On 10/29/06, Jim Devine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On 10/29/06, Yoshie Furuhashi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> It seems to me that Iran or anything else can't be understood in
> isolation from the rest of the world.
that's true of _all_ countries.
That's why I added "or anything else."
I'm sure that Iranian women aren't made happy that the patriarchy they
face is better than in some other countries. I'm sure that they don't
say "hey, Switzerland didn't let women vote until 1971, so it's not so
bad here. And _we_ don't have to put up with all that yodelling."
Women in a developing country could more profitably compare their
struggles with struggles of women in other developing countries,
especially those from the same region or those that have similar
political history or cultural conditions, and then figure out what
strategies and tactics would make most sense for them, rather than
compare their struggles with those of Western feminists.
Is there some sort of Iranian socialist women's group? what do _they_ say?
There are a small number of Iranian socialist women, from social
democratic types to sects to cults like MEK, all based overseas.
Inside Iran, feminists are basically Muslim feminists, from liberal to
social democratic, who are supported by some Iranian
socialist-feminists overseas. Here's a woman's magazine Zanan [Women]
that Valentine M. Moghadam, who is an Iranian-born socialist feminist,
has spoken well of:
<http://www.zanan.co.ir/>. Shahla Sherkat is the founder and
publisher of the magazine. Read an interview with her:
<blockquote>Holly: What do you think that the Western feminist
misunderstands about Iranian feminism?
SH: I basically think that Western feminists don't know if feminism
exists in Iran. And some people think that women in Iran still remain
at home behind the veil, they don't have any activities outside. When
they come to Iran, they are looking for that: 'Why do women stay at
home?' But when they come they understand that the propaganda about
Iranian woman is not true.
You've probably noticed that women are active on many social, and
political levels, and that they are working now. And it is not
something that the government granted them, but rather it is the
demands of the women themselves that forced the government and society
to let the woman into these realms.
Because the interpretation of Islam in different countries is
different. Maybe in Saudi Arabia, where the women can't even drive,
there may not be feminism. But I am a Muslim, I have Islamic faith,
and at the same time I am doing my work. ("Shahla Sherkat,"
<http://www.pbs.org/adventuredivas/iran/divas/index.html>)</blockquote>
--
Yoshie
<http://montages.blogspot.com/>
<http://mrzine.org>
<http://monthlyreview.org/>
