TehranSoParvaz

With the death of Neda in the recent Green Movement in Iran, more and more focus has been given to Iranian women. Women’s rights and the Women’s movement have been highlighted several times on the news from CNN to FOX. The most ironic part was the American audiences surprise on how beautiful the women protestors in Iran were. Several shows were actually dedicated to the plight of the Iranian women and how the “beautiful protesters” overshadowed their struggle.

Well surprise. Iranian women ARE beautiful. However they are much more than just pretty faces. They are incomparable to their other Middle Eastern counterparts. Iranian women are educated, creative, intelligent, and outspoken. These characteristics only add to their beauty (and add to their headache.) Iranian women are not the subservient Middle Eastern women portrayed on TV. Across the United States alone Iranian women are the most educated of all female minorities and the most fiscally successful as well.

This is my dedication to beautiful strong Iranian women. Who run the house and even more so run the world. They are our moms, our doctors, our lawyers, our dentists, our magazine chief editors, and our role models. I highlight several strong proud Iranian women. You may like them. You may not. Either way their accomplishments and beauty are compelled by their Iranian womanhood.

Shirin Ebadi.

You know you are successful when you are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Not only do you receive worldwide recognition and the envy of your peers but also a million dollar bonus. That’s exactly what happened to Ms. Ebadi in 2003 when she won for her for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and work with in human rights, especially women’s, children’s and refugees. This makes Shirin Ebadi the only Iranian and the only Muslim to ever win this prestigious award (unless you count President Obama.) You gold digger men stay away however, Mrs. Ebadi used the prize money in order to further her work with Center for the Defense of Human Rights in Iran, which she founded. A lawyer, former judge, and tastemaker of the chic short haircut, Shirin Ebadi has made a career of giving a voice to the voiceless. Born in Hamadan, Iran she is the epitome of the outspoken, intelligent Iranian woman we have all grown to know and love.

Simin Behbahani.

While winning the Nobel Prize is new, being nominated to win is not for Iranian women. Nominated twice for literature, Simin Behbahani is possibly the most prominent figure in modern Persian literature. She is Iran’s national poet and a role model for the intellectual movement. When most of us were going through puberty, Ms. Behbahani was publishing works of art by the age of 14. Besides writing award winning poetry, essays, and articles, she is also the president of the Iranian Writers Association. Move over Hafez.

Golshifteh Farahani.

Beautiful and talented is an understatement. Especially when you are handpicked by Mr. Celebrity himself Leonardo DiCaprio to be his co-star and love interest as Ms. Farahani was in the 2008 Ridley Scott film Body of Lies. Most of us don’t accomplish in a lifetime what she has done in her 27 years of life. She has been in over 20 films, has won several Best Actress awards, world fame and acclaim, the respect of her thespian peers, and she even knows how to play the piano…professionally. She speaks Farsi, English, French and conversational Arabic. Sexy. I know she’s married but if she wasn’t Id definitely go “khastegari.” I’m sure she would say “no” but she could say it 4 different ways.

Pardis Sabeti.

My dad was right. I SHOULD HAVE BEEN A DOCTOR. Pardis Sabeti is. Or should I say Dr. Pardis Sabeti, who is the assistant professor at the Center for Systems Biology and Department of Organism and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard. She’s so smart I don’t even understand what she works for. But I do understand what she does. She figures out ways to save the world. At 35 she is the youngest professor working on this project and developed a statistical method, which identifies sections of the genome that have been subject to natural selection. I don’t understand either. But I do understand that she is beautiful, she is smart, and she is another absolutely amazing Iranian woman.

As are they all. There are many more super-successful super-talented super-good looking Iranian women in the world. You can find them in encyclopedias, you can find them in magazines, you can find them online, but most likely you can find them in your own house. We are proud of our Iranian women. The Iranian in me “beh shoma eftekhaar mekone…” and the black in me says, “You go girl!”

Not a lecture. Just a thought.

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