borderlessexploring-blog

[borderlessexploring-blog]

Wearing a hijab for the first time

Female dress codes and customs in Iran differ significantly from Melbourne. Once stepping off the plane in Iran, I will be required to put on a hijab (head covering) which I will not be able to remove until in private.

I imagine this experience will initially invite frustration as a result of the challenging and continual process of learning the dress codes. I may be treated differently if I wear less or more. I may forget my hijab or fail to wrap it the right way! I might feel hostility toward Iranian men due to a perceived feeling of gender inequality.

I may feel disconnected from Iranian culture and people as a result of the emotion and stress of coping with the public space. My Australian knowledge is rendered meaningless within an Iranian context. This may mean spending more time in my accommodation toward the beginning of the trip as I adapt and increase my comfortability. I acknowledge that the first few days of the trip may be quite stressful and periods of uncertainty and control may continue throughout the trip! Advice I have also read online which warns of a uniform expectation to dress conservatively may not be the case leaving me unprepared.

However, I would wear the hijab with respect and an open mind. I would also take time to reflect on resistance movements which are occurring in Iran now under the social media hashtag #whitewednesdays (explainer below) 

This culture confusion will hopefully encourage interesting conversations and highlight the diversity of what it means to be a woman in Australia and Iran. Rather than labelling this experience as a ‘culture shock,’ I will view it as an opportunity for learning.

In the meantime, I better start practicing how to wrap a hijab through here. 

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“Overpower. Overtake. Overcome.” – Serena Williams

Although there has been some success for women in sports at the formal level (a bronze medal in the 2016 Olympics for taekwondo and a successful national futsal team) my research has revealed that opportunities for young girls to participate are limited, particularly at the local level. Katayoun Khosrowyar (the Head Coach of the Iranian U19 womens football team) describes a lack spaces and programs: ‘I had to travel some random city, walk around, ask people if there was a football school or a place where girls play futsal - anything… they’d always show me to the parks.’ This contrasts starkly to my childhood memories which are peppered with flashbacks to nippers on Bondi Beach, cricket, athletics and netball. I was encouraged and able to give all sports a go. 

I can contribute to improving this situation by collaborating with the Melbourne-based company ViaSport and Katayoun to facilitate the training of coaches, provide sports equipment and negotiate spaces for girls to play in Iran. This project would liaise with and consult local community leaders, families and girls in a culturally sensitive way. I could apply my disciplinary knowledge of Iranian culture, norms and histories here and also draw on Katayoun’s Farsi language skills. This would ensure an awareness of local customs, relationships and social structures. Katayoun is also the first Iranian woman to hold a FIFA ‘A’ coaching license. In my adulthood, I have also coached sport and I could share these skills and passions with young girls!

Together, we can apply our skills to create sports spaces for girls which do not compromise Islamic religious or cultural values. This project will work with leaders of the community to change attitudes and perceptions in order to guarantee a long-term, meaningful international engagement. It will have the long-term effect of empowering girls and improving the availability of inclusive and fun sports programs for girls in Iran.

Check out our Coach Kayatoun on Instagram below. 

View this post on Instagram

And our new chapter begins...#female #womanempowerment #gogirl #cantstopwontstop with all the odds against us, with all the discrimination we faced internationally we managed to take Iran women football to the next level because of all the #hardwork and #dedication. Thank you to everyone for the support 😊 see you in the second round of Asian qualifications.

A post shared by Kat Khosrowyar (@kat.khosro) on Oct 28, 2018 at 10:30am PDT

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A different way of marketing Iran...

Tours which promise travellers to ‘discover the real Iran’ saturate the first few pages when Googling ‘visit Iran.’ I found Intrepid Travels’ tour marketing problematic, advertising Iran as ‘conservative and unconventional, deeply religious and deeply surprising.’ The tour guarantees that it will ‘change the way you see this part of the world.’ It warns women to question whether this trip is ‘right’ for them. They suggest and encourage a way of seeing Iran which is frozen in a traditionalist past, inviting stereotypes related to the repression of womens rights. Intrepids’ Iran is dangerous… their tour is titled an ‘adventure.’ Intrepid plays on a religious stereotype of Iran where culture and life revolves exclusively around Islam. Intrepid brags ‘things don’t get much more different to home than this!’ This Iran is innately different to the world from which travellers come from. Tourists are invited to pay $4085 for a trip which will ‘address,’ ‘debunk’ or ‘substantiate’ their inscribed stereotypes (Schaad 2008, p. 208). 

Advertising images from their tour.

These essentialised understandings of Iran are damaging and problematic as they deny the dynamic, rich and contemporary nature of Iranian culture and life and encourage a reductive way of travelling. I have found the work of Human’s of New York (excerpts seen below) useful in challenging this place essentialism. His photography represents multiple identities and coexisting experiences. Each Iranian who is interviewed has a different perspective. This is the way Iran should be marketed; grounded in the universal values and feelings of love, happiness, connection and curiosity which we all identify with. 

Read their stories here. 

Schaad, E 2008, ‘Perceptions of Scandinavia and the rhetoric of touristic stereotype in internet travel accounts,’ Scandinavian Studies, vol. 80, no. 2, p. 201-238. 

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Street Art in Tabriz

Icy and Sot, ‘Street Fight’, 2011, Tabriz, Iran

This stencil piece by brothers Icy and Sot in Tabriz encourages the viewer to explore the effects of war on the innocence of children. Menacing, armed figures loom in the background as the children play fight in the street. The spectator is left to wonder whether the figures behind are their future? Or are they coming to kill their childhood? This stencil can be seen within the context of domestic and regional conflicts around Iran. 

The visual power of this piece is significant and it stands in stark contrast to the government commissioned street art pieces around the Iran. This piece subverts state controlled visual cultures and creates potential and space to resist these constructed narratives. 

As seen on Majestic Disorder 

As street art pages are yet to reveal this pieces location it is likely to remain a hidden gem, revealed only through ‘drifting’ through Tabriz and encountering the city as it comes. Finding this piece online encourages me to travel through and unpack the city of Tabriz in a different way; to place less emphasis on hitting the bazaars, sprawling gardens and mosques that tourists are encouraged to visit there. It’s illegal nature however means that the wall may have been removed, or the piece painted over by the time I discover it.

Follow more of their work here.

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Unpacking the Iranian flag

The evolution of the Iranian flag is important in coming to know important social, political and religious forces at work in Iran throughout history. 

Before the Islamic Revolution in 1979 the emblem in the center of the flag was an imperial crown and a wreath, representing the leadership of Iran under the Pahlavi family or the ‘Shah.’ The Shah was associated with secular, Western ideas and was closely associated with the United States. 

However in 1979 the Shah was forced into exile. Huge demonstrations filled the streets protesting against his Western behaviour and attitudes and he was replaced by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. At this time, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun and diplomats were kept hostage for 444 days. The American Embassy has now been turned into an eerie museum.

Images of the 1979 Revolution. More found here. 

After this the Iranian flag was changed. Khomeini added a line of repeated Arabic text onto the flag reading 'God is great.' This is written twenty-two times which is significant as the Revolution occurred on the 22nd day of the 11th month in the Iranian calendar. The lion and the sun were replaced by two Islam-centric-crescents. This move symbolised the removal of everything related to the Pahlavi family. 

This flag is not agreed upon by all Iranians. The lion and sun emblem has been argued to not be related to the Shah. It is also critiqued for being the only country in the world containing a language other than its official language.

The meaning of the colours of the flag are widely known across Iran. Green for prosperity and the color of Islam, red for the blood of martyrs and white for peace.

Interestingly, the Pahlavi dynasty flag has recently been used in protests against the government, particularly against women’s rights and the economic environment of Iran.