I put something like this up years ago, but it’s a good way to see, with just a few clicks, what happened to Iran after the “Revolution”. Let’s taken women’s dress, a touchstone of misogyny and theocratic oppression. Before the Islamic Revolution of 1979, it was a pretty free country in that respect, and everyone could dress how they wanted.
To see that, do a Google Image search for “Iranian women, 1970”. I’ve done it for you: click here. And this is the first images you see (click photo to enlarge):
And the “after” page. Click “Iranian women, 2000” (again, just go here). This is 21 years after the “Revolution.” You’ll see this.
I didn’t manipulate the search in any way save put in what’s above, and I’ve used the first four rows of photos for both.
I don’t think I need to comment on the change, which speaks volumes about the oppression of women in that country. Oh, and why the cry for change is “Women, Life, Freedom.”
My wife is Iranian, moving to the United States shortly after the Revolution. She supports the Iranian citizens but hates the government. She never returned. However, her mother and sister have gone back several times, the sister to work briefly and the mother to visit relatives.
We must never forget the photos from the 1970s. Especially since some Western left-wing political circles and identity politics advocates occasionally claim that the inhumane clerical regime is preferable to a country ruled by “Shah” Reza Pahlavi, even though he repeatedly states that he advocates a democratic Iran that should be a friend of Israel rather than an enemy.
Opinion (WP) by Reza Pahhlavi:
Thanks to President Trump, the hour of Iran’s freedom is at hand
Our path forward is a new constitution followed by free elections under international oversight.
https://archive.is/WLnCK
Opinion (WP) by David Ignatius:
How Trump can begin an Iran transition after the bloodbath
A long history shows what not to do when trying to encourage political change in a foreign land.
https://archive.is/nvXOY
I’ve seen a number of such comparisons. They explain why Iranian women have been so outspoken in their protests—even at the cost of an eye or a life.
These photos are moving but not the whole picture. My understanding is that they show a relatively small westernized urban elite. The more-conservative countryside… won’t show up in image searches, for much the same reason that Vogue never puts the Amish on its cover — the target market for these color magazines about the latest 1970s fashions was… people interested in the latest 1970s fashions.
I think this elite was resented, and maybe that was part of the fuel for the revolution? At least the hippies were poor, imagine the backlash if in addition to a degenerate lifestyle they’d been 10x richer than middle americans, based on a sudden glut of foreign money.
I think there was definitely some of that.
Umm. . . . whee are the Westernized elite in the 2000 photos? THERE AREN’T ANY. Now why is that? That IS the whole picture: nowhere in Iran are women allowed to dress how they want.
I imagine there are similar comparisons for Egypt?
Yes, envy a driving human evolution. Many envy elites. In the Simpsons, Principal Skinner was taken down a peg, a whole peg! Much of the Islamic world is green with envy, as indicated on many flags….
For a further view, see the very moving Iranian movie A Separation, in which the life of the westernized middle class family and the poor pious family are intertwined.