Politics, Iranian Style

Before Father and I left for Iran I told myself I would not post about politics. I'm still very hesitant to do so, mostly because people will think I have 'gone native' if I do. But sometimes it's just more important to report what I see, no matter how far away it is from the Western media portrayal of Iran. In Iran's case the reality of life could not be any farther away from the American perception of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

But let's dispense with the obvious first.

The hejab: I find this a horrible, odious practice. Countless times I've felt like as if Iran is a black and white version of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale." I don't get it. I don't understand it. And I certainly do not approve of it.

Nor, for that matter do I approve of how women are, in very real ways, treated as second-class citizens. I don't know if they are forced to ride at the back of the bus or not. I've asked and had different people tell me different things. (I do think the contradictions I get from different people says something, however.) And I do know that women are only allowed to watch soccer matches in special sections in the stadium.

But there is progress: several weeks ago about 100 women went to a soccer match, actually forced their way into it, and sat where they pleased. No one stopped them.

And who did they find their inspiration from? In their quest for equal treatment in the eyes of their fellow citizens, Iranian women invoked the name of the patron saint of the American civil rights movement: Rosa Parks. In their struggle to put an end to the constant stream of slights and indignities thrust upon them by the clerical establishment they looked to us, to America. They looked to our soft power, our ideas, our values, or as Lincoln would say, "our better angels."

But that's just the negative side of the ledger, so let's take a look at the positive. Women can drive. Women can vote. Women can work. Women can smoke. They have free and unfettered access (at least in the big cities) to contraception and this is legal and tolerated by the theocratic establishment! Women hold 30 seats in the Iranian parliament, more than the full total in America. And the huge population bulge of 30 something's and younger are forcing changes on the country as I type.

Did you know that men and women are living with each for years at a time without getting married? To many people in America this is still scandalous behavior. (Personally I think it unwise, but I believe in people making their own choices.) Did you know that when people are inside the home what is done there is considered inviolable? The Iranians have parties, they dance, they drink and they smoke, all without the onerous hejab restrictions.

But let's talk about politics at large. The voting age here in Iran is 16. The country is on the verge of a secular-pluralistic evolution unlike any we have seen in the region. But how do I explain this to Americans who already have their minds made up about the country? How to explain that issues like personal choice, freedom of conscience and individual dignity are rallying cries of the youth bulge that is even now changing the country, turning it into something much closer to a real, functioning democracy than our experiment next door? Of course, it is a democracy in an Islamic, but more so a Persian context. I think this is what drives policymakers in the US nuts. Perhaps this is what keeps them up at night. They cannot accept that a country can do it on their own without our help.

Iran is largely self-sufficient. They design and build their own cars; they make their own TVs, some of which are flat screen! They export wheat and will soon export rice. Of course, they have a great deal of oil, but it is mandated by the Iranian government that cars be fuel efficient and rare is the large SUV cruising the streets of Tehran, much less Isfahan and Shiraz in a country bursting at the seams with oil.

Do I sound like I have gone native? Perhaps. Trust me, I haven't. Iran has a great deal of problems still to work out. And I am certain many of the hopes the youth bulge of this country has will be squashed. But in time they will be fulfilled simply because there are too many of them. Too many of them have studied abroad, too many of them have studied the practical sciences and few of them are searching out a theocratic education as opposed to a rational-reason based one. This, more than anything else is reason for hope.

If you don't believe me, come see Iran for yourself. You'll be welcomed with open arms. Trust me, I know.