YOU GIRLS ROCK!

[shah269 0]

KICK SOME CONSERVATIVE ASS! Don't stop till these conservaitve A-holes are hanging from trees!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_iran_women_at_the_front;_ylt=AlyqPKgDEkGJUfM4RDnxOv0DW7oF

For years, women's defiance in Iran came in carefully planned flashes of hair under their head scarves, brightly painted fingernails and trendy clothing that could be glimpsed under bulky coats and cloaks.

But these small acts of rebellion against the theocratic government have been quickly eclipsed in the wake of the disputed June 12 presidential elections. In their place came images of Iranian women marching alongside men, of their scuffles with burly militiamen, of the sobering footage of a young woman named Neda, blood pouring from her mouth and nose minutes after her fatal shooting.

In a part of the Muslim world where women are often repressed, these images have catapulted Iran's female demonstrators to the forefront of the country's opposition movement. It is a role, say Iranian women and experts, that few seem willing to give up, and one that will likely present President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hardline government with even greater challenges in the wake of the recent violence and protests.

"Iranian women are very powerful and they want their freedom," said one woman in Tehran who said she's been taking part in the protests. Like all women in Iran interviewed for this story, she did not want to be named, fearing government retribution. "They're really, really repressed, and they need to talk about it."

The election seemed to open the floodgates for airing that sense of frustration.

Claims by Ahmadinejad's chief rival for the presidency, Mir Hossein Mousavi, that the election was riddled with fraud were the catalyst for days of protest following the vote. The government's harsh response — evidenced in hundreds of arrests, the deaths of over a dozen demonstrators, clampdowns on the media, the refusal of the country's theocratic leaders to entertain the possibility of a re-count — fueled popular discontent across wide swaths of the population.

But there is an extra layer of resentment and anger among many of Iran's 35 million women. Many fear that a second term for a man who was first elected in 2005 in part on a platform of restoring "Islamic values" will only prove to be worse than the first.

"The root of the current unrest is the people's dissatisfaction and frustration at their plight going back before the election," said Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi. "Because women are the most dissatisfied people in society, that is why their presence is more prominent."

Across the Muslim Middle East, women have often joined men in protest movements.

When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, women took part in street demonstrations in the tiny Gulf country. Over the years, images of Palestinian women, fists raised in anger against Israel and tears flowing in despair over children and husbands killed, have become a staple of that conflict.

But Iran's protests have elevated such images to a new level.

While Iranian women have been politically active in the past, coming out in large numbers in support of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the latest demonstrations showed them standing shoulder-to-shoulder with their male counterparts, enduring the same blows and threats.

"We were all together, and we helped each other despite our sexuality, and we will be together," said one 34-year-old Tehran woman who is active in the protests.

They have also given the movement some of its most high-profile arrests — former President Hashemi Rasfanjani's 46-year-old activist daughter — and its first martyr, Neda Agha Soltan.

Soltan, who was allegedly shot by pro-government militia as she walked through a protest Saturday, became the public face of the government's repression — a female martyr in a culture that celebrates such symbols, but usually relegates women to the role of the martyr's mother or wife.

Video images of Soltan lying on the street, blood pouring from her mouth and nose as a few men crouch down, struggling to save her, quickly made their way onto the Internet. From there, they bounced around the world.

"She represents this youth who went there with such hope and idealism," said Ziba Mir-Hosseini, who researches the situation of women in Iran, at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies. "In a way, she is the first woman martyr. She is a martyr for democracy."

President Barack Obama on Tuesday summed it up as such: "We have seen courageous women stand up to brutality and threats, and we have experienced the searing image of a woman bleeding to death on the streets."

In the convoluted, and fluid, calculus of Iranian politics, it remains to be seen how the government will deal with these challenges. Also unclear is how these developments will shape policy.

Under previous reformist regimes, Iranian women secured a wink-and-a-nod attitude from the government that allowed them to adopt more casual hair coverings and more freedoms than those seen in other conservative Muslim countries in the region, such as Saudi Arabia.

Although they are barred from the presidency and religious posts, many Iranian women are in parliament and other political offices. About 65 percent of university students are women.

In 2006, a group of women launched a campaign to gather a million signatures in favor of equal rights for women. And, in the run-up to the presidential election, a coalition of women from diverse economic and social classes worked to ensure that the candidates focused their platforms on efforts to improve women's lives.

Mousavi's bid for the presidency further encouraged them, with women buoyed in no small part by his progressive stance on women's issues and his unorthodox — at least for Iran — campaign appearances alongside his wife, Zahra Rahnavard.

Rahnavard, who was forced out of the chancellor's position at Al-Zahra University by conservatives in 2006, campaigned by her husband's side, appeared in campaign videos and even drew political attacks from opponents.

"For the first time in a presidential campaign you could see a man campaigning with his wife," said the University of London's Mir-Hosseini. "At many of these meetings they were holding hands, and that was breaking a big taboo."

On Wednesday, Rahnavard made her voice heard again, saying on one of her husband's Web sites that his followers had the right to protest and the government should not deal with them harshly.

It remains to be seen how women, particularly after the days of violence, will demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the regime, especially if its headed by a man whose earlier actions were seen as limiting their rights.

Under Ahmadinejad's first term, rules were set in place that made it difficult for women to work late or take on extra hours, and pushing many into part-time jobs. Last year, his government proposed a law that would have made it easier for men to take additional wives — a practice allowed under Islam but generally frowned upon in Iran. More than 60 women activists who took part in the signature campaign were arrested, some of whom are still in jail, said Nayereh Tohidi, a professor at California State University, Northridge.

Then, there is the issue of clothes. Under Ahmadinejad the rules are being tightly enforced, women are required to cover their hair and wear loose and long garments over pants. They face arrest if their fashion is deemed too risque — a qualification that has even included pants tucked into boots during the winter.

"It is the biggest insult to a woman that somebody can tell her what she should wear," said the 34-year-old Tehran woman active in the protests. "Nowadays many people can see the world easily, how they live peacefully in their countries without any enforcement, so we know our basic rights as a human and especially as a woman."

Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools!

[makeithappen40 0]

With Iran's political uprising and the United States' declaration of independence, you might almost start to think that people are capable of earning their own sovereignty, and that the last dozen infamous leaders of the United States just might not have an excuse anymore for invading other countries to "promote democracy" through authoritarian-level socialist means.

[downwardspiral 0]

remind me again... when was the last time we invaded a country to promote democracy?

www.FourWheelerHB.com

[jtnesbitt 0]

The democracy part always gets rolled up in the reasons. We initially invaded Iraq looking for WMDs but when they werent found the big push switched to the spread of democracy.

"If this post needs to be moderated I would prefer it to be completly removed and not edited and butchered into a disney movie" - DorkZone Hero

[makeithappen40 0]

*cough* vietnam, etc.

[downwardspiral 0]

so technically we didn't invade Iraq to promote democracy but since we made a mess we decided to clean it up.

makeithappen said it was an excuse for the last dozen Presidents. Certainly there must be others.

www.FourWheelerHB.com

[downwardspiral 0]

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*cough* vietnam, etc.

We didn't invade. We were invited.

www.FourWheelerHB.com

[shah269 0]

"Liberating" Iran won't work.
Never has never will.
Persians are nice to their guests but after a while we wish you to go back home.
The best thing the US can do is....nothing.
Well ok keep Facebook, Twitter and the Internet free. But other than that.....nothing.
Moral support will do. Let us kill our own koran thumping donkey dick licking conservatives!
We'll hang them Persian style....that is to say....slowly!

Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools!

[makeithappen40 0]

That might depend on what side you were on. I'm guessing the ones all over the country that were bombing americans didn't invite them.

[rickjump1 0]

Quote

"Liberating" Iran won't work.
Never has never will.
Persians are nice to their guests but after a while we wish you to go back home.
The best thing the US can do is....nothing.
Well ok keep Facebook, Twitter and the Internet free. But other than that.....nothing.
Moral support will do. Let us kill our own koran thumping donkey dick licking conservatives!
We'll hang them Persian style....that is to say....slowly!

I like your style. I hope they are successful without outside help, and we do mind our own business.

Do your part for global warming: ban beans and hold all popcorn farts.

[nerdgirl 0]

Heard an observation that the symbol of the 1979 Revolution was the bearded cleric ... now the symbol emerging is a young, modern woman.

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize-winner, Shirin Ebadi (more) is also playing an even more public role than before.

I wonder about demographics. What's the affect (maybe none ?) of the loss of young males during the Iran-Iraq war & does that correlate with the apparent prominence of women in the protests?

/Marg

Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying

[shah269 0]

I love Iranian women!
And they scare the hell out of me!
I love them due to their strength, their compassion and their vision. My mother and my aunt have been guiding lights in my life and my grand mother, god bless her soul, was one of the wisest most compassionate woman I have ever known and I'm sure she would have just been tickled pink to have seen me jump.

And what is not very well known in the west is that Persian society from it's base it's core it's spirit is a society of equality and are the keepers of the faith and of the cultural identity of the nation. Men and women in Persia were always considered equals in life, in war and in death.

If you ever read Persian poetry, especially by Hafez, you will never see the poet dwell on the frailty of the woman rather fall in love with her strength and her beauty.

The 1979 revolution was primary based on the nation wishing to be free of western influences and control. When the Shah accepted the state of Isreal in 1977 it was proof that Iran was the 51st state and no longer an independent nation and as such the Shah was stripped of his status as a Persian. And so was kindly asked to go away.

Now the current, camel loving koran thumping arabs have been recently been declared un-persian and as such will also be asked to either go away or be hung slowly. The only problem is that these conservative nut bags really are crazy. The Shah couldn't bare to kill his own people even if his own people did not love him. These conservative donkey fuckers (can you tell, I hate conservatives) aren't Persian and honestly don't care who they have to kill to sta in power. They think they speak to god and as such their right to rule is by the divine..... remind you of some one?
Shah

Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools!

[Darius11 12]

Iranian woman have historically had important rolls in society, and respect.

The Islamic revolution took us back about a 100 years.

What I am finding disturbing is that it seems there might be a change and there might be a new supreme leader. He might be a bit more liberal but I don’t think that is what we need. We will not be free until we are known simply as Iran and not the Islamic republic.



Back to the woman, my cousin is one of the many young women who is on the streets fighting everyday. She told me they hit her with a botoom (club) , but right after she said that she said she will not stop they can not stop her. I hope they are all safe.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

[shah269 0]

I hope they hang the koran thumping camel dick licking mullas! Slowly! You know Persian style! None of this neck snapping business. Face uncovered, body unclean and a slow pull!
Just to remind the conservatives and the dictators of the world, yeah you may have guns but we the civilized world have history on our side!

Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools!

[AggieDave 6]

Quote

*cough* vietnam, etc.

*cough* you might want to revisit your history lessons, etc.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[billvon 2,990]

>I hope they hang the koran thumping camel dick licking mullas! Slowly!. . .

>. . . we the civilized world . . . .

Some irony in SC to start the day.

[shah269 0]

Look at how many lives these camel fracking Koran thumping assholes have taken?
What, after they are deposed they are to be let free to run off to Monaco to live a long and happy life with all the blood money?

The civilized world demands accountability. And in Persian society the punishment for murder is a slow hanging. Shame we can't hang them, watch them die, bring them back to life and do it again and again for every single life they have taken.

That would teach all the conservative nut jobs who claim to talk to god and who have wet dreams of being dictators to shut up and sit down!

After all didn't the French behead their king? And we consider them to be very civil

Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools!

[billvon 2,990]

>The civilized world demands accountability.

I guess we can only hope for the day when we are civilized enough to torture them in ever more horrible and painful ways.

[rehmwa 2]

You're confusing revenge with justice. That's the point of your comment being out of sort with "civilized world"

Cleanly killing the criminals, dispassionately, and with the goal of it being to remove the threat they represent to the rest of the species allows us to protect the rest of the world, without becoming the 'next' set of butchers.

Seems if you want to be on the side of civilization, removing the threat without succumbing to ones anger, outrage, etc.... to the escalation of punishment to torture - (clean death or lifetime incarceration) is the only civilized way to deal with it.

At times, a measure of civilization is when the people are able to act correctly despite the urging of their emotions.

I have a lot of issues with many of the stated Persian concepts of justice, I think it's completely confused with revenge and unreasonable self righteousness. Maybe this is on purpose, as a more brutal punishment can act as deterence. But that's another topic as deterrence isn't justice, it's a social/behavioral attempt at manipulation.

The French beheading their king? I don't find the French of that era as very civil, but beheading is not a torture (unless you lower the blade VERY slowly) - it's a rather efficient and humane way to cause death - considering the alternatives.

What I hate about beheadings isn't the act, it's the crowd reactions and cheering. If someone is be sentenced to death because they represent a significant threat to the rest of us, then it should just be done quickly and clinically - without display or emotions. Public executions are pandering to crowd emotions which I believe is counter to teaching justice.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[shah269 0]

When it's you and your culture and your family that are oppressed you can come back and talk to me. It's real easy to wear the white gloves from the side lines and preach turning the other cheek.

But I'm a Persian and we do on to others as they do on to us. Now if you don't mind, I need go and buy a large length of rope to hang a few conservative donkey dick licking koran thumpers with.

It's going to be great! Ever hear of soap on a rope?
Well this is conservative on a rope!

Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools!

[Butters 0]

Quote

Just to remind the conservatives and the dictators of the world, yeah you may have guns but we the civilized world have history on our side!

Quote

But I'm a Persian and we do on to others as they do on to us. Now if you don't mind, I need go and buy a large length of rope to hang a few conservative donkey dick licking koran thumpers with.

Your desire to perpetuate revenge and violence shows that you don't understand the concepts underlying a civilized society or the concept of learning from history ...

"That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch

[billvon 2,990]

>Now if you don't mind, I need go and buy a large length of rope to
>hang a few conservative donkey dick licking koran thumpers with.

Careful, there. If you do that, they may go all "civilized" on your ass.

[rickjump1 0]

Quote

We will not be free until we are known simply as Iran and not the Islamic republic.

....The world has been watching revolutions for a long time. I think ours was won through a series of luck, mistakes, miracles, leadership (good/bad), and a lot of blood. Being isolated was not a handicap.

Do your part for global warming: ban beans and hold all popcorn farts.

• Quote

[TankBuster 0]

Quote

Now if you don't mind, I need go and buy a large length of rope to hang a few conservative donkey dick licking koran thumpers with.

It's going to be great! Ever hear of soap on a rope?
Well this is conservative on a rope!

No, we don't mind. We were wondering what's taking you so long. Pick up a weapon. Stand a post. Take some pictures for us.

The forecast is mostly sunny with occasional beer.

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

When it's you and your culture and your family that are oppressed you can come back and talk to me. It's real easy to wear the white gloves from the side lines and preach turning the other cheek.

what's interesting is I would advocate killing the criminals - you call that "turning the other cheek"

The only difference is I'd do it for the sake of justice only, without succumbing to one's passions -

So the question is - is one strong enough and brave enough to do what needs to be done when you see it needs to be done (before you let 'emotion' and revenge push you past a limit? or do you have to be 'overwhelmed with outrage and emotion' before you act in an out of control fashion?......

I think justice can only be administered by the first type. The second type are just vigilantes and another type of criminal - regardless of their intent.

this is a good discussion on cultural differences, but one we already have had with others a few times in SC

I hope your family comes through this unscathed and in a better situation when it all finishes.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants