Propelling Iran’s Bad Rep

May 2, 2013 By

When I was growing up in a small city on Canada’s East Coast, many of my classmates had no idea where Pakistan was located. It was the mid-eighties and I was unable to convince them I was NOT Indian just because both my parents were born in India. I decided to do an extensive geography project on my home country. I used pictures from my own travels and maps my father collected, and added a lot of details. I carefully drew flags, brought in mithai (Pakistani sweetmeats) and Nazia Hussain tapes, and dressed up in my shalwar kameez from Eid as I presented. I offered a few words to those who wanted to hear what “hello” and “I love you” sounded like in Urdu and Pashtu – only two of the dozens of dialects spoken in the country.

No one was interested. They all wanted to know about Iran. I was the only child in the class whose ancestry did not trace back to England, Ireland or Germany and so it  was decided I could provide an insight into every exotic location on earth. Also, my name was Persian, something they already knew, and it was odd enough I was Pakistani with a Persian name of parents born in India. Obviously I could explain places like Iran and Cyprus.

The questions about “Eye-ran” came bombarding at me. My lovely fourth-grade teacher tried to direct the conversation back to Pakistan. “Iran is a completely different country” she firmly yet kindly explained to the wide-eyed class.They respectfully ignored her.

Their queries ranged from “Why did Iranian crazy people go and take American hostages?” and “My Dad says they eat dead lambs! *girls in the class gasp* That’s mean! Is that true?” to my favourite “Why do the women have to wear black blankets all the time? Your mother doesn’t wear a black one. She wears colours!” and so on and so forth.

Instead of ignoring the questions, I decided to defend Iran. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture/Society, Politics Tagged With: ,

Film Review: Unveiled Views

November 8, 2012 By

“When someone wants to be an artist, because they cannot let what’s going on around them stay the same, achieving fame in the world of art becomes unimportant.” –Alma Suljevic

I am a lover of all art forms, including cinema; the Women Make Movies initiative, and the kind of varied and thought-provoking cinema they help produce, has always captured my interest.

Alba Sotorra’s 2009 film Unveiled Views was a movie I could sit and proudly watch on my own, or even watch with family.

It’s a movie that makes a Muslim woman proud to be a Muslim, or most importantly proud to be a woman who is not looking to be saved by others, as MMW’s Sana describes out in her recent “Broken Record” article. This documentary speaks about women who, in spite of having undergone tremendous personal loss, retain their passions and use them to better their tumultuous world, which is in dire need of reformation.

Like most documentaries, it’s not always what is obviously portrayed or being spoken about that leaves a lasting impression on you. It’s mostly about what is happening around these women, the images that are shown about the country as a whole, where these wonderful women exist and survive. I will be referring to them as the Silent Moments (if any) in my take on each segment.

The movie is about five extraordinary women from five different countries. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cinema, Culture/Society, Film Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Facing Mirrors: Iranian Filmmaker Explores Trans* Identity in Iran

October 4, 2012 By

Transgender identities and trans* embodiment are topics that are generally ignored within many communities, and the Muslim community is no exception, and transgendered people are oftentimes pushed to the margins.

Art, film, music and other forms of artistic expression, unlike more fixed modes of understanding, can often open up a conversation that communities and individuals may be hesitant to explicitly explore. As I was cruising tumblr recently, searching for thought provoking and groundbreaking work by women of colour, I stumbled upon a movie trailer entitled, Facing Mirrors. Directed by first-time directing Iranian woman Negar Azabayjani, this feature film tackles the complex realities of transgendered men and women in a country that is known for its religious stances and fatwas that have violated the rights of its citizens.

The trailer doesn’t say much, but clearly reflects the fears, pains and stigmas that are present in Iranian society, which has psychological effects for both those who are transgendered and those who struggle to understand its complexity, in a country that represses members of the LGBT community.

The film follows the lead character, originally known as Adineh but who uses the self-chosen name Eddie, belongs to a rich family and whose father is both ashamed and humiliated by Eddie’s wish to undergo gender reassignment surgery. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture/Society, Film Tagged With: , , , ,

Powerful Actors or Oppressed “Others”?: Violent Muslim Women in the News

October 2, 2012 By

In recent news, Muslim women have been highlighted for their violent actions towards in men in their society.

While comparing different articles reporting on the incident of the unnamed Iranian woman (whom I will refer to as the Bad Hijabi for convenience) who beat up the cleric who policed her for her “bad hijab,” I couldn’t help but marvel at the remarkably imaginative accompanying photos:

Iranian women dressed all in black. Via CNN.

Iranian women dressed all in black. Via Daily Mail.

Iranian women dressed all in black. Via Global Post.

Iranian women dressed – surprise! – all in black. Via Huffington Post.

Iranian women dressed in purple with pink stripes and lime green polka dots. Just kidding. They’re wearing black. Via Bloomberg.

Okay, women in Iran wear black chadors, we get it. But there’s a class and ideological dimension to the chador, just as there is a class and ideological dimension to the women in Iran who wear manteaux, show some (highlighted) hair, and wear visible makeup. In fact, just like many of the harassed women, the Bad Hijabi was probably dressed like this:

An Iranian woman wearing some colour (for real). Via NPR.

More Iranian women. Are those coloured headscarves? Via RFERL.

By showing Iranian women only as black tents, living in a country where women’s rights are in a “sordid state,” these articles serve to compare Iranian women to their Western counterparts who are fighting to “go topless.” The lack of women’s rights is framed to focus on what they cannot wear and what they cannot do, even as similar restrictions on what they cannot wear are underway in France, Netherlands, and Canada. Once again, we are invited to pity these Muslim women who must live under such repressed conditions, and support their efforts to fight against the men who hate them.

But it’s not actually about the hijab. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture/Society, News Tagged With: , ,

The Right to Play or Creeping Sharia? FIFA Overturns its Headscarf Ban

July 16, 2012 By

FIFA has overturned its headscarf ban, enforced since 2007, on women playing soccer with their heads covered. Predictably, the French Football Federation issued an instant “this won’t happen here” communiqué, whereas Qatar, hosting the 2022 Olympics, commended the decision.

FIFA’s decision has incited strong criticism online. All you have to do is read the comments in news articles (including the ones I have linked) or participate in discussions on social media (if you like coming face to face with big, hairy trolls, as I found out on a Swiss forum the other night) to see that online reaction to FIFA’s decision appears to be overwhelmingly negative. And the divide isn’t just along Muslim/non-Muslim lines as some would like to say; some secular Muslims might find FIFA’s reversal a sign that fundies are being catered to. The problem is that anyone, Muslim or non-Muslim, who comes out in support of FIFA’s decision is branded anti-feminist, stupid or misinformed. I would link to some examples but I don’t really like linking to hate and bigotry; Google News should sort out the curious.

So, let’s address some of the key points that keep coming up.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , , , ,

Fashion Designers, How Not to Study Gender, and More on Iran’s Women Ninjas

April 5, 2012 By

An eclectic round-up of some articles of interest elsewhere on the internet:

A Muslim participant on Project Runway Philippines was recently eliminated.  MMW reader Sumaya writes that, “Just as quickly as I found out about the first Muslimah to be on Project Runway in the third season of Project Runway Phillipines, sadly I found out she was recently eliminated in the last rounds. Fatima Guerrero, a 21-year-old fashion student from Nueva Ecija,is still awesome in my books.”  From Guerrero’s writing on the Project Runway Philippines website:

Project Runway Philippines designer Fatima Guerrero

Project Runway Philippines designer Fatima Guerrero. Image via Project Runway Philippines.

“To be part of the top 15 designers was one of the most amazing things that ever happened to me. This is a big step for my career! But during the competition, I did not aim to win. Rather, I wanted to prove to people that a Muslim woman like me can also compete in this kind of industry.

[...]

I know that the high expectations are not only from the judges but from everyone who knows me as a Muslim and a fashion designer. Because of this, I am now more challenged and motivated to show who I am as a fashion designer in the real world.

Now, I‘m planning to finish my studies. Pursue my career. Make my own clothing line for Muslims and non-Muslims. Be involved in fashion shows and other fashion activities. This is just the beginning and I’m very excited for what is yet to come!”

Remember Diana’s post on media coverage of female ninjas in Iran?  Turns out those women weren’t too impressed with that coverage either:

“A group of Iranian female martial artists have hit out at Reuters over a report that allegedly described them as “assassins,” saying they are suing the media organization for defamation, Iran’s state television reported on Wednesday.

The Reuters report came out last month but does not appear to be available anywhere except in the form of a slideshow that does not mention the word assassins.

[...]

Women are barred from many sports activities in the Islamic Republic due to the country’s restrictive moral codes, a point of ongoing contention between the country’s restless young female population and the authorities.

It may be why the government has invested so much in areas like martial arts in recent years, with Ninjutsu clubs throughout Iran supervised directly by the Ministry of Sports’ Martial Arts Federation.

[...]

Martial artist Raheleh Davoudzadeh told Press TV that the report “can harm our chances to travel to other countries to take part in global tournaments and international championships,” concerns possibly heightened by Saudi Arabia’s recent announcement that it will allow female athletes to represent them at the upcoming Olympics — an all-time first for the conservative Muslim nation.

It also comes after world football officials denied Iranian women’s soccer team entry into an Olympic qualifying round in Jordan over Iran’s insistence that its female players wear headscarves, a move that lead Iran to forfeit the game, according to CNN.

Such events have not helped Iran’s sports standing internationally, making the Reuters report all the more unfortunate, martial arts trainer Akbar Faraji told Press TV, calling the defamation lawsuit “a matter of reputation.”

One female ninja, Khatereh Jalilzadeh, said the group is “taking legal action because the ladies that train in Ninjutsu first and foremost enjoy it as a sport,” explaining that it’s not political, it’s just “about working out and staying fit.”‘

This post on how not to study gender in the Middle East (hat tip to wood turtle) has been making the rounds, and for good reason.  Read the whole thing, but some highlights here: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture/Society, News, Sports, Television Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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