In an article on the fron page today, NY Times headline reads:
“Starting at Home, Iran’s Women Fight for Rights”
TRANSLATION: Women in Iran have just decided to start fighting for their rights, but only indoors for now . (This is not how I remember things. From fighting in the streets with machine guns and getting excuted by the thousands at the beginning of the revolution, to protests at soccer matches and marches down streets, to a woman family court lawyer winning the Nobel peace prize, they’ve been fighting pretty good all along.)
“Ms. Qassemi took a step that might never have occurred to an earlier generation of Iranian women: she filed for divorce.”
TRANSLATION: Women in Iran used to NEVER even think about divorce up to now. (Never mind that they’ve had the right for more than a thousand years. That’s not how I remember things.)
“And it is not just women from the wealthy, Westernized elites.”
TRANSLATION: You see, fighting for your rights is a Western gift. Amazingly, in this backward society, not just the women we have trained, but even natives have somehow come up with the idea of protecting themselves!
“One in five marriages now end in divorce.”
TRANSLATION: I know I just reported they’re beginning to start to think about divorce, but somehow the rate is up to 20% already.
The writer is a Nazila Fathi.
