Parks & Mini-Skirts in Tehran

mini skirt mini skirt i love my miniskirts.jpg There’s an article on Bloomberg today about women-only parks in Tehran.

The parks - there are two so far and plans to open another four - provide a place for women to play sports, sunbathe and just hang out outside without having to be fully covered.

Twenty-two year old Pantea Ebrahimian says, “Every Iranian woman dreams of being able to walk under the sky like this” - this being in a miniskirt and pink tank top. Eliminating the restricting layers of clothing makes her feel infinitely freer, even though she’s technically caged into a very specific area.

Our first thought was, yeah, it’s kind of like the mini-skirt movement. What you wear, whether you want to acknowledge it or not, plays a huge role in how you feel and if you’re being forced into head-to-toe coverage, your soccer skills might be slightly impaired. So it is, in a way, great that Iranian women and young girls now have a place to go where they can feel free.

But on the other hand, it’s really disturbing that they’re being cordoned off into a thirty-seven acre park. And now a generation of young girls will grow up thinking they can only run around, and only be free, in front of other women which moves away from equality and essentially encourages segregation.

So unlike the mini-skirt movement, which was a symbolic and progressive step toward equality for women, the parks are a discouraging stalemate. We’re thrilled that Ebrahimian’s thrilled to wear her miniskirt - we just wish she could wear it everywhere.

posted by guest

Nov 12, 2008 2:24PM

"And now a generation of young girls will grow up thinking they can only run around, and only be free, in front of other women which moves away from equality and essentially encourages segregation."

vs before, when they just weren't allowed to wear these things at all. is it a stalemate? before they weren't able to wear them at all. now they can wear these things and be less restricted somewhere, at least. Additionally this gives women a space to forge social ties that they might not otherwise have had. what's the historic alternative to this park? that's the question you need to ask, and I think you'll find that the answer is that historically, the alternative was far worse. so this _is_ progress, even if it's not as much as we'd like to see.

Nov 12, 2008 2:42PM

Its been like this since the Islamic Revolution in '79. There are already generations of women who have grown up under this oppression.

Nov 12, 2008 4:07PM

It's only disturbing if you look at it from an American point of view. If you don't, you can see that it's a start.

posted by Peter

Nov 12, 2008 4:54PM

I appreciate your intelligent coverage of a topic that a lot of people are too timid to tackle, Britt.

Nov 12, 2008 5:47PM

Something that many Americans forget is that not all Muslim women view modest clothing as a punishment or burden. It's true that many women wish to dress in a more "western" style, but that isn't true for all of us. I've actually had people say to me "Why do you dress like that? You're in America now; they can't make you wear that.", and when I explain to them that I dress the way I do out of my own free will, they seem completely dumbfounded. Americans neither understand or respect our culture. You dismiss our way of dress as a primitive form of punishment. You talk about growth and progress and but look to your own problems before you attempt to fix others'.

Nov 12, 2008 6:00PM

Guest 5, I am sorry that people have not respected your choice of dress. However, certain forms of dress have been imposed by the government in Iran (and in other countries), which not all women want to comply with. Some may want to cover their hair but enjoy wearing some red lipstick, some may choose not to cover their hair at all, and that is what Britt was posting about. It is unfortunate that you have encountered such prejudice, but I think you can respect the richness of Islamic culture, while condemning certain regimes who oppress in the name of Islam.

posted by Ginge

Nov 12, 2008 9:57PM

A Middle Eastern family funded the creation of a women's only exercise room at my local YMCA for basically the same reason.
(It's waaaayyy better than the regular work out room, too.)

Nov 12, 2008 11:09PM

My Fiance' grew up in Iran, and returned for a visit last winter. Guest 5: as was already mentioned, the issue that bothers many of us is not so much about whether one's personal choice of clothing is a miniskirt or a hijab; it's the fact that a person's ability to express their own religious convictions has been made into a socio-political symbol that is enforced on everyone completely regardless of belief.

And Guest 3, I don't see the park as a "start" of anything, to be honest. Yes, I'm American; but nobody else that I live with is, and they view this on the same par as the female-only beaches, female-only gyms, and female-only living rooms that have been around for decades. And Guest 1, the "historic alternative" is Iran itself, pre-1979. Imperfect, perhaps, but far better than this.

Nov 16, 2008 8:23PM

what is that "save the mini" picture from? i'd love to find one of those buttons!