chador keeps the body moisture trapped within a confined space and prevents the body from losing too much moisture too quickly. One solution to the problem of dry heat would be to have swamp coolers, which requires electricity which will ultimately contribute to Global Warming if it is derived from carbon fuel.

On the other hand the relentless sun shining on the fragile skin of the light colored Iranian female bodies would cause many dermatological problems including cancer. In that case chadorless women can invest a great part of their income on various skin protection products, which some Iranian women use a ton of it on their faces.

Don’t get mad, I’m all for freedom of attire and looks :O).

Your life has improved greatly

Dear bekar zarf shoor,

Your life has improved greatly since you started working as a dish washer, as I predicted it would. Now you write beautiful poems about penguins whereas before you wanted to sell your vote, which in any civilized society is an unethical act. Don't worry, soon you'll find a girlfriend. Remember, penguins form monogamous pairs only for a breeding season.

Poor pinguins...

Dear Omid,

I hope you wouldn't mind for my use of this wonderful cartoon as "the punch line" in my comment on a picture blog about chador!

Actually, I am not one of those bizarre PETA activists, but I really don't like chador, as you can see for yourself:

 //iranian.com/BTW/2007/April/Hatred/index.html

Azarin

PS: If you have any objection, please let me know.

poem for persian penguin

yes, omid hast but after I finish my post graduate work in zarf shoory as you asked me to do last week curly hair omid..hehehehehe

1st grade penguin poem:

-----------------
Penguins don't fly.

Each eats krill.

Nests are where they lay.

Gentoo is a name.

Underwater they swim.

I love penguins.

Nice or not.

adult penguin with juvenile

Sleek feathers, downy feathers, I like them a lot!

goooood job

haha. a chador is fine if a

haha. a chador is fine if a woman CHOOSES it.

Womens fight for empowerment

Here is a BIG difference. Penguins by nature are dressed the way they are for protection and preservation against the elements e.g. the cold climate of the north pole. For women of Iran on the other hand the black Chador is totally unnatural. It serves NO purpose and no value. Think about it. During the summer of 48c what good can the chador do? At work what good can the chador do? At home raising a family what good can the Chador do? As a social value what good can the chador do? NOTHING.
The great news however is that FINALLY women of Iran are starting to realize that it is NOT the chador that protects them but rather a society with equality for men and women under the eyes of the law.

Women of Iran are on the march and we stand with them.

Nice one!

Good job! :-P