Fault-Lines and Hem-Lines

Censorship and the Boobquake vs. Brainquake Debate

Balatarin
Share/Save/Bookmark

Fault-Lines and Hem-Lines
by Samira Mohyeddin
28-Apr-2010
 

Recently, an Iranian cleric, Kazem Sedighi, stated that it is women’s immodest clothing which leads to promiscuity and is responsible for earthquakes and other natural disasters. The news quickly spread around the world and once again the Islamic Republic of Iran became the butt of many jokes. Sedighi, by no means a seismologist, was taken to task and his assertion put to the test by a Purdue State university student who created an event on Facebook called Boobquake. Jennifer McCreight wanted to test Sedighi’s theory and so asked women to bare as much of their cleavage as possible on April 26th, 2010, in order to see if volcanic eruptions and tsunami’s would ensue as a result of the women’s immodest dress.

A week after the call to action of Boobquake came the creation of another event, which billed itself as Brainquake. The project of two Iranian women, Negar Mottahedeh and Golbarg Bashi, who claimed that, “Everyday women and young girls are forced to show off cleavage and more in order simply to be heard, to be seen, or to advance professionally.” And so, Brainquake was formed for women to post what they are most proud of, including their CV’s and personal accomplishments, on-line as a rebuttal to Boobquake’s supposed further objectification of women. Although their intentions may have been to advertise that women are more than their boobs, Brainquake’s platform and written mandate speaks to something else; something that continues to create divisions and impede the global women’s movement.

Unlike Boobquake, which rightly raised awareness and exposed the absurdities of the ideological underpinnings of the Islamic Republic in Iran, and which was steeped in satire, Brainquake did not come about as an organic call to action against the comments of Mr. Sedighi, it was formed as a response to Boobquake, nothing more and nothing less. In fact, their statement of intent makes an unnecessary and illogical comparison between the words of Mr. Sedighi and the words of evangelical preacher and 700 Club leader, Pat Robertson. It reads:

“When Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi made his stupid comment that immodestly dressed women cause earthquakes, he of course joined fellow fundamentalist religious preachers such as Pat Robertson who have made similar claims about marginalized groups, women, the poor, third world nations, etc being responsible for natural disasters.”

What point could Brainquake have had in making such a comparison? Was it the old – “Hey we might have our moronic clerics but you have your own lunatic preachers” – or is it that tired ailment that some of us Iranians are afflicted with which does not enable us to speak of our country without mentioning the proverbial United States of America in the same breath? It is a childish tit for tat, or in this case tit for Pat, which relegates the Islamic Republic to a non-state entity; an intellectually odious and dangerous position to take.

What Brainquake conveniently fails to acknowledge is that preacher Pat and the 700 Club, do not run the United States government. However, Mr. Sedighi’s comments are the hallmark of the regime in Iran, a system of governance that has mandated that all girls, both Muslim and non-Muslim alike must cover their hair and dress in a modest manner from the age of nine on! Let’s talk about that! Let’s talk about the sexualization of pre-pubescent girls! These are not social constructs in Iran, this is the law for the past thirty-one years. Women’s bodies in Iran are legally not their own: women have no freedom of mobility, nor freedom to clothe themselves as they see fit. Brainquake’s churlish comparison between a woman’s CHOICE to show her cleavage and FORCED hijab is irresponsible and a further slap in the face to all those women being subjugated under such misogynistic and patriarchal laws. It is as reprehensible a comparison as breast augmentation would be to female genital mutilation.

Ms. Bashi and Ms. Mottahedeh’s further promulgations include: “Mr. Sedighi and the Islamic Republic of Iran are afraid of women’s abilities to push for change, to thrive despite gender apartheid (Did you know that over 64% of students studying at universities in Iran are women?).” Do Mottahedeh and Bashi care to know that the same regime that they assert is afraid of their accomplishments repeats this same statistic ad nauseum to show how advanced it is! Mr.Sedighi never lamented women’s brains and academic activity as being disturbing to Iranian society. He referred to immodest clothing and promiscuous behaviour on the part of women; to our strands of hair, that for the past thirty one years has been branded as potent potential threats to its national security.

The Islamic Republic occupying Iran does not care how educated, ‘nobled’, statured, or employed, we become. In fact, the more educated and accomplished, the more they will claim it as a victory of the revolution and will proudly proclaim: Look what OUR women have achieved! It only cares that women in Iran continue to be coerced and violently punished into remaining the only signifying marker of this regime; the living, breathing, walking, billboard signs of its Islamization process. Mandatory veiling of women was the first imposition on Iranian society after the revolution and so it shall remain the last.

Boobquake was rightly making a mockery of a comment made by a moronic cleric in the Islamic Republic. Brainquake’s - HEY EVERYBODY WE HAVE BRAINS! – project is further unpalatable because of its pandering to a challenge that women should not even be engaged in; we should not have to sell ourselves and our accomplishments, we should not have to sell our boobs or our brains; if after more than a century of struggle for our inalienable rights we are still shouting these banal and insipid statements as women - perhaps it is us and our movement that needs a shaking at the core, and not mother earth. You see, I am not interested in being invited to join the Islamic Republic at its table; I want to cut its legs off.

In the title of this editorial I have used the word censorship, in reference to my comments having been barred from Brainquake’s event site. The comments that were erased were no different than the one’s outlined above. In fact, it was Ms. Bashi, who referred to me as a “brain dead lunatic who has too much time on her hands.” For some reason, the creators of Brainquake found it necessary to silence voices of critical engagement with their project. We no longer have to worry about governments censoring us, it is our peers who have, as Ms. Bashi put it – “reserved the right to do so” – a sentence the Islamic Republic has frequently uttered when being rebuked for its censoring of dissidents. Congratulations Ms. Bashi and Ms. Mottahedeh for becoming that which you claim to abhor.

Since the creators of Brainquake denied this Iranian woman the opportunity to say what she is most proud of on-line, I will tell you now:

I am most proud of growing up and living in a society that did not try and shame my body, and that did not fascistically attempt to shape my mind. I am proud that I do not need the written permission of the male guardian in my family to board a train to Montreal. I am proud of my Masters in Women and Gender studies from the University of Toronto. I am proud that I am allowed to ride my bicycle throughout this beautiful city and I am proud that the country of Canada, for the past fifteen years has recognized my inalienable right to go topless, should I so choose to do so. But what I am most proud of is my ability to distinguish between something that is chosen by me and something that is physically forced upon me.

I was just informed that the Brainquake site has now changed drastically and that no one is able to post on their wall at all and that the creators have removed their names from being the administrators of the site.

* The Star: Women strut their stuff for Boobquake
* The Atlantic Wire: 'Boobquake' Spurs Feminist Infighting

- The writer, Samira Mohyeddin is an Iranian-Canadian feminist and activist. You can catch more of her at bnamus.blogspot.com

Balatarin
Share/Save/Bookmark

Recently by Samira MohyeddinCommentsDate
Gendar Apartheid
3
May 02, 2010
more from Samira Mohyeddin
 
bnamus

degrees of oppression

by bnamus on Thu Oct 28, 2010 09:15 AM PDT

Midwesty - is it not sad that today women in Iran have to look to the lowest common denominator, Saudi Arabia, and say "We are better off than them?"

A woman cannot divorce a man in Iran unless he beats her, is a drug addict or fails to provide basic necessities. She is also, upon divorce, not entitled to custody of her children after the child reaches a certain age. Read the bloody law in Iran before you spread lies sir.

On inheritance - women are entitled to half the inheritance of a man. Also, in a court of law (and i use that term very loosely when referring to what passes for the kangaroo courts in Iran) a woman's testimony is worth half of a man's.

 The real question is - why are you trying to paint such a rosy picture of womens lives in Iran? Were you oone of the brothers during the revolution who told women to wear the veil when they went out to protest? Why are you obfuscating and eliding the truths of women's lives in Iran? Iran is a gender apartheid state and for you to argue any different is farcical and false.

My agenda is not hidden brother. My agenda is to expose, in all its bloody abhorrent truth, the atrocities of this regime, which you so churlishly refer to as 'your country' - your problem is that you have taken on the Islamic Republic as your own and tied it to your nationalistic tendencies. I am glad that i am able to decipher between the Islamic Republic and my beautiful Iran.

Regarding my fifteen minutes of fame.....stay tuned.


  •  
mimi.shishi

I CONFESS:

by mimi.shishi on Mon May 03, 2010 07:17 AM PDT

To being polite, having a sharp tongue and a smart brain. I confess to speaking my mind. I confess to my belief in the truth, and ONLY the truth. I confess to my belief in the power of the word.I confess to my belief of debating rather than censoring the opposing voice.I confess in my comitment in opposing any and all censorship which has become second nature to us  Iranians, starting at home. I confess that I believe this change starts with each single individual. I confess that I still have hope, and that we can be better.

Na aziz jan, I was expressing the very same views I expressed here, same as Samira Mohyedin. Believe me when I get censored here for bringing the term "artsy-f***sy" and yet Mid-eslami shouts it out loud and doesn't get the same reaction from the moderator, I would have been censored here as well had I used foul language against Dabashi & co. The "brainquake" ladies just didn't feel like using their "brains" to answer and have a good debate. They deleted our thoughts and blocked us out. Period.It was easier. If they did reply here, it was for damage control.Too late.


  •  
Was Rosie

Mimi.Shishi,

by Was Rosie on Sun May 02, 2010 11:21 PM PDT

What I want to know, Mimi, is when they censored you from the brainquake page, did you say 'brainquake is more f-rt than boob'?

C'mon, Mimi, out with it. Confess.

 

//iranian.com/main/blog/mimi-shishi/moderator

 

p.s. Don't worry, Shishaki, I flagged Mid-Islami for saying 'brain f-rt' to you and I hope he gets kicked off the bus.

lol

 


  •  
mimi.shishi

//www.youtube.com/watch?

by mimi.shishi on Sun May 02, 2010 02:14 PM PDT


  •  
vildemose

Family laws in

by vildemose on Sat May 01, 2010 08:08 PM PDT


  •  
Midwesty

Hamsadeh Jan

by Midwesty on Sat May 01, 2010 05:52 PM PDT

Don' get ahead of yourself. That's not ture either. Women can ask for divorce if the husband does not fall into or fall into some criteria. They can also be awarded custody if the court decides. Yes it's true that if husband meets all the qualifications the primary custody can be awarded to father but it again depends on the court decisions. This alone is an exception to her blanket "NO statement".

So there are some exceptions? Aren't they?

But heck I assure you if we look even more we can find even more exceptions that make the "NO statement" hardly a universal one.

Can't argue more man! I can't be more clear than this.

Good night!


  •  
hamsade ghadimi

midwesty

by hamsade ghadimi on Sat May 01, 2010 04:39 PM PDT

midwesty,

i don't know where you get your information.  i know for a fact a woman cannot ask for a divorce in iran without the husband's consent.  the opposite can be done.  a woman cannot travel without her husband outside the country without the consent of her husband or a male relative (if unmarried).  i'm not making these stuff up.  these are events that i have witnessed in my own family which resulted in considerable difficulties.  therefore, i'm questioning who has the hidden agenda.  ask any female relative in your family what would happen if they want to rent a hotel room in iran alone!

there was a video on i.com not long ago on family court in iran showing actual court cases outlining samira's contentions.  if you see it, you'd be ashamed of your accusations to samira.  one would hope.

mimi,

let it go. be a bit more graceful in accepting an apology.  this site has censorship for personal attacks and profanity.  if a virtual web community didn't have any censorship of any kind, that community would go to pot.


  •  
mimi.shishi

Negar Mottahedeh AKA Dabashi & Co

by mimi.shishi on Sat May 01, 2010 02:10 PM PDT

Thank you for accepting your  responsibilty for your actions and apologizing for a shameless act of censorship either done by you or Golbarg Bashi, however no excuse is acceptable for ANY kind of censorship under ANY context, specifically in the virtual world, and more specifically for a campaign led as a humorous slap in the face. If we need censorship for humor, my imagination runs wild as to where else we would use it for once we had the power to?! Meanwhile I remind myself  of the lack of tolerance for cartoons and comedy concerning ANYTHING opposing  Islam & Islamic values. I  acknowledge the fact that "boobs" and "boob-quakes" certainly  will be no exception to equal criticism and concern, no matter how "intellectual" these criticisms  may appear... 

As for my name, next time I run a social media campaign and stand in the forefront of it, while blocking  out and censoring opposing voices, I too  will  reveal my name... Untill then who cares?! You didn't even want to hear what I had to say, completely crossed my thoughts out which are my true identity, why care about a name?


  •  
mimi.shishi

آدم می تواند «انتلکتوئل» باشد، امّا «روشنفکر» نباشد

mimi.shishi
Sat May 01, 2010 01:43 PM PDT

اندر  باب احوالات  امت   «انتلکتوئل»   و «انتلکتوئل» امتی ایران  که همیشه می بایست ورسیون اسلامی هر پدیده ی را جستجو کند تا مبادا از  قافله روشن  اندیشان  جا بماند !

//www.bbc.co.uk/persian/arts/2010/04/100429_l42_letter_from_london183.shtml


  •  
Midwesty

Samira,

by Midwesty on Sat May 01, 2010 02:42 PM PDT

Thanks for reading my writings. I'd love to read more of yours, I mean articles not blogs.

The articles that you've been presenting on an international stage, have dramatically and misleadingly skewed the picture of my country. Although your PhD thesis in accord to academic qualifications was morally bounded to reflect a non-biased, scientific and subjective view of your thesis topic, but it miserably failed to follow any of these.

Here an excerpt from your blog:

"A country in which women have no right to divorce, custody of their
children, freedom of mobility, the right to dress themselves as they see
fit, no right to inheritance..."

These are sheer lies. Because women do inherent, can divorce, and can have custody of their children and can choose how to dress and go around freely (what your essay makes in people's mind is that of women of Saudi Arabia). I agree there are restrictions that don't fully reflect the western laws. However:

A subjective and balanced view about this problem would be if you acknowledged the truth but pointed out the shortcomings.

Now , I think either you are inexperience, looking for your 15 minutes of fame, or you have a hidden agenda.


  •  
negar mottahedeh

Pomo feminism and intolerance

by negar mottahedeh on Fri Apr 30, 2010 06:57 PM PDT

Hi Samira: I don't think I need to repeat what I said, which is that I'm not in favor of blocking in social media campaigns and that I don't know the history regarding your being blocked. I just know that you were. And I wish it hadn't happened and I also wish that you hadn't been subject to abusive language as you say here. That's just not done. 

Also Samira, thank you for your insights on feminism, postmodernism and the Islamic Republic. As  you know, I actually haven't written on feminism per se and I don't have any work on the women's movement in Iran.  I have not participated in direct action campaigns or organized them as I believe you may have...admirably.  I think you mentioned that to me as the only viable path. To be frank, I have worked strictly on feminist film theory and you're right that  does nothing for the "enfranchisement of women in and under an Islamic Republic" or in any way topple a government that is in violation of Human Rights. My work hasn't had those mighty intentions at all. I worked on the Brainquake campaign. Brainquake was a social media campaign in response to another social media campaign, namely Boobquake. -A social media campaign, not an ivory tower nor a postmodern feminist tautology, a social media campaign- I think we're talking about very different species of things. But that we are, is interesting in itself.

@mimishishi What's your real name? You have quite an advantage there :) Anyway I wasn't saying anything to you. I was referring to the aggregate of comments here. Actually, I just thanked you for the numbers and went on to say that I'm not in favor of blocking on social media campaigns. I don't know who you really are. But then, come to think of it, you don't know me either. Regardless of your real name, I'm sorry you were blocked too. The history of why this happened is unknown to me. I'm sure you can find out by asking Golbarg about it, if in fact she blocked you from the Brainquake page.  Did you try that?

Anyway, I think I've said everything I could say without going in ciricles. Thanks again Samira for starting a very interesting discussion and good luck with  Shariati!

Negar Mottahedeh

Associate Professor 

Program in Literature and Program in Women's Studies

Duke University


  •  
Harpi-Eagle

Midewesty

by Harpi-Eagle on Fri Apr 30, 2010 04:10 PM PDT

Midwesty,

In your response to Dr. Azad, you say, "I truly believe if it wasn't because of women, men would still live in the stone age."  this is the understatement of the centuery, if it wasn't because of women, we just wouldn't exist.  You see men and women complete each other, we are the Yin and the Yang, but we can only be the Yin and Yang together, we are all human beings, no more no less, regardless of our gender.  It is our obligation as Iranian men to stand with our women in the face of evil like the corrupt clergy who highjacked our country, and don't kid yourself about having received the same level of injustice as women in Iran.  Islam by its nature and by its stone age laws and the laws of Shariah is never as unjust to men as it is to women.

Payandeh Iran, our Ahuraie Fatherland


  •  
jigsawnovich

World Press Distracted by Boobquake while Iran Maneuvers to CSW

by jigsawnovich on Fri Apr 30, 2010 03:51 PM PDT


  •  
Samira Mohyeddin

More on Golbarg Bashi's Pragmatism with Patriarchy

by Samira Mohyeddin on Fri Apr 30, 2010 12:01 PM PDT


  •  
Samira Mohyeddin

Gender as an acceptable form of apartheid

by Samira Mohyeddin on Fri Apr 30, 2010 11:58 AM PDT


  •  
Samira Mohyeddin

POMO (non)feminism

by Samira Mohyeddin on Fri Apr 30, 2010 09:37 AM PDT

@ Negar - I for one never made any personal comments about Golbarg on Brainquake in fact it was the opposite IT WAS GOLBARG WHO REFERRED TO ME IN A DEROGATORY WAY AND USED FOUL LANGUAGE TO ATTACK ME...I have quoted her! What is your explanation for my censoring? Also, as an educator and academic, i think it important for both you and Golbarg to understand that your humdrum postmodern form of feminism, which is hollow and treats women as abstractions and not concretes, has done nothing to further the women's movement, particularly in Iran. All it has done is make us spin in tautological circles; we need to reassess what it is we are trying to do. If you want to remain in your ivory towers and only look to theorise about other theories then that is fine. If you want to come down and get dirty, then you need to alter your tactics because your writings, your elisions, and your censoring of others, only cause further impediments. Like I said, I am not interested in the enfranchisement of women in and under an Islamic Republic; i find the entire system of government in disrepute and NO WOMAN would be equal under such a system, however much you want to tweak it here and there a little. To me, the foundation of the building is rotten and no coat of paint will wash away all the crimes against humanity that have occurred under such a system.

@ Midwesty - most of your misogynistic and jingoistic language does not even merit a response. I will say however, that you and Ali Shariati are very similar in your hatred for the woman as an individual - the modern woman who acts on her own accord and is referred to as selfish by Shariati. I just wanted you to know that you are not alone in your misogyny....there is a long line before you and you are continuing that tradition. Just make sure that when these walls begin to crumble, you are not pinned under the rubble.

SHARIATI SHARIATI AST VA MIDWESTY MIDWESTY AST!


  •  
Midwesty

Hamsadeh,

by Midwesty on Fri Apr 30, 2010 07:31 AM PDT

Thanks for the correction. I was looking for the word but couldn't find it in my mind. I meant femininity.


  •  
hamsade ghadimi

mimi jan, i wouldn't

by hamsade ghadimi on Fri Apr 30, 2010 07:16 AM PDT

mimi jan, i wouldn't advertise those numbers to declare a checkmate.  think about it.  would there be any other explanation that boobquake got more hits than brainquake.  i didn't even hear about brainquake until reading this article.  i wonder why.

midwesty jan, i think you mis-spoke when you said "i adore [women's] feminism."  you've stated your position against feminism in previous blogs.  i believe you mean femininity unless you have changed your position.  by the way, i have met women who are anti-feminists while enjoying the rights that were achieved through the feminist movement. and i agree with you that parents have a strong influence in the belief system of their children.


  •  
vildemose

Azadeh Azad: Spot on

by vildemose on Fri Apr 30, 2010 08:14 AM PDT

Azadeh Azad: Spot on assessment. Islamists of all stripe suffers from the same disorder...lol


  •  
negar mottahedeh

Thanks for the numbers mimi.shishi :)

by negar mottahedeh on Fri Apr 30, 2010 06:32 AM PDT

Thanks for the numbers mimi.shishi :) I'm sure if Brainquake was about who has the most numbers, then several people would not be complaining about being blocked.

I'm not one in favor of blockng as a social media strategy. And I've said so and demonstrated from the very beginning, that I celebrate the air of engagement and debate that the two campaigns have generated all over the web, including, as a result, Samira's post here, and this discussion that has followed. Had both campagins not happened, the debates would not have persisted.  That is social media strategy that works.

Now, having read some of the personal attacks in the comments here.... What? Golbarg's breasts and her marital status, I'm not at all shocked that she, as an administrator, would have chosen to block certain posters. I don't know the histories that may have informed such decisions. And I won't speak for Golbarg or defend her. She's perfectly capable. I'm just saying I'm not surprised.

I'm an educator. I think that we only win when we share and live ourselves into eachother's ideas. It's in this interaction that we learn how best to make a difference in the world. I continue to be grateful for your thoughts and comments. I'll sign off now. 

Negar Mottahedeh

Associate Professor 

Program in Literature and Program in Women's Studies

Duke University


  •  
Midwesty

Azadeh,

by Midwesty on Fri Apr 30, 2010 05:09 AM PDT

I adore women, their beauty and their feminism. I am not struggling with women and I am not in short supply either. My life has never been void of the presence of a woman. Please don't try to analyze and categorize me unless I am laying down on your office couch and talking about my past.

I had two parents but my mom raised me. A businesswoman who chose to stay home with us and a devoted Muslim despite her own "progressive" family were disguising her for her belief. If I ever learned independence in life and thought that was because of my mom. Although she was and still is a beautiful woman, she, before the epic battle of brain vs. boobs, taught me that having a beautiful brain is what matters.

I truly believe if it wasn't because of women, men would still live in the stone age. Later throughout my professional life I found women with much better work ethics, integrity and trust. No, I am not talking about the former HP CEO who she did disgusting stuff. There aren't too many women like that and hope that won't be too many in the future either.

But there is a big but...

With what cost feminism is progressing? Everything women or men do in any shape or form is crossing the feminism red line one way or another. It is becoming too intrusive into people's personal life by leveraging various obnoxious laws through providing partial or misleading empirical data.

Thanks to psychologists,  who have barely their arms around what a human being is, they are pushing us into their tight boxes and label us with this or that.

And now, everything is men's fault.

Azadeh, what an intellect such as you is trying to show does not necessarily translate well when it gets to the bottom of the society.

I tell you one thing and wrap this up. 

A good student law becomes a business lawyer, an average one becomes a criminal lawyer and a failed one becomes a judge!

It's that judge that scares me and the one who might not have the level of intellect that you carry.

Thank you very much!

Best Regards,

Mohsen  


  •  
mimi.shishi

DABASHI & CO.

by mimi.shishi on Fri Apr 30, 2010 04:40 AM PDT

Your honoring of Brains was only to discredit those who had brains and yet were not ashamed of their body. In your hyper-sensitivity to the objectification of women in the west, you failed to realize that the brainy woman who is cloaked in shame and guilt regarding her body is NOT what the likes of Sedighi  will EVER oppose or view as causing to unleash God's wrath to move the earth... 

This wonderful article was published HERE only b/c it was censored from the brainquake site!!!  I was censored as well, yet you are patting us on the back for contributing to BOTH causes?!! FYI We were NOT ALLOWED to contribute to Brainquake and were BLOCKED!!...so much so for tolerance of different viewpoints!!This discussion is not only  about Feminism but ALSO about  CENSORSHIP and the fact that today Iranians  have in general become a group pf people who reserve the right to cut out unwanted voices  and critics  whenever  & wherever they choose to , under the false pretense of  finding them  'offensive' !! Simply put, anyone who disagrees is 'offending' someone, somewhere!!!

This question has always been on my mind: As a nation why have we become like this?  Why  do we behave like censoring agents to cut the critical voice? Why has  this become an easy way out instead of debating & learning from one another? Why do we, even when the subject is humorous and there are no Pasdars, Basiji's, or Savaki's in sight,  continue to do their business on their behalf???!!

Ps.The only thing you shook was my perception of the 'intellectual,educated Iranian feminist', showing me that even SHE can act like  the censoring agents in power.

They say numbers speak louder than words, enjoy these numbers and the free ride while you can...

Boobquake fan page members:         100 , 848

Boobquake event page members:      213 , 875

Brainquake page members:                            181

Brainquake event page memebers:          1, 651


  •  
negar mottahedeh

We came for the boobs, we stayed for the Brains.

by negar mottahedeh on Thu Apr 29, 2010 10:20 PM PDT

And ultimately we quaked some brains :)

A Postmortem from Twitter:

//twitter.com/lissnup/statuses/13071607826

Also maybe it's time to consider some breaking news:

"Iran appointed to a vacant Vice-Chair position on the UN Commission on Women's Rights."
(//bit.ly/bzcSz9) 

"Women with makeup will be chewed up by reptiles." ~Ayatollah Alamolhoda.  @//tinyurl.com/2fbtm89

"Suntanned women to be arrested under Islamic dresscode" //bit.ly/cQGz0D

Or not.

Thanks all for taking time out and continuing the discussion generated by the two campaigns. 

Negar Mottahedeh

Associate Professor 

Program in Literature and Program in Women's Studies

Duke University


  •  
obama

Stop arguing & start enjoying them! Who said there is no God?

by obama on Thu Apr 29, 2010 10:15 PM PDT

See what God has created! Godesses! Don't you just melt in God's creation? I honestly didn't read any of the postings. Some people want to argue about everything even things you should just watch and don't say a word! Admire the power of nature and what it does to people. Imagine all the ...... living ...

 


  •  
hamsade ghadimi

samira

by hamsade ghadimi on Thu Apr 29, 2010 09:46 PM PDT

i enjoyed reading your article and agree that brainquake missed the boat entirely and was attempting to free-ride on the boobquake idea.  although i found the boobquake humorous, i thought  that something may have been lost in translation.  sedighi said that increase in extra-marital sex leads to an increase in earthquakes (vaghti zena tose'eh peyda bokoneh, zelzeleh faravan misheh).  however, in the various videos i saw on youtube and cnn regarding the speech, the american women kept repeating that "showing boobs/cleavage leads to earthquakes." 

as usual, this ignorant mullah attibuted god's wrath (earthquake) mostly to women behavior; but, he also mentions that the women's actions gives the green light to the unscrupulous males (cheshm cheranha) and that is the recipe for extra-marital sex.

at the risk of being called mola loghati, i think that the well-intentioned boobquake also missed the boat.  although, it generated attention to our ass-backward mullahs.  after the first time that i listened to the sermon on i.com, my first reaction was (perhaps due to my analytic background) was an obvious contradiction that was exposed in the sedighi sermon and other speeches by iri leaders:

premise 1: the clergy praise the noble and religious people of iran due to the velayat faghih (various speeches notably by khamenei and ahmadinejad),

premise 2: iranian shi't clergy claim that velayat faghih is the precursor to the utopia that will be brought about with the coming of mehdi (from the well, of course).  making iran the epicenter of utopia,

premise 3: adultery leads to earthquakes,

fact: iran is one of the most earthquake-prone regions in the world,

therefore, the sermon (premise 3) and the fact negates premise 1.  i thought that puting these elements in a quantitative model would have been more interesting than the frivilous boobquake.  the a priori expectation would have been that iran is one of the most immoral (in terms of promiscuity) places on earth.  throw in drug use in the model, then velayat faghih would have been the laughing stock of the world.  at any rate, i enjoyed the boobquake experiment and the energy (and media coverage) that it generated.  i also enjoyed your passionate discourse and clever writing on both the brain and boob quakes. 

 


  •  
Azadeh Azad

Quit while you are ahead, Midwesty

by Azadeh Azad on Thu Apr 29, 2010 09:36 PM PDT

This is the third occasion I see you “crusading” against feminists, intelligent women and men who stand as all societies’ avant-gardes and are on the right side of history.

Last time we exchanged ideas on this website, you agreed to be on a path to maturation and some kind of “enlightenment.” What happened to you? Why are you still dominated by your psychological demons, which are keeping you an immature, misogynistic and backward man?

Based on your various comments here and there, I know that you have adopted the ideology of Patriarchy /Male Domination, which stands on the exact opposite side of Feminism and Women’s Rights. There are plenty of other men who think like you – Khamenei and other Islamic or Christian fundamentalists are among them. That means there is nothing special about your reactionary values and opinions. So, why am I spending my time writing to YOU?

I am writing to you because I know, as an experienced psychotherapist (among other social skills), that your motivation for adopting the sinister ideology of Male Domination is your grave psychological issues you ignore and don’t try to resolve.

It is clear to me that your meaningless and illogical statements in this thread (such as there is no such a thing as Women’s Rights) have their roots in your struggle with your Masculinity. Feminists are a threat to your fragile masculinity, which is consciously or unconsciously defined as the ability or the right to Dominate Women or to dominate at least one woman (could be your wife, mother, sister, whomever.) And who are the people who completely disagree with this type of anti-woman masculinity: the feminists.

You find it easier to attack feminists than to demean all women, because you are afraid that the latter would unmask your sexism and misogyny, your hatred and fear of women, which is directly related to your fragile and domineering masculinity, your deep insecurity.

I am sure there are a lot of men who come to this site and think like you. But most of them don’t feel the need to divulge their backwardness and outdated opinions the way you do, because they are intelligent enough to know that they will be the laughing stock of intelligent and progressive people.

Midwesty, just give up this struggle that is eating your psyche from within. I have absolutely no intention of humiliating you (you are already doing it very well all by yourself on this thread), but you need psychological help, and that is not a fact for feeling ashamed. On the contrary, by seeking help, you will be behaving like an intelligent man who genuinely wants to be on the path to developing his personality, instead of just pretending as you did in the past.

Quit while you are ahead.

Good luck,

Azadeh


  •  
mimi.shishi

LOOK WHO'S TALKING!!

by mimi.shishi on Thu Apr 29, 2010 08:28 PM PDT

"We have a strong tendency to reject anything that is not perfectly match with our political taste."

Nothing can be closer to reality, specifically in regards to those who have the slighest sympathy with everything and anything Islamic, including the Islamic Republic, who have no room for critical minds or voices. It was stated specifically in this article how the writer's comments was not tolerated on the brainquake site,  and how she was censored out by Golbarg Bashi which I assume led her to publish this article here... Unfortunately censoring has become an Iranian trait... The Dabashi & Co are a miserable pair to be the poster couple for reform when they can't even tolerate the slightest critics in the virtual world...


  •  
Midwesty

Anyone, mine here and Dabashi and his wife on FB

by Midwesty on Thu Apr 29, 2010 07:47 PM PDT

We have a strong tendency to reject anything that is not perfectly match with our political taste.


  •  
Midwesty

Exir,

by Midwesty on Thu Apr 29, 2010 07:47 PM PDT

Again, I remember when John Ashcroft, covered the naked female statues no boobquake appeared.

//www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/01/29/statues.htm 


  •  
vildemose

Midwesty: Whose message is

by vildemose on Thu Apr 29, 2010 07:43 PM PDT

Midwesty: Whose message is down the drain?


  •  
123next ›last »