Iran arrests 300 ‘insufficiently veiled’ women

Bwalker545

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18277927/

TEHRAN, Iran - With the arrival of spring, Iranian police have launched a crackdown against women accused of not covering up enough, arresting nearly 300 women, some for wearing too tight an overcoat or letting too much hair peek out from under their veil, authorities said Monday.

The campaign in the streets of major cities was the toughest such crackdown in nearly two decades, raising fears that hard-liner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad intends to re-impose the tough Islamic Revolution-era constraints on women's dress that loosened in past years.

The move highlighted the new boldness among hard-liners in Ahmadinejad's government, which has used mounting Western pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program and Iraq as a pretext to put down internal dissent.

But it could bring a backlash at a time when many Iranians resent Ahmadinejad for failing to boost the faltering economy or halt spiraling prices and blame him for isolating Iran with his fiery rhetoric. The two-day-old crackdown was already angering moderates.

"What they do is really insulting. You simply can't tell people what to wear. They don't understand that use of force only brings hatred toward them, not love," said Elham Mohammadi, a 23-year-old female student.

Her hair was hardly hidden by her white-and-orange headscarf — an infraction that could bring police attention. Police could be seen Monday stopping and giving warnings to other women who were showing too much hair or even wearing too colorful a headscarf.

Looser dress codes are one of the few surviving gains from the era of Ahmadinejad's predecessor, reformist President Mohammad Khatami, who was in power from 1997 to 2005.

During that time, many women, particularly in cities, shed the dress code imposed after the 1979 revolution — veils completely covering the hair and heavy coats or the black or gray head-to-toe chador hiding the shape of the body.

Now it is common to see women in loose headscarves — some as narrow as a ribbon — that show much of their hair and short, colorful, form-fitting jackets that stop at the knee — or even higher — showing jeans underneath. Even under Ahmadinejad in the past two years, women can be seen in pants that leave the bottom of their calves bare.

Any of those styles could bring warnings or detention from the anti-vice police in the current sweep, which began Saturday.

Women among anti-vice police
Anti-vice police — many of them women — have been stopping women in the streets of the capital and other cities if they deem their dress is "un-Islamic."

So far, 278 women have been detained, 231 of whom were released after they signed papers promising they won't appear "inadequately dressed in public," police spokesman Col. Mahi Ahmadi told The Associated Press Monday.



Another 3,548 women have been given "warnings and Islamic guidance," without being detained, Ahmadi said.

Twelve men have also been detained for "not observing the proper Islamic dress code" by wearing tight pants or short-sleeve shirts, he said.

Every spring, there are calls by clerics for a crackdown, and the past two years have seen minor, localized sweeps. But this year's was the first since before Khatami's presidency to see so many arrests and had high prominence in the government media, warning women to adhere to Islamic dress.

Ahmadi said the sweep would go on "as long as necessary," but it was not clear whether it heralded an all-out, permanent campaign to bar looser dress codes.

One hard-liner cleric on Monday warned of a backlash. "In many cases, the use of force in the fight against social harms can backfire," the head of judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, said, according to the state news agency IRNA.

Qom clerics called for crackdown
But many conservatives were applauding the crackdown, launched after a call from senior hard-line clerics in the holy city of Qom to tighten the reins.

"All are responsible towards the problem of inadequate dress," Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, one senior Qom cleric, told newspapers.

Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the interior minister in charge of the campaign, said it would please the people by restoring social stability.

"People are unhappy with the social and moral status of the society. They expect that the fight against social insecurity be properly implemented," Pourmohammadi was quoted in the conservative daily Resalat as saying.

Hard-line lawmaker, Mohammad Taqi Rahbar, said the looser dress codes had prompted Iranian women and families "to cry out" for help. "Men see models in the streets and ignore their own wives at home. This weakens the pillars of family," he said.

Ever since Ahmadinejad won the presidency in 2005 elections, Iranians have been fearing a return to the prohibitions on "un-Islamic" dress, music, male and female mixing and the other restrictions from the revolution's heyday.

But criticism of the president has been increasing as prices for basic good like food and housing have increased in past months — despite his campaign promises to reduce poverty.

"The problem of our country is unemployment, rapid increase in the number of crimes and murders, not women's dress," said Sadeq Rowshani, a bank clerk.

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I really do not know what to say about that. Seems amazing that this is possible in a supposed Republic...

soulsinging

that'll teach those harlots to dress like tramps.

funny, this sort of shit never happened in iraq.

Specifics

glass parking-lot anyone?

rebornFixer

What a bunch of morons.

MrBrian

reborncareerist wrote:

What a bunch of morons.

almost as stupid as when some states/cities fine women for wearing too little clothing.

or muslim women in some parts of europe who choose to cover themselves but are not allowed to. pretty stupid laws eh?

rebornFixer

MrBrian wrote:

almost as stupid as when some states/cities fine women for wearing too little clothing.

or muslim women in some parts of europe who choose to cover themselves but are not allowed to. pretty stupid laws eh?

Agreed 100%.

hippiemom

MrBrian wrote:

almost as stupid as when some states/cities fine women for wearing too little clothing.

or muslim women in some parts of europe who choose to cover themselves but are not allowed to. pretty stupid laws eh?

Although they did mention some men getting harrassed for wearing tight pants and short sleeves, it's overwhelmingly women who are the targets of these types of laws. What is it about the female body that frightens people so?

jeffbr

hippiemom wrote:

What is it about the female body that frightens people so?

Apparently Iranian men have no self-control when confronted with the vision of a female figure:

from the article wrote:

Hard-line lawmaker, Mohammad Taqi Rahbar, said the looser dress codes had prompted Iranian women and families "to cry out" for help. "Men see models in the streets and ignore their own wives at home. This weakens the pillars of family," he said.

soulsinging

jeffbr wrote:

Apparently Iranian men have no self-control when confronted with the vision of a female figure:

what's that saying about who cares where you get the appetite as long as you come home for the dinner?

jeffbr

soulsinging wrote:

what's that saying about who cares where you get the appetite as long as you come home for the dinner?

Exactly! You can look at the menu, you just can't eat.

rebornFixer

jeffbr wrote:

Exactly! You can look at the menu, you just can't eat.

Religious fundamentalism is characterized by "thought-action fusion" ... The belief that thinking about doing something is just as bad as actually doing it. Major cognitive distortion.

macgyver06

soulsinging wrote:

that'll teach those harlots to dress like tramps.

funny, this sort of shit never happened in iraq.

hehe IRAQ HAD BONG SHOPS

MrBrian

hippiemom wrote:

Although they did mention some men getting harrassed for wearing tight pants and short sleeves, it's overwhelmingly women who are the targets of these types of laws. What is it about the female body that frightens people so?

through out all of history. the female body has been looked at as something that can be used for destroying empires,bringing down kings. you name it. and it has.

So from a historical context, men have a lot to fear from the strange,good looking woman on the street.

does that sorta answer your question?

I mean since i'm not scared of the female body, well unless its a sorta large woman in a very tight something with things hanging out. which may scare me. I can't really answer that question, I can just give you a broader answer from a historical point of view.

not that I think its a good reason.

jeffbr

reborncareerist wrote:

Religious fundamentalism is characterized by "thought-action fusion" ... The belief that thinking about doing something is just as bad as actually doing it. Major cognitive distortion.

Yeah, I remember Jimmy Carter confessing that he'd committed adultery in his heart. That caused quite a stir. Nutty fundamentalists everywhere, I guess.

hippiemom

MrBrian wrote:

I mean since i'm not scared of the female body, well unless its a sorta large woman in a very tight something with things hanging out. which may scare me. I can't really answer that question, I can just give you a broader answer from a historical point of view.

Ha ha ... those female bodies scare me too! Just like obese hairy-backed men in shorts and wifebeaters .... that's about the scariest thing you can possibly see.

NMyTree

hippiemom wrote:

What is it about the female body that frightens people so?

It's all those curves.

A lot of men have an inner-ear imbalance and they get somewhat dizzy from trying to follow the curves of the female body:D

Furthemore, those symptoms are followed by much more severe symptoms and behavior.

The salivary glands begin producing saliva at excessive rates.

Their tounges become stimulated and swollen, which then leads to an uncontrolable tounge dialation, which in-turn leads the tounge dropping out of the mouth and to the ground.

Then their penis become stiff, erect and magically tears it's way through trousers and any other clothing in it's way.

At this point the poor fellow can not be held responsible for his behavior or actions. It's a condition....a disease...an entitlement of being a male......of having a penis:rolleyes:

MrBrian wrote:

almost as stupid as when some states/cities fine women for wearing too little clothing.

or muslim women in some parts of europe who choose to cover themselves but are not allowed to. pretty stupid laws eh?

Absolutely. It's all so stupid and archaic.

NMyTree

MrBrian wrote:

through out all of history. the female body has been looked at as something that can be used for destroying empires,bringing down kings. you name it. and it has.

So from a historical context, men have a lot to fear from the strange,good looking woman on the street.

Because men are not responsible for their own actions and urges? Because it's all the temptress' fault?

MrBrian

NMyTree wrote:

Because men are not responsible for their own actions and urges? Because it's all the temptress' fault?

No, what it shows (as I mentioned from a historical point of view) is that us guys are stupid and always have been on some level.

especially when it comes to women.

NMyTree

MrBrian wrote:

No, what it shows (as I mentioned from a historical point of view) is that us guys are stupid and always have been on some level.

especially when it comes to women.

That was my point.

MrBrian

NMyTree wrote:

That was my point.

ah just expanding on it.

hippiemom

NMyTree wrote:

Because men are not responsible for their own actions and urges? Because it's all the temptress' fault?

But heaven forbid anyone put any restrictions on MEN'S behavior! No, it's always the women.

I know I've posted about this before, but these stories always remind me of when Golda Meir was the prime minister of Israel. During her tenure, there was a large increase in the number of rapes, and the parliament proposed that there be a curfew on women to protect them. Ms. Meir wasn't too happy with this, and said that if it was men who were doing the raping, it was men who should be under curfew. This was such an outlandish idea ... restrict the MEN?!!?! .... that they dropped talk of curfews entirely.