Flirting, with danger

He knew we weren't there to buy, but he put on a show anyway - great character

Iran has already proven very friendly.  We receive free tea quite often when we stop, and everyone is politely interested in who we are, where we are from, where we’re going… and how much a BMW bike costs, of course.  When I needed to check that someone had picked up my passport, a mobile phone was readily offered.  (Our own phones are blocked in Iran, certainly for any calls to or with UK persons.)  When we are unsure of a direction, often someone will walk with us quite some distance to point us the way. 

It seems an honest place too, and I’ve not had the sense of mistrust that has arisen in some locations I’ve been to in the past.  The Grand Bazaar is peaceful and enticing.  A rumour that Iran has become hostile to foreigners is greatly exaggerated, at least from what we’ve found so far.

However, all is not well.  The sight of women covered – to varying degrees – in their black hijab is very strange.  Not just in the cities, but out working the farm or sat on tractors.  I lack the cultural sensitivity and learning to debate the religious rule that mandates modest attire for females in public.  However, this link gives good information:http://www.worldpress.org/Mideast/2334.cfm

On one hand I bristle at the obvious unfairness of it:  the men appear to dress as they wish.  Few women work ‘out front’ in shops or restaurants.  Women are out of sight, figuratively and literally.  This extract from the above story is chilling:

Male dominated?

With Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's ascension to Iran's presidency, there has been a marked change in the country's stance on a number of issues. One such issue concerns a new domestic crackdown on women who do not follow the strict Islamic dress code. Teams of patrols are seen on the streets of Tehran, and in some other large cities, busting young girls — in some cases boys — and taking them into detention. Offenders are sometimes even struck with police batons.

According to authorities, the crackdown's objective is to put pressure on the women and girls who "pay no attention to the Islamic social values by the way they dress." Offenders are mainly young women and girls who wear shorter, tight-fitting coats, capri pants, smaller scarves, and light-colored dresses. Such items burst onto the clothing scene during former president Mohammad Khatami's reformist administration, when women had other choices beside the traditional long, dark-colored, loose-fitting gowns which had been previously compulsory.

Being close to the border with Turkey, perhaps things are more liberal here than, say, Tehran?  Rorya, a girl in her early 20’s, strikes up conversation in the internet café.  She’s studying to be a translator and wants to practice her English.  After living in both Tehran and Tabriz, she says the latter is actually more conservative. 

Her questions are charming, blunt and direct – how old am I, what do I earn, why am I not married, etc… - but in return she answers plainly enough.  She has yet to travel outside of Iran, and her parents are unlikely to permit this before she has married.  In that last part she will have some say, but hopes to meet her future beau at university – an Iranian man, of course.

She wants reassurance that Iranian women are beautiful… and now she’s flirting a bit.  I reassure her (needlessly, as she is very pretty) that Persian women are rightly famed for their good looks, but demur that I’ve been too polite to check out the local girls generally.  I’m British, after all, and she giggles.

She – and the guy next to her – is a young, attractive Iranian and I sense there’s a bit of a thrill to be talking openly with a Westerner like this.  Internet cafes are safe zones from the older folks, as you can imagine.  They chuckle happily and pretend to get on with their essays.

In Tabriz signs of rebellion are gentle. A small curl of hair under the headscarf, or a slightly more hugging cut to those dark materials.  Other muted colours are worn, perhaps, and sometimes paired with jeans.  The ladies on our trip are keen to exploit this, although Tiffany maintains her Grade A get up that would satisfy the strictest Mullah.

But to me it seems so odd, and I rashly assume the women wearing this outfit must resent it.  Which, of course, is such a Western perspective. Perhaps women find it a relief not to live in a society that attaches such value to women’s appearances – no vicious paparazzi pictures here, no pressure to go plastic or to dress up or dress down to suit the demands of media driven society.

But the (mostly) unseen threat hangs heavy in the air, and for every contemporary young lady, complete with coquettish eyes and a brazen stare, there are three black shadows, head down and heavily veiled, ghosting up the street.  It is the most visible example of the Islamic regime, but not the only one – internet controls are bemuse us by turn, as we find the BBC or Facebook off limits.  At least, officially…

At the end of our day in Tabriz I’m left to ponder the direction that Iranian society will take.  Will the religious right keep as tight a grip on things for much longer?  Or, especially in light of the Spring rebellions in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, will the younger generation infuse a welcome lightness into their society?   We have a few more days in Iran and I look forward to finding out a little more.

Proud, friendly and great food...  the traveller is treated so well in Iran.