Friday, April 28, 2006

Women Playing Soccer in Iran




A local German team from Berlin went to Tehran for a friendly match with the Iranian women national soccer team. They drew 2-2 and what got my attention was the way these poor ladies had to wear to be able to play!

It is sad but also very funny when you see them playing like this.

More Pictures on Mehr News 1 & Mehr News 2

Andrew Sullivan mentions this in his blog!

11 comments:

آهو said...

وينستون جان گويا اين خانم فرنگپوليس با اين وبلاگش ايينه تمام نماي جمهوري اسلامي است. نميدانم چرا به جاي استنفورد به الزهرا نميرود. امثال اين خانم بايد به همان دانشگاه الزهرا بروند كه در آن رشته مورد علاقشان "يهودستيزي" تدريس ميشود. با كمال وقاحت در وبلاگش همان حرفهاي احمدينژاد را تكرار ميكند.

Ahmad said...

It's is encouraging that Iranian girls, despite lack of sufficient resources and opportunities, play as well as world's best teams. About their head covers, I don't think they look poor cuz of it.

Farhad said...

Dear Winston,
thank you so much for your visits in my blog.
Farhad Moradian

تـــــرنـــٌــــم said...

ای داد بیــداد
حالا بـبین چــقدر نـشسـتن پـشت ســر ماها رو مــسخــره کــرده انـد

Anonymous said...

I really don't undrestand, what a team like Germany seeks out of this mad game?!!
Do they want to satisfy their curiosity about exotic Hijab??!!

I beleive the only outcome of this is to furthur surrender of civilized culture to a regressove theocratic ideaology which eventually will hit back home in Germany.
So Germans! don't complain if tomorrow some fundumentalist in Germany ask national women team to have Mulsim player with Hijab!

Anonymous said...

There is something surreal about those pictures and it was difficult to decide if I should laugh or cry, but after some considering I laughed becasue of the situation and cried for the people.

Anonymous said...

Winston,

Congratulations on the Andrew Sullivan linking! I was quite shocked when I clicked Sullivan's link mindlessly and your blog appeared. Great stuff.

Daniel Dale

Anonymous said...

I don't want to be an apologist for the regime, but isn't the real story that these women get to play soccer at all? Someone more knowledgeable than me might be able to tell me if that is also possible in Saudi Arabia. It is also worth remembering that it would not have been possible in Europe a mere 85 years ago, and, if it had been, then, just as with bathing at the beach, the women would likely have been attired similarly from neck to toe (probably not the headscarf though). Even now, Western femail soccer players wear knee-length shorts and knee-high socks, and, when it's cold, some opt (just like men) for long-sleeeved jumpers. There is much talk about the Middle East having beeen by-passed by the Enlightenment. It's a lot more complicated than that of course, but it does seem to me somewhat unfair to expect them to incorporate simultaneously an Enlightenment and the Western cultural revolution represented by the Age of Saggitarius (1968 and all that) in one fell swoop, when it took the West two hundred years. Really, this sort of sporting attire (which you can also see in democratic Indonesia) is a reasonable cultural compromise for the time being. Of course, I speak as a man . . . .

Winston said...

Oh Daniel, I was thinking about you this evening.

Will talk to you soon!

Anonymous said...

anonymous,
You are talking in a way like Iran society is coming deep out of history, that now you see this event as a gradyal natural evolution! NOOOO it's not like Pakistan/Afganistan border!

Iran has a very strong natural pro-Western institution deep in their society. wasn't becuase of this Islamic Regime, now women easly overnight would play in front of Men/Women with Shorts!

You can compare Iran society in many way with Turkish society + added benefit of they will never fool again to another form of Islamic-whatever system

It's is not about giving vedit to Islamic Regime, it's about giving credit to people

Anonymous said...

Dear anonymous: What is so hard for your to fathom is the fact that the mother's of these girls did not have to wear these atrocious garbs. They lived in a secular society where they had a choice to wear the hejab or not. Many progressive women rights were reversed after the 1979 revolution such as the age of marriage from 18 to 9 years old. Pathetic

The hejab only became compulsory/mandetory after the revolution. Go to Iranian.com and
look at some of the magazine covers about 'Miss Iran' prior to 1979 bloody revolution.

http://www.iranian.com/Nostalgia/miss.html

Click on Singers and movie stars pre-revolution:

http://www.iranian.com/nostalgia.html