Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN — Left in a state of shock by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s surprise election success, young professional women in Tehran fear they could lose all their hard-won new freedoms if the ultra-conservative wins the presidency.
“We are always worried. We have never been working at ease. But now, with Ahmadinejad as an option, I can say that worries could turn into a crisis. I do not know what to say,” said film director Manijeh Hekamt.
Tehran’s army of modern-minded women have been among the main winners from the reforms of outgoing President Mohammad Khatami’s two terms in office, seeing once strict codes on dress and mixing with the opposite sex in public relaxed.
Ahmadinejad’s camp has said that the rights of women will not be touched if he wins Friday’s run-off vote against moderate conservative cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
“I believe women have certain qualities, such as being responsible and precise,” the Tehran mayor has said, warning against the dangers of “sexist attitudes” and drawing artificial distinctions between women and men.
But this has not stopped a wave of fear spreading through the northern Tehran strongholds of pro-reform women, who fear they will have to tightly cover their faces and stay well away from men in public under a president Ahmadinejad.
“The crackdowns on young people would heat up like in the 1980s because Ahmadinejad’s people arose in that period,” said Saeedeh Eslamieh, a journalist on the centrist paper Shargh.
“A part of youth in our society who spend the evenings in coffee shops will have to retreat to the haven of houses as the consequence of the fresh harassments.”
Ahmadinejad has complained of “uncontrolled” cultural policies in the past years and accused organised networks of “propogating decadence.”
Mahnaz, 29, a graphic artist said: “Compared to previous years, I think we have more freedom in personal issues, like choosing the colour we like and he would pull us back to two decades ago with regard to such freedoms.”
The concern about Ahmadinejad, who has clamped down on Tehran’s once burgeoning cultural centre scene since becoming mayor, has prompted many women to back his rival Rafsanjani in the run-off — hardly their natural ally.
“I did not vote the first time. But I vote this time for Rafsanjani because I prefer him and I like his ideas, at least things will not get worse, if not better,” said Mana, 19, a dance teacher.
For one young woman in her 20s, sitting in a Tehran park next to her boyfriend, “even if you don’t want to vote its better to vote for Rafsanjani. Ahmadinejad could for example make it illegal for you to sit with a male friend in the park.”
However changes made in the Khatami era have been considerable, despite the criticism hurled at the president for failing to bend the will of powerful hardliners entrenched in their opposition to greater change.
For Shiraz, 24, Ahamdinejad will not be allowed to turn the clock back. “Even if he wins, the people will not let Ahmadinejad transform Iran into Afghanistan.”
“His restrictions will only last a few months. His ideas are so the antithesis of our own that people will not let him stick to his intransigent positions,” added Mahnaz.
Another young woman enjoying the peace of the park, who does not want to give her name as she squeezes the hand of her boyfriend, vowed Iranian women will not accept a new battery of restrictions on their freedom.
“The Iranian people have already had enough of pressure. If Ahmadinejad imposes it on others, there will be an explosion.”
