New Attitudes Color Iranian Society, Culture

Barbara Slavin, USA Today:

In a city that only a few years ago was almost monochromatic — full of women draped head to toe in black — women and girls this winter are sporting pink coats, pink sweaters, pink head scarves, shoes and bags.

Iran's Islamic rulers appear to have given up trying to make women observe more than the letter of the hijab, the Koran's admonition that Muslim women outside their homes should cover everything but their faces, hands and feet. The change has been gradual, but this year coats have gotten shorter, brighter and tighter, heels higher and scarves have slipped farther back to reveal most of women's hair.

Iran's “pink revolution” is a silent fashion statement that sends a powerful message. Unable to act overtly against the rigid Islamism that has shaped Iranian political and cultural life since the U.S.-backed shah was overthrown in 1979, many Iranians express their contempt for the government through their clothing.

For women, that means the sexiest, most fashionable attire possible while still covering the requisite body parts. For men, dissatisfaction takes the form of clean shaves — Islam encourages beards — publicly shaking hands with unrelated women and wearing jeans and long hair.

“The more you look at the people in the streets, they don't look like Iranians any more,” says Goli Emami, a translator of English books into the Iranian language Farsi.

Of more than 50 Iranians interviewed here during a two-week visit, most were contemptuous of their government and the direction the country is moving. “This life is like death,” says Mohammed Mohammedi, 26, a jeans-clad English teacher in Tehran who works odd jobs to make ends meet. ...

“I hate war,” says Sahab Morabi, 25, a student of architecture at Behesti University in Tehran. He says fellow Iranians who say they'd welcome a U.S. strike really just want “some kind of catalyst for change.” If war really comes, their attitude will change, he says. “They will express their patriotism.” ...

Iran's ambassador to France, Sadegh Kharrazi, who has also tried to reach out to Americans, agrees. “We need reform inside Iran, not imposed by the United States or other outsiders,” he says. “We have a young experience with democracy and change needs time. Reform is the origin of our Islamic revolution and this process is a continuous one.”

The evidence of that change is obvious to anyone walking on Tehran's streets. “Two years ago, we all wore red. This year, we're wearing pink, and next year, who knows?” says Farzaneh Samadian, 21, a computer software engineer whose pink and navy scarf is barely attached to her head. “We love freedom.”