This blog is about fairness; about looking at objects from multiple perspectives. Stable transformation comes only slowly; and only if the environment is free of sporadic jitters of passion and anger that destabilize growth. I strongly believe that the path to peace crosses through the battle with self.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Persian Chicks: Iranian females graduating from Police Academy.
Who dares messing with these? :)
12 comments:
JR Ewing
said...
I respect the women of Iran. But how in the world can these women chase down a criminal in that Islamic garb? When is Iran going to abolish the law that demands that women wear the these outfits? And how can women play golf in these outfits in 100 degree temps? If I was an Iranian woman, I'd prefer a pair of pants and running shoes. If women want to wear them, give them the freedom to wear them or not wear them. But what do I know? I'm only a resident of the USA - The Great Satan.
JR, yes many Iranian women agree with you. But not all of them. Just as Iranian women don't come preaching American women on what they "should" do; maybe American "residents" can do the same: mutually respect women of each country to decide for themselves :)
What is important in this picture is that women HAVE the opportunity to participate in the society, in whatever way the want. Here, their dress code is part of the make-p of the police force. It's symbolic. But i have elsewhere posted pictures of how easily these women climb walls and etc in those chadors. This dress fo women can be very liberating. It completely protects them from the anxieties of body-image.
Choclosteve, will all due respect, i find this notion of "they cannot choose so a culture of repressive ..." is somewhat of a passee cliche! Military/police work is never about "choice" it is about discipline! Those who CHOOSE to become part of the police force in ANY society, choose to give up their freedom in many respects.
The "groping" culture in Iran has nothing to do with the government forcing people to cover themselves. Iran is not a culturally homogeneous country. And sick men are everywhere in the world. In Iran, they do not go unpunished. I remember tose days that the busses were not yet split (about 20 years ago) if a man was caught "groping" the rest of the men and the bus driver would kick him out of the bus and give him a good beating too :)
Here, the western men are "groping" all the time too. Visually! Look at the amount of sex magazines on stands! Men are men everywhere! And frankly, in Iran, I am very happy to be able to cover myself, without suffering the stigmatization of being a "repressed/oppressed" woman.
Those women in Iran who wish to expose themselves, do so masterfully. Browse my site for their pictures as well.
People HAVE a choice in Iran!
But, do you give your women the option to go bra-less on streets? I'd say your governments are exercising repressive behavior to take away the freedom of showing one's boobs in public! I am sure if the government allows it, all NYPD will go amazon!
choclossteve: you have a point since ordinary women do not have a choice since Islamic dress code is the Law.
Naj: you have a point since even if they have such a choice the Police Force would be having its own dress code.
If you dress like traditional Iranian women (or Iraqi women) in Turkey you will get into trouble.
If you dress like a Lebanese woman in Iran, you will get into trouble. They always try to enforce a vision of society and never leave woman to choose for herself.
By the way, if you are Indian and dress in Western clothes - then you will get into trouble in India - although there is no law against it.
In regards to groping: I heard from Iranian women that although they feel safer in US or Europe in the sense of being left-alone; they do not trust non-Iranian men enough to marry them.
Nunya: the notion of having the SAME responsibilities for men and women is a FLAWED relic of the feminist movement; which I hope no one in Iran subscribes to.
Men and women ARE different species, and thus their responsibilities MUST be different. The women police in Iran can go up the ranks, just as men. But they are not "expected" or "obliged" to do things that are dangerous or too physically demanding. Yeah they learn to bang-bag with guns; but will they ever be called to duty to fight against drug smugglers? i doubt it.
To ask "equality of responsibility" for men and women would put pressure on men to bear children too!!
Gender roles in Iran, in my opinion are defined more "reasonably". For instance, a woman HAS to get educated, but she doesn't HAVE to be the bread winner of the family.
And a lot of times, women CHOSE to not work. Working in Iran is an incredibly STRESSFUL endeavour, for men and women. Much of it has to do with the adhoc nature of the way things are run in Iran, with instability and volatility of economy and politics. So, many women enter the workforce only to find it too stressful to continue. But some like it. I have a cousin (female), who is a metallurgist. She was telling me that she is the only woman in their unit who actually does the field work. She said it was hard to be the only woman. But it is hard to be a woman in male-dominated businesses anywhere in the world. I studies engineering both in Iran (being one of the three girls in a class of 100) and in Canada (being one of five in a class of 80)--that's a while back now tha ratios have changed in both countries. And I learned it that as a woman I had to establish my barriers; I had to PROVE to men to back off; and I could ONLY do it by working harder to be better than them! And once succeeded, I became one of the rest of the nerds--but also losing favor with "girls".
Anyways, just to say that gender antagonization is not an Iranian or Islamic phenomenon!
lol unrelated but i just was thinking of the SWINE flu, and the fact that Jews (and by religious inheritance Muslims) consider pork to be the filthiest of all meat! (Of course i loved the smoked ham I just had for breakfast, and I don't really give a damn if I get swine flu--which i may already have since i have been sick for a few days!) Could it be that an ancient religion like Judaism has already gone through some of these "modern" trials we are grappling with now? :)
Nunya: the notion of having the SAME responsibilities for men and women is a FLAWED relic of the feminist movement; which I hope no one in Iran subscribes to.
Whoa there lady, why shout and be bombastic? There are no physical standards that women have to meet in Canada?
Men and women ARE different species, and thus their responsibilities MUST be different. The women police in Iran can go up the ranks, just as men. But they are not "expected" or "obliged" to do things that are dangerous or too physically demanding. Yeah they learn to bang-bag with guns; but will they ever be called to duty to fight against drug smugglers? i doubt it.Seriously? Since you started off with a bombastic tone, don't doubt it. Women cops have to do the more dangerous work, usually putting themselves in danger on domestic violence calls, where there must be two cops, 1m, 1f. Then there is the vice cops, who do you think the bait is?
I had a roomate who had to pass the physical exam to be a firefighter. She did. She was physically stronger than a lot of men.
One of my childhood playmates was a cop for a long time. She was thin an wiry, but tall and she probably always had a male partner on the force.
And I learned it that as a woman I had to establish my barriers; I had to PROVE to men to back off; and I could ONLY do it by working harder to be better than them! And once succeeded, I became one of the rest of the nerds--but also losing favor with "girls". Yeah, I understand that. Girly girls can be narrow minded. In fact I think that there are open minded people everywhere and there are narrow minded people everywhere.
I was going to install domestic hot water systems that were solar powered when I was young. I was in training and I didn't think my hands were big enough to pick up one of the solar collectors until my teacher yelled at me "Nunya, just pick the fucking thing up!" I did. And I hauled those things across the campus with a partner for half the day. :) I learned how to change out a circuit breaker, how to "sweat plumb" and I learned a healthy respect for electricity when one of the Vietnamese guys blew himself across the room, swearing in Vietnamese the whole flight!" :) The carpentry and schematics were intimidating at first, but I got through it. My worst fear was being beat up by a dyke named "Bear" who was dating my roommate and thought I was interested in her, lol. I never got to work in the field because Reagan cut the tax breaks for solar systems.
No, in Iran girls wll not be yelled at to move things that their hands are too little for. But some girls insist on doing heavy work themsleves, and i think they should be given the chance to do so.
Once, when I had just gotten my driver's permit i got a flat tire! That was not the age of cell phone, so i had to walk to a butcher's shop to find a telephone to call my father--who wasn't home or in his company and so anyways we left a message with my mother. in the meantime, my sister who is more petite than me (i am actually a giant) insisted that she wanted to try and change the tire! Now my dad's car was one of those 70s giant Buicks and the little sister WAS DETERMINED to change the tire!! lol ..anyways, i refused to even touch anything and i stood their princessly when she was doing acrobatics to get "something" move!! (im falling off in laughter). As she was struggling, a bus passed, went 20 meters ahaed, U-TURENED (imagine) parked right behind us; the driver came ahead, asked my sister to step back, the sister refused, the driver spoke more assertively as "listen chick, i ain't got time to waste watching you" and the Xena sister gave up. the man changed the tire in 10 minutes. and left, without even waiting for a thank you. Papa and his driver arrived just as the bus left. My father was in a state of panic that we had encountered SUCH a grave danger: a flat tire!!! And he wansted to run after the bus thanking the driver for saving his daughter's life!!!!
lol
anyways, girls in Iran are over-protected! But some rebel against that! (not me! no no no! i AM a princess! LOL )
Actually Naj, once Bear figured out that I wasn't the one flirting, I thought my roommate was gonna get it, but Bear forgave her, Thank God, lol
I have flat tire story too. I got flat tire on the freeway going about 65 mph and couldn't figure out what that horrible noise was. It was the tire flapping on the side of the car. I got it pulled over and had no-one to call as my husband was floating around in the damn Persian Gulf at the time, lol . So I try to get the tire off, but the lug nuts are too tight from having a pressurized lug wrench used on them. So I have no credit card, no money, no phone and my 7 year old is home alone. Panic time, right? I go to the call box and they can't help me, and I'm crying. A cop pulls over and I tell him my story knowing full well that child services could take my kid away from me. The cop took me home and made sure that my kid was ok and let me know that he would make sure they didn't tow the car off of the fwy for 2 days. Whew! The kid was still watching Titanic, lol.
12 comments:
I respect the women of Iran. But how in the world can these women chase down a criminal in that Islamic garb? When is Iran going to abolish the law that demands that women wear the these outfits? And how can women play golf in these outfits in 100 degree temps? If I was an Iranian woman, I'd prefer a pair of pants and running shoes.
If women want to wear them, give them the freedom to wear them or not wear them. But what do I know? I'm only a resident of the USA - The Great Satan.
JR,
yes many Iranian women agree with you. But not all of them. Just as Iranian women don't come preaching American women on what they "should" do; maybe American "residents" can do the same: mutually respect women of each country to decide for themselves :)
JR Ewing:
You are not looking at it the proper way.
These women are from traditional families and without the Islamic Republic they could never have even aspired to be police-women.
As for the law, I think our hope is that people will stop obeying it and government will ignore people ignoring that law.
pen Name
Axis of Evil
First Vestibule of Hell
Next to Great Satan Station
I agree with Pen Name!
What is important in this picture is that women HAVE the opportunity to participate in the society, in whatever way the want. Here, their dress code is part of the make-p of the police force. It's symbolic. But i have elsewhere posted pictures of how easily these women climb walls and etc in those chadors. This dress fo women can be very liberating. It completely protects them from the anxieties of body-image.
Choclosteve, will all due respect, i find this notion of "they cannot choose so a culture of repressive ..." is somewhat of a passee cliche! Military/police work is never about "choice" it is about discipline! Those who CHOOSE to become part of the police force in ANY society, choose to give up their freedom in many respects.
The "groping" culture in Iran has nothing to do with the government forcing people to cover themselves. Iran is not a culturally homogeneous country. And sick men are everywhere in the world. In Iran, they do not go unpunished. I remember tose days that the busses were not yet split (about 20 years ago) if a man was caught "groping" the rest of the men and the bus driver would kick him out of the bus and give him a good beating too :)
Here, the western men are "groping" all the time too. Visually! Look at the amount of sex magazines on stands! Men are men everywhere! And frankly, in Iran, I am very happy to be able to cover myself, without suffering the stigmatization of being a "repressed/oppressed" woman.
Those women in Iran who wish to expose themselves, do so masterfully. Browse my site for their pictures as well.
People HAVE a choice in Iran!
But, do you give your women the option to go bra-less on streets? I'd say your governments are exercising repressive behavior to take away the freedom of showing one's boobs in public! I am sure if the government allows it, all NYPD will go amazon!
choclossteve & Naj:
choclossteve: you have a point since ordinary women do not have a choice since Islamic dress code is the Law.
Naj: you have a point since even if they have such a choice the Police Force would be having its own dress code.
If you dress like traditional Iranian women (or Iraqi women) in Turkey you will get into trouble.
If you dress like a Lebanese woman in Iran, you will get into trouble.
They always try to enforce a vision of society and never leave woman to choose for herself.
By the way, if you are Indian and dress in Western clothes - then you will get into trouble in India - although there is no law against it.
In regards to groping: I heard from Iranian women that although they feel safer in US or Europe in the sense of being left-alone; they do not trust non-Iranian men enough to marry them.
pen Name
Do the policewomen in Iran have exactly the same duties as policemen?
Nunya: the notion of having the SAME responsibilities for men and women is a FLAWED relic of the feminist movement; which I hope no one in Iran subscribes to.
Men and women ARE different species, and thus their responsibilities MUST be different. The women police in Iran can go up the ranks, just as men. But they are not "expected" or "obliged" to do things that are dangerous or too physically demanding. Yeah they learn to bang-bag with guns; but will they ever be called to duty to fight against drug smugglers? i doubt it.
To ask "equality of responsibility" for men and women would put pressure on men to bear children too!!
Gender roles in Iran, in my opinion are defined more "reasonably". For instance, a woman HAS to get educated, but she doesn't HAVE to be the bread winner of the family.
And a lot of times, women CHOSE to not work. Working in Iran is an incredibly STRESSFUL endeavour, for men and women. Much of it has to do with the adhoc nature of the way things are run in Iran, with instability and volatility of economy and politics. So, many women enter the workforce only to find it too stressful to continue. But some like it. I have a cousin (female), who is a metallurgist. She was telling me that she is the only woman in their unit who actually does the field work. She said it was hard to be the only woman. But it is hard to be a woman in male-dominated businesses anywhere in the world. I studies engineering both in Iran (being one of the three girls in a class of 100) and in Canada (being one of five in a class of 80)--that's a while back now tha ratios have changed in both countries. And I learned it that as a woman I had to establish my barriers; I had to PROVE to men to back off; and I could ONLY do it by working harder to be better than them! And once succeeded, I became one of the rest of the nerds--but also losing favor with "girls".
Anyways, just to say that gender antagonization is not an Iranian or Islamic phenomenon!
lol unrelated but i just was thinking of the SWINE flu, and the fact that Jews (and by religious inheritance Muslims) consider pork to be the filthiest of all meat! (Of course i loved the smoked ham I just had for breakfast, and I don't really give a damn if I get swine flu--which i may already have since i have been sick for a few days!) Could it be that an ancient religion like Judaism has already gone through some of these "modern" trials we are grappling with now? :)
Naj:
In regards to swine etc. you might enjoy reading the book:
Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture
by the American Anthropologist Marvin Harris
pen Name
Nunya: the notion of having the SAME responsibilities for men and women is a FLAWED relic of the feminist movement; which I hope no one in Iran subscribes to.
Whoa there lady, why shout and be bombastic? There are no physical standards that women have to meet in Canada?
Men and women ARE different species, and thus their responsibilities MUST be different. The women police in Iran can go up the ranks, just as men. But they are not "expected" or "obliged" to do things that are dangerous or too physically demanding. Yeah they learn to bang-bag with guns; but will they ever be called to duty to fight against drug smugglers? i doubt it.Seriously? Since you started off with a bombastic tone, don't doubt it. Women cops have to do the more dangerous work, usually putting themselves in danger on domestic violence calls, where there must be two cops, 1m, 1f. Then there is the vice cops, who do you think the bait is?
I had a roomate who had to pass the physical exam to be a firefighter. She did. She was physically stronger than a lot of men.
One of my childhood playmates was a cop for a long time. She was thin an wiry, but tall and she probably always had a male partner on the force.
And I learned it that as a woman I had to establish my barriers; I had to PROVE to men to back off; and I could ONLY do it by working harder to be better than them! And once succeeded, I became one of the rest of the nerds--but also losing favor with "girls". Yeah, I understand that. Girly girls can be narrow minded. In fact I think that there are open minded people everywhere and there are narrow minded people everywhere.
I was going to install domestic hot water systems that were solar powered when I was young. I was in training and I didn't think my hands were big enough to pick up one of the solar collectors until my teacher yelled at me "Nunya, just pick the fucking thing up!" I did. And I hauled those things across the campus with a partner for half the day. :) I learned how to change out a circuit breaker, how to "sweat plumb" and I learned a healthy respect for electricity when one of the Vietnamese guys blew himself across the room, swearing in Vietnamese the whole flight!" :) The carpentry and schematics were intimidating at first, but I got through it. My worst fear was being beat up by a dyke named "Bear" who was dating my roommate and thought I was interested in her, lol. I never got to work in the field because Reagan cut the tax breaks for solar systems.
Nunya: Hillarious, the beating by Bear!
No, in Iran girls wll not be yelled at to move things that their hands are too little for. But some girls insist on doing heavy work themsleves, and i think they should be given the chance to do so.
Once, when I had just gotten my driver's permit i got a flat tire! That was not the age of cell phone, so i had to walk to a butcher's shop to find a telephone to call my father--who wasn't home or in his company and so anyways we left a message with my mother. in the meantime, my sister who is more petite than me (i am actually a giant) insisted that she wanted to try and change the tire! Now my dad's car was one of those 70s giant Buicks and the little sister WAS DETERMINED to change the tire!! lol ..anyways, i refused to even touch anything and i stood their princessly when she was doing acrobatics to get "something" move!! (im falling off in laughter). As she was struggling, a bus passed, went 20 meters ahaed, U-TURENED (imagine) parked right behind us; the driver came ahead, asked my sister to step back, the sister refused, the driver spoke more assertively as "listen chick, i ain't got time to waste watching you" and the Xena sister gave up. the man changed the tire in 10 minutes. and left, without even waiting for a thank you. Papa and his driver arrived just as the bus left. My father was in a state of panic that we had encountered SUCH a grave danger: a flat tire!!! And he wansted to run after the bus thanking the driver for saving his daughter's life!!!!
lol
anyways, girls in Iran are over-protected! But some rebel against that! (not me! no no no! i AM a princess! LOL )
naj:
I seem to have mis-posted my post in the one on Miss Saberi.
Sorry.
pen Name
Actually Naj, once Bear figured out that I wasn't the one flirting, I thought my roommate was gonna get it, but Bear forgave her, Thank God, lol
I have flat tire story too. I got flat tire on the freeway going about 65 mph and couldn't figure out what that horrible noise was. It was the tire flapping on the side of the car. I got it pulled over and had no-one to call as my husband was floating around in the damn Persian Gulf at the time, lol . So I try to get the tire off, but the lug nuts are too tight from having a pressurized lug wrench used on them. So I have no credit card, no money, no phone and my 7 year old is home alone. Panic time, right? I go to the call box and they can't help me, and I'm crying. A cop pulls over and I tell him my story knowing full well that child services could take my kid away from me. The cop took me home and made sure that my kid was ok and let me know that he would make sure they didn't tow the car off of the fwy for 2 days. Whew! The kid was still watching Titanic, lol.
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