Being a Woman in Iran
Amy Choi, Apr. 29, 2015, Hong Kong, China
The Iranian people have mixed ethnic origins of ancient Persia, eastern Europe, India and Africa. They have big eyes, high-bridged nose and sharp features. Both men and women look very beautiful.
As a woman in Iran, one has to abide by the law to cover herself from head to toes with cloth without showing her figure from nine years old onward. It would be even better to cover also the neck and arms. Traditional pitch-black loose fitting clothing is the “fashion” for most women. What is shocking to me is that in this country, a girl of nine is deemed to have reached the legal marriage age, and can be legally married. For boys, it is 16. It is difficult to imagine that in the 21st century, there are still places that have law allowing child marriage.
When I was in Iran this time, I felt that this society had many rules governing the behaviour of men and women, and the relationship between the two sexes was surrounded by taboos. For example, the two sexes are segregated in different compartments on the underground train. Men are not allowed to go into a female train compartment, and a woman can only go into a male compartment with the company of a man. In places of worship, men and women sit separately; it is the same for certain other public areas. Children going to primary and secondary schools are placed into boys only or girls only schools. Men and women keep a conscious physical distance from each other. A man should not shake the hands of women unrelated to him in public places unless the woman initiates. The intention to differentiate between men and women is also reflected in architectural design. For example, there is a type of door on which a rectangular door knocker on the right is specially made for men for knocking, and a round one on the left is for women. This design enables the owner of the house to know whether a man or a woman is knocking.
When I was visiting an ancient palace in Iran, I met a group of teenage school girls. They approached me with curiosity and wanted to know where I came from. I told them I was a Chinese from Hong Kong. Two of the girls then said that they liked being a woman in China, America and Europe, but not in Iran. Hearing that and having associated it with a casework in the Authentic Female Casework Workshop, I felt that I could well understand their feelings. I have also met a woman who once lived abroad. She said that she felt helpless about the rule requiring women to wear a shawl. I once asked an Iranian man his view on these social rules. He felt that some of the rules and customs were indeed too conservative (e.g. covering a woman from head to toes with black cloth). On the other hand, he noted that certain rules and customs did address the psychological needs of women (e.g. the rule of segregated compartments would make women feel more at ease). He noted that the Iranian society was slowly making reforms and progress in these aspects in recent years.
I had been in Iran for two weeks, wearing a shawl, living the life of a woman facing relatively more taboos. When I left the country and took off this object laden with symbolic meaning, I deeply felt that being a woman over here was so lucky and free!
