ART

Strange !

Its strange that the blind followers of that child molester (9 year old Aisha ) Mohamad, who saw nothing wrong is raping slaves and prisoners (after killing their husbands), decide for us and give us lectures about women's values ! and "god-made" laws. Iranian people are very smart and don't need these kinds of savage laws to feel dignified.

I guess we should be very thankful to Islam for imposing its barbaric laws (as if people are kids and can not think for themselves, like Muslims do) and creating the Utopian society. By the way there are at least 300000 prostitutes in Tehran, and the do wear chador and hejab.This does not include all the sigheh kind of prostitution. I won't get into the current huge rate of drug addiction, poverty and all the other gifts of Islam.

Morality can not be imposed, especially by the worst kind of human rights violations that humanity has seen and still seeing in 21st century, by Islam. Iranians are smart and given chance, don't want these barbaric archaic laws

Chador

Boring, she looks like a shemale.Nothing erotic and attractive about wearing chador.

Follow up...

Notice on the winged bull in addition to two pages additional pages are written to encourage you to go over the board on your essay

Run...

The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted.

— D.H. Lawrence

-----------------------------------

What is the essential Iranian soul?

Identify it in brief the way lawrence did in style and then write a two page essay on it. Once completed submit your paper at the gate of nations in persopolis

Here is my take:

The essential Irnian soul is hard, isolate, emotional, and a killer. It has never yet melted

Abolhassan H. Danesh

Re: The trend......

Ajam Aziz,
My point was also the fact that two wrongs does not make a right. If The almighty wanted to force women to wear appropriate cover would have created us that way and our job was easy. So, state imposed dress code is as ugly as vulgarity.

We,men, need to let our heart/brain machine rule our world rather than our dogma and muscles. The almighty knows no distinction between man and woman on civil rights. I'm no expert but I think the only distinction is made in the area of family roles which is naturally obvious.

Re: Eternal What?????

KouroshS Aziz,
I agree with your views.

Eternal beauty is our "peacefulness". The more peace we have within, the more reserved, stable, tranquil, undisturbed and harmonious we emanate. For sure beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A calm ocean gives up different sound and image than a turbulent one. Sometimes, when our skin and face does not show our true reflection, we try to compensate for it by external means (chador, make-up, tattoo, etc.).

There is couple of subtle points I need to mention:

1. We are all created and born free to play our role in this world regardless of gender type. So, so much for the grace of supreme being to let us choose our way. But, then, here come some unholy figures (in the name of God or against) and try to interpret and enforce how really we should live.

2. We have unlimited power to do whatever we want in our mind. However, whether we accept it or not, we are bound by laws governing physical world to carry out what we imagine.

I think if we take into account these realities as it applies to the subject of our discussion, we may reach a concensus at social level to respect and tolerate each other more.

very nice photos

Indeed the lady in these pictures is exquisitely attractive.

The trend...

Dear Lost Identity, two wrongs don't make a right! The maltreatment of women in the Western media does not justify the supression of women's rights in our society!

A few years ago, in the Western (mainly American) fashion circles, there cmae a new trend widely known as "Heroin Chic," which set the trend for sizes zero and below, making young women suffer through anarexia in order to fit into the new line of clothing. Prevalence of this trend was exacerbated by designers (e.g. CK) using anarexic figures (e.g. Kate Moss) who looked like heroin addicts in their TV and billboard ads. The consequences were so severe that some leaders such as Bill Clinton publicly spoke out against such trends as destructive.

In spite of all the pressure from IRI on women, the silver lining in the current circumstances is that in the future, when our women are no longer subjected to such restrictions, they'll have the option to chose a third way. One that empowers their inner abilities to reach their true potential without necessarily exposing them to commercial exploitations!

Chador was never meant to be erotic anyway.

Is it just me, or is the girl wearing the chador upside down. Something looks wrong with her chador lol

I agree! BORING AND

I agree! BORING AND OLD!!!!

These are very boring and ordinary...If you want to show artists working today...why don't you show the beautiful work the young iranian artists have done called "sand Carpet' in Hormuz. This is art and originality, not a woman standing with a chador...And, it's been done before -

Equality

Abbasi, where did you learn how to count? When did I have "at least 3 failed marriages" and with whom? Not that it matters, but I'm curious...

Accepting or defending the equal rights of human beings is just the right thing to do. Good or bad relationships with women or minorities or... has nothing to do with it.

We are all born equal and we should be treated equal in the eyes of the law.

JJ jan

It is amazing for a man who had at least 3 failed marriages (don't know how much of it was your fault) to be the unconditional defender of the woman's rights. I admire you for not having any resentment towards them and for your fairness.

Eternal what????

Dear Lost Identity

Seems like you place the vague concept of"eternal beauty" before the right of a woman to express her individuality. That western expression should make it very clear for you that a pervert is never bothered by a flimsy physical veil, be it chador or headscarf. His mind will do its job of overcoming the fear:) very nicely.
Mental hejab, if it is implemented in the proper manner, would not need the complementary support of the physical one. Such ideology is a meaningless justification to promote the idea of forcing hejab on women.

Re; Perversion!

Jenab Ajam,
Please note that I mentioned we need both mental cover and physical cover whether we are male or femal. physical cover without mental cover is like building a paper house on top of ice crust in the winter that will sink as soon as the spring heat comes around.

A perverted mind goes after the chador of prostitutes who use chador as a tool of convenience if such a thing exists. ( I'm not saying this kind of people do not exist.) The healthy mind sees the chador (or even modest dress)of those doctor/engineers/scientists/mothers/teachers who willingly chose chador to eminate their beauty and grace.
The power of mental chador is way stronger than the physical one. I do not think physical chador is critical and I leave it to freedom of individual to choose. The norms in society drive the level of physical chador. (see how muslims cover themselves inIndia or Africa). I'm certain that some who put their beauty up for sale (manequins) are doing it out of weakness or for business. This is currently being taught in western societies as a scientific fact and portrayed as "animal instinct". To dramatize it, they even show how peacock opens up her beautiful tail to attract male peacock for mating. I'm sure you know that (unfortunately) women are used as object of business in any society in different forms. This is crime against humanity in general and women in specific. I'm sure you know that in our society, men like to cover their women so stranges do not look at them. In the meantime, in western ciulture, men (shaunists) love to show their pride to perverted eyes of stranges by walking along their girlfriends or wives with all curves out. What is good or bad and what is worst? This can only be answered by society we live in. But in general, imposing something on people is BAD. This is something even God does not do.

A "dareedeh" character has no mental or physical cover. Unfortunately, we use this term only for characters with bad mouth! I think it is strongly analogous to mental and physical misbehavior as well.

Peace;

Not artistic, erotic or exotic

Shirin Neshat came out with the chador pictures (which have artistic value) over 14 years ago and this repeat theme its getting old. There is nothing exotic nor erotic about the chador. There is nothing artistic about these pictures (ie the lighting, the message, the facial expression). Actually, what is the message?

چادر و حجاب

هردو خوبند و هیچ اشکالی ندارد بشرط آنکه برای مردان اجباری باشد و برای خانمها انتخابی. در غیر اینصورت دیکتاتوری است.

Perversion!

Dear Lost Identity, I believe the bigger perversion is to equate a woman's dignity with her wearing the chador. For it has nothing to do with women's dignity, but it rather has more to do the macho male desire of ownership of a woman. It also has to do with compensating for an insecure man's inadequacies to deal with his own manhood!

And contrary to what you claim: "To that effect, chador does the best job of depressing the urge of a perverted mind for satisfaction." At least half the prostitutes in the bigger cities, more than half in small towns and 100% of Qom prostitutes wear chador. I wonder what that would say about your "insurance cape?!"

Someone said:

"......wearing chador, not only restrictive and repressive in physical and social terms, but also in spiritual sense that strips a woman of exprssion of the slighest sense of individuality by absence of shape and colour. "

Of course, this is the the how a perverted mind describes chador (hijab). A perverted mind wants to strip a woman off her dignity and use it as a sex slave. To that effect, chador does the best job of depressing the urge of a perverted mind for satisfaction.

I'm not sure if anyone would like to be stripped (mentally and physically). As a famous western expression goes: If you want to win over someone and overcome your fear, imagine him or her naked in your mind!!!!!!

Mental hijab complements physical hijab and versa. One without the other is UGLY.

The two together offers eternal BEAUTY.

Yes,

I see your point.  Thanks for taking the time to clarify what you meant!

Dear AW

You are right. There are many Iranian women who would like to wear Hijab. Not only they don't feel oppressed but also they feel quite protected and pious by wearing it. However, there are also many other Iranian women (the majority) who HAVE TO wear this piece of cloth day in and day out and who are feeling diminished by it. They feel diminished by it not only because they believe it reduces women to sexual objects to be hidden from the male gaze but also because the IMPOSITION of this piece of cloth on ALL women cannot be separated from the IMPOSITION of all other Islamic laws on ALL women, which are experienced as being sexist and misogynistic. I am sure you already know about the details of these Islamic laws.

Azadeh

Azadeh

I don't disagree with you regarding the art at all.  I thought I made that clear.  However, you ignored my comment about how Iranian women feel about wearing chador or hijab.  You apparently know for a fact that all women in Iran feel oppressed by it.  I simply don't believe that you or anyone else who doesn't LIVE in Iran can make a blanket statement about what they do or don't want.  I CAN assume that many if not most don't agree with it.  But I'm hardly going to play God and determine what these incredible women go through on a daily basis.  I've read many books from Iranian authors about life in Iran.  But I guess they are wrong too.

For American Wife

Compulsory Hijab in Iran - in the form of either Chador/Maghna'eh or Scarf/Manteau - represents (because of its visibility and immediacy), Iranian women's oppression by all other imposed Islamic Laws. When a male Iranian artist attempts at eroticising Hijab -even when he does not succeed as in this case, he has attempted at eroticising a symbol as well as a tool of the Iranian women's oppression. I condemn this attempt, because of its sheer insensitivity towards Iranian women in the present day context. Imagine a white man attempting at eroticising the noose around a black person's neck! Wouldn't any self-respecting black person be outraged?

BTW, this is my political stance. There is nothing psychological or psycho-babblish about the word oppression.

Azadeh

Ajam is right...

melancholy is far more descriptive than erotic.  There really isn't anything suggesting desire in the pictures.  But then again, I didn't see anything erotic about Azadeah's pictorial of women's art either..:-0.

Anonymous... your point is unfortunately getting lost in the "reactions".  You are in fact correct but it's being completely distorted.  I do see JJ and Azadeh's point but as you said, they are responding to the extreme.

Just because you CAN wear miniskirts in the US doesn't mean you're "oppressed" because you don't.  No one is MAKING you wear a knee-length skirt.  It's your choice.  It might represent your own personal modesty but it is YOUR choice. 

If the same correlation can be made to the chador... then why is it oppressive?  Can anyone here state with complete authority that some women don't prefer to wear a chador... or even a hajab?  Just because they HAVE to doesn't mean they don't WANT to.  But that is a possibility that is simply too extreme for anyone to even entertain.

And I hope everyone reads this with an open mind instead of automatically jumping on the oppression wagon.  I'm NOT IRI... I'm NOT oppressed... I'm NOT "anything". 

God, I hate the psycho-babble.

Melancholy!

There's a kind of void melancholy in her face that makes any attempt at eroticizing impossible! The kind of sadness associated with the practice of wearing chador, not only restrictive and repressive in physical and social terms, but also in spiritual sense that strips a woman of exprssion of the slighest sense of individuality by absence of shape and colour.

Ironicly, it's more widely practiced in hot desert cities such as Yazd and Krman than those with friendlier and more colourfull nature and eveironment, which makes it all the more depressive!

again -- reactionary!

You are all so reactionary. First of all -- Chador is NOT mandatory in Iran -- only the headcovering and monto is MANDATORY.

Second, it is reactionary to claim you believe in freedom of women, but claim that chador should be banned. Chador in Iran is a choice. What azadeh was saying was that the "chador is repressive", yet if a woman chose to wear the chador, that is her FREEDOM and CHOICE, so how could it be REPRESSIVE. A woman choses to hide her body in the garmet of her chosing.

In the United States, according to indecency laws, a woman does not HAVE THE CHOICE to show her breasts. If she shows her breasts, it is criminal and she will be lawfully punished. However, a man has the freedom to show his breasts.

So does that mean women here are repressed as well, albiet to a lesser degree?

This is about the degree of restriction on women's clothing. In the US, women cannot show their breasts (they have no freedom to do so) and everyone just considers that the "law", but in Iran the civil code says that it includes the hair and body -- and people claim its REPRESSIVE.

What i call it is -- DOUBLE STANDARDS AND HYPOCRICY.

I will bet the same people calling for women's freedom here would also support a ban on the hijab similar to that in France -- calling it "liberation of women" (when in reality, it is taking their freedom away from chosing to cover their hair at their own chosing.

Remove those restrictive

Remove those restrictive laws and see for yourself what would happen in Iran overnight, there will be "Chaahaar Shanbe Soori" with Chadors as the fuel source. Hopefully we will soon witness that day soon.
nevertheless this model looks pretty cute, I wonder what she really looks like without the "Crow Suit".

To Anonymous1234532

As a woman I want to be free to wear and do whatever I like. I don't give a damn to what men think of me.I don't need their respect. I need freedom.
please speak for yourself. women in Iran are prisoners.making hijab mandatory for women in noway is for women's protection. It is an abvious abuse of women rights. You don't believe that women have brian and ability to decide for themselves. women don't need men to decide for them.

To Jahanshah

I was solely talking about the civil code in regards to dress. Going on tangents is like me answering your question by talking about the prison system in America and it is oppressive to minorities and desenfranchised (and Iran has a repressive prison system as well, but it can't boast the largest prisioners per capita as America can -- and btw, America has political prisoners as well -- they are however masked by being imprisoned for visa violations and tax invasion to hide the real intent)

However, here is my question for you -- Which is more likely to be man-made laws: a country that allows women to subjegate themselves as sex objects by posing in pornography and walking around half-naked for the viewing pleasure of men and their lower desires -- or laws that cover up women (and men to their own degree) so that men do not objectify them?

If man were to create laws in regards to women's dress, wouldn't he rather they expose themselves more so that he could be pleased by viewing them? Why would he want to hide his neighbors bodies, and be restricted from viewing them?

You might answer that men should not cover women, but rather control themselves. But here in America -- we have the freedom to either control ourselves or view them as sexual objects -- and the vast majority of Americans fall to viewing pornography and objectifying women and praising the ones that look beautiful rather than intelligent.

Female role models in America are Britney Spears and Paris Hilton that objectify themselves, while Iran parades around female scientists and doctors and tries to push them AS ROLE MODELS.

So the only repression i see is that of how women are treated in the US, where females are rarely given high regard unless they dress and act like men in every manner (like Hilary Clinton), rather than being women and being high achievers well beyond that of men, while keeping their femininity.

Rule of law

Anonymous1234532,

Hijab is a mandatory civil code "just as in America"? How deep in denial must you be to justify how women are treated in countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia?

Is it also ok that a woman's testimony is not equal to a man because it's the law of the land in Iran? I guess if the "mandatory civil code" said women should crawl on their knees and kiss the feet of every man they see that would be just fine too.

There's nothing "civil" about the sharia and any such codes that keep women wrapped up and treat them as sub-human. But then again these laws were written by men for men. And as a man, why should I complain? Who needs women to think freely, be independent and do what's best for themselves? That's so reactionary!

Chador a sign of oppression?

The hijab is mandatory in Iran, not the chador. The chador is worn by choice, by women who chose to be religious, or by families who are religious and tell their daughters to wear it. It is the same as a conservative family in America not letting their daughter wear provocative clothing without a choice on the daughter's behalf.

Azadeh Azad -- You oppress by saying women have no right to wear the chador. Your issue was not the hijab which is a mandatory civil code (just as in America, women are not allowed to show their breasts, while men can -- in Iran women cannot show their hair, while men can...yet you do not consider American laws as oppressive and seperate but equal?)

The chador in Iran is a choice. Only a small minority wear it. Who are you Azadeh Azad to claim it is like the symbol of the Nazis, when the Nazis put that symbol by force on their minorities, while Iran's civil code is the same as America's civil codes (except that indecent exposure in America is breasts, while in Iran it is body and hair).

How sad that you are so reactionary.