Posting from Iran

[Judy1234]

Other sites are blocked but not mumsnet - you must be approved of by the religious police. Very interesting to be wearing Islamic clothing, seeing first hand the restrictions on women just like in Victorian England when clothing stopped you running or skipping or cycling.

Hello Xenia, here's a thread for you

Are you working or on holiday?

Iran!!! You lucky thing!! Have you read Shirin Ebahdi's (sp!) book - she's a lawyer working for women's rights over there....book was brilliant!!!

I will look at it. I'm on business and I only had a few days notice (I'm giving a 2 day course). They brought clothes for me to the air port but not trousers so I seem to be the only person showing ankle. The Victorians used even to cover ankles of tables so British popular myth went. In fact at the venue I am the only woman present whose clothes are not all black either, that very long black thing but none with the full face covered grill thing.

I can feel both the sexual liberation of it and the restriction of it. But there are clothes you can wear if you don't want to take part inthe fashion stakes in the UK, the flat shoes, very short hair you never dye, dungaree type stuff which is even less sexy than Iranian robes but without the physical constriction and the huge differences in impact on men and women - no air con this afternoon and the head covering and over clothes is much hotter than the man are having to tolerate.

Xenia

No restrictions - just get one of these!

www.mustaqim.co.uk/clothing/

Ps Where are you? I thought Tehran was a bit more liberal these days?

sounds fascinating
how much do you have to cover up? its not the full veil is it?

i get our dates from Iran

I am on Kish Island which is a free trade area although rather the worse for wear - Dubai has really taken over from Iran in terms of trade/business. When we arrived from Dubai about 8 ladies from the phillipines just before pass port control went into a changing area where long cotton things and head coverings seemed to be available but my driver came up to me with the set they had for me to wear. Most people seem to cover arms legs, ensure the top thing hangs down so you can't see curves and hair is all covered up. Everyone in trousers too except me.

I am being filmed and it is going to look very funny because my scarf keeps falling off and I have to keep putting it back on. At lunch most women were in those long black flowing things but not with eyes covered. Things I take for granted like sitting down next to a man at a coffee break I'm having to try to be conscious of and sit with women. I could see the women present not sure if they were allowed on the coach with the men for example back to the hotel and some were sent separately in taxis.

NOt sure if same lady mentioned above but in the papers a few days ago the one trying to get "one million signatures" for equality under the law was arrested I think. Might be why every other site I try to post on I just get a load of islamic type on my screen.

Ahhh....explains why you are covering more - Tehran is more liberal than other areas - not that I've been there but a close friend is from there and I am totally mad about Iranian culture...

Ooh Xenia..you are lucky!

When my father was invited there to speak at a conference he was treated like royalty which he found slightly suffocating.
How are the men treating you xenia?

They stood up when I entered the room and are treating me well. They have taken loads of photos and I don't look good in the garb they came up with for me, but never mind and we all had to stand at the start for what I assume is the national anthem. Hard to get any discussions going because of the language issue and simultaneous translation so it's quite hard going.

And there are definite problems over me being British because of how the British are currently treating Irna. It's proving very hard to get my passport back so far, just had another attempt and gave up for now. So I hope they let me leave the country.

I don't like the concept women's bodies need to be covered up. WOuld prefer we could all walk down Oxford St naked actually but I'll obvioulsy keep those views to myself. They are all being very nice to me.

"WOuld prefer we could all walk down Oxford St naked actually "

I hope the religious police aren't reading your MN posts....

Sounds fascinating. Is the food good?

Food? Far far too much Western food and sugar and junk food seems to be peddled everywhere. No wonder some arabs have a weight and diabetes problem. They should concentrate on their meals more than covering up the women. The lady at lunch today told me she was "fat " (she wasn't by Western standard really) and said they eat too much rice. I very much doubt it's the rice putting on the weight but all the cakes and sweets.

Really nice people and they gave me a rug. Bit relaxed over times so I wasn't sure I'd make the flight but it all worked out okay. Now I'm in Dubai for another couple of hours.

A lot of women seem to go in for loads of makeup which really is contradictory - cover your whole body up and then pile on the make up to make you look sexy for men. Others didn't. One asked me outright - how old are you which is fine, it's not a secret but you don't normally get asked that abnd they all apparently have 1 or 2 children as that was the Govenment edict, not 5 children as I do so that surprised them.

It reminded me in parts of Panama - Kish Island v Contadora - both trying and failing to finish of buildings and make business move there so it had a sort of building site, hopeless feel to it including the rather dated 1970s hotel very like the 1970s one we stay in near my island in Panama which amusingly is on the island the old Shah of Iran escaped from Iran to Panama on after he lost power.

What a fascinating thread. Thanks Xenia.

Very interesting to read this - glad you got your passport back, Xenia.

Thank goodness you were only British, and not American. Thanks for posting this, and thanks to SB for linking to it.

It would have been polite to say that I have linked to this thread in the FOOC one

I keep having random thoughts about the visit. I just started Candida Crewe's book - Eating Myself (about her weight obsession) and there I was in Iran and the lady I had lunch with on Wednesday almost entirely hidden below her robes etc who could speak little English said "I am fat". Why the universal weight issues so many women have?

It was a pity I was with no one able really to speak properly to me in English (or I in Persian) about living there. I think they were telling me about some state corporations who employ vast numbers of people. At the hotel there were many teachers on a free state provided trip because they had served as a teacher for 30 years. So it had kind of communist, state run feel to it in some ways but with the huge influence of capitalism and disappointment that Dubai took over from Iran as the main prosperous trading part of the region.

It must be hard where women had rights and then lose them. It's what could happen in Turkey for example. In the UK we've largely had improvement in equal rights under the law for most groups of people rather than getting it and then losing it again. If you've never had a freedom say to travel in a taxi with a business colleague who is male you may not be bothered about not having it but if you had it and then lost it that must be harder.