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Article: In Iran.
- Article from:
- American Scholar
- Article date:
- June 22, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Phi Beta Kappa Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In Frankfurt airport, I witnessed an unexpected phenomenon. The airplane that would carry me to Tehran was disgorging its Frankfurt-bound passengers, Iranians all. As they disembarked, the women stopped in the departure lounge to remove their hejab--chador, rouposh, and head scarf--and brazenly comb their hair before applying makeup and nail polish. Already I began to doubt the severity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Such backsliding in the early days of the revolution would have been punished by black-shirred "morals police." When my outbound flight was called, dozens of women irritably unpacked their hejab and put it on.
We descended on Tehran through a ...