Iranian Woman Beats Up Cleric

[Shuddhasattva]

I think the most amusing thing to me is that they'll never catch her - so long as she stays covered and in her home as she ought to according to them.

 

[Revoltingest]

Imagine a remake of the movie Death Wish (with a little Foxie Brown), but set in a Muslim country with a brazen hussie instead of a Charles Bronson.
Geeze....I might have a future in Hollywood.

 

[beenie]

Bwhahahhhaaaaaa! Finally.

I don't condone the violent reaction either, especially enough to land him in the hospital; two wrongs don't make a right. However, I can't help but chuckle a little bit.

I'm with Badran on this one. He may be a nice guy who is indoctrinated, but he represents an oppressive regime that will hopefully get the message that enough is enough. The whole idea of religious police, and especially "modesty" police, is so absurd that I can't even comment on it.

On has to wonder: do the religious "modesty" police enforce the same code for men? They have a "dress code" too, including lowering one's gaze. Something tells me that is overlooked.

 

[Reptillian]

The little angel on my shoulder says that violence isn't justified and that peaceful resistance to oppressive policies is the better solution.

The little devil on my other shoulder says that cleric probably deserved to be on the @$$ end of an @$$ kicking.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I'm trying to figure out the context here. Did the cleric have the power to force her to comply, or was he just giving a suggestion?

If his statement was an implicit threat or a means of oppression itself, then I think her reaction was probably justified... assuming she had no other means of recourse.

 

[Old Scratch]

The little angel on my shoulder says that violence isn't justified and that peaceful resistance to oppressive policies is the better solution.
The little devil on my other shoulder says that cleric probably deserved to be on the @$$ end of an @$$ kicking.

Attention to Me you should pay!
More fun you'll have, cold blooded one.
Muuwahahhahaha hahahahhahahahahahha, etc!

 

[Father Heathen]

So violence is a legitimate response to free speech now?

Harassment doesn't fall under free speech.

 

[Reptillian]

Attention to Me you should pay!
More fun you'll have, cold blooded one.
Muuwahahhahaha hahahahhahahahahahha, etc!

I try to stay balanced... occasional advice from both right and left shoulders.

 

[Old Scratch]

I try to stay balanced... occasional advice from both right and left shoulders.

Forget the middle do not!

 

[Breathe]

I'm trying to figure out the context here. Did the cleric have the power to force her to comply, or was he just giving a suggestion?

If his statement was an implicit threat or a means of oppression itself, then I think her reaction was probably justified... assuming she had no other means of recourse.

Last time I remember hearing anything about Iranian religious police, it was that they had the power to force them to comply, with physical abuse if necessary, a sort of "almost on par" with Saudi Arabia.

I tried looking for some information on it, but the majority of the stuff I found was anti-Islamic stuff.

Closest I found to anything (recent) was this:

Flowers and beatings for women attending book fair + photo A biased source, but it does fit in what I've been told -- even by Muslims who've visited there themselves.

 

[Me Myself]

I must say it mostly saddens me.

This people just dont understand. The angry part of me would like to make the guy be burned so badly that he'll WANT to be covered for the rest of his life, so he can know how it feels to live in shame.

Reality check though, it would accomplish nothing (as he would keep doing the same).

Bragh!! Things would be simpler if I just pretended I didn't know that and laughed anyways.

 

[Me Myself]

I think the most amusing thing to me is that they'll never catch her - so long as she stays covered and in her home as she ought to according to them.

Hummm... maybe you are on to something here...

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I must say it mostly saddens me.

This people just dont understand. The angry part of me would like to make the guy be burned so badly that he'll WANT to be covered for the rest of his life, so he can know how it feels to live in shame.

Reality check though, it would accomplish nothing (as he would keep doing the same).

Bragh!! Things would be simpler if I just pretended I didn't know that and laughed anyways.

I'm not so sure it would do nothing. If the story makes others think twice before telling some other woman that she has to cover up "properly", then I think it's done something.

I'd much prefer that he decided not to tell women to cover up out of a sense that they're free to dress how they want, but he decides not to tell them out of fear, well, I see that as an acceptable second choice.

 

[Alceste]

Sure. In the West she could have simply told him to **** off and gone about her business, which she attempted to do. Put yourself in her world. She has no rights. She is property. She must defer to any man, no matter whether he is a stranger, no matter how low her opinion of him, simply because she was born without a penis.

That's simply not true. Women in Iran have rights. They can vote, go to school, drive, live independently, choose who to marry, get divorced if it doesn't work out, etc. It's not equal, but it's not Afghanistan. The religious police mostly enforce dress codes and try to catch unmarried men and women on dates. That's totally retarded, of course, but you overstate the situation.

Seeing as she can vote, I think she had an alternative to putting the guy in a hospital. She's a thug. We wouldn't think it was cute if a man put a woman in the hospital no matter how mouthy she was. I'm trying to be consistent.

Of course I wish women in Iran would get down to the job of improving their situation, but this sort of thing will not help.

 

[Alceste]

I'm not so sure it would do nothing. If the story makes others think twice before telling some other woman that she has to cover up "properly", then I think it's done something.

I'd much prefer that he decided not to tell women to cover up out of a sense that they're free to dress how they want, but he decides not to tell them out of fear, well, I see that as an acceptable second choice.

Realistically though, the nonsense about covering up is due to fear of women in the first place. Increasing the fear level clerics feel toward women in Iran will only make things worse for them, since the clerics have the power of the state backing their public policy decisions.

 

[Badran]

That's simply not true. Women in Iran have rights. They can vote, go to school, drive, live independently, choose who to marry, get divorced if it doesn't work out, etc. It's not equal, but it's not Afghanistan. The religious police mostly enforce dress codes and try to catch unmarried men and women on dates. That's totally retarded, of course, but you overstate the situation.

Seeing as she can vote, I think she had an alternative to putting the guy in a hospital. She's a thug. We wouldn't think it was cute if a man put a woman in the hospital no matter how mouthy she was. I'm trying to be consistent.

Of course I wish women in Iran would get down to the job of improving their situation, but this sort of thing will not help.

I agree that talking about the conditions in Iran as if it were like Afghanistan is an inaccurate misrepresentation of the situation.

I just want to say that she didn't attack him just for being too mouthy, but like have been expressed here, probably as someone who is a direct representation, and in fact a contributor (though in a small way) to the conditions she's experiencing, who was also "all over her face" at the moment, trying to dictate to her how to dress and basically telling her that she's being immodest and what have you. We can't look at the incident and ignore what feelings was the woman having.

I also agree that it's valid to point out that people would probably react differently if it was a man who put a woman in the hospital. However, personally, if in the same context, i wouldn't. At least not in general. I would only blame him a tad more, simply for the fact that at least in my perspective, men are usually more "strengthful" than women. But in general, i would still laugh and feel something almost identical to what i expressed here.

Which is, that he was wrong, but in a manner i can totally understand.

 

[Caladan]

Iran Cleric Pummeled by

You go girl!

After a very long day this has totally been an awesome comic relief.

 

[Alceste]

I agree that talking about the conditions in Iran as if it were like Afghanistan is an inaccurate misrepresentation of the situation.

I just want to say that she didn't attack him just for being too mouthy, but like have been expressed here, probably as someone who is a direct representation, and in fact a contributor (though in a small way) to the conditions she's experiencing, who was also "all over her face" at the moment, trying to dictate to her how to dress and basically telling her that she's being immodest and what have you. We can't look at the incident and ignore what feelings was the woman having.

I also agree that it's valid to point out that people would probably react differently if it was a man who put a woman in the hospital. However, personally, if in the same context, i wouldn't. At least not in general. I would only blame him a tad more, simply for the fact that at least in my perspective, men are usually more "strengthful" than women. But in general, i would still laugh and feel something almost identical to what i expressed here.

Which is, that he was wrong, but in a manner i can totally understand.

I totally understand the dynamics, and how annoyed she must feel by the whole situation, but I still don't think violence is the answer, and I don't believe anger and outrage excuses violence, even when the oppression is severe. At the moment there are a dozen threads condemning violent protests in the Muslim world, and now this. Just seems kind of hypocritical to me. Throw a few rocks at Australian police and it's the end of the world. Put a Muslim man in the hospital and everybody claps and cheers.

 

[Revoltingest]

Put a Muslim man in the hospital and everybody claps and cheers.

It isn't that he's a "Muslim man". I doubt that she has it in for either Muslims or for men.
It's that he is a functioning agent of a repressive authority, & was possibly going to put the smack down on her....until she turned out to be quicker.
It might not be right, but neither is it so clearly wrong.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I totally understand the dynamics, and how annoyed she must feel by the whole situation, but I still don't think violence is the answer, and I don't believe anger and outrage excuses violence, even when the oppression is severe. At the moment there are a dozen threads condemning violent protests in the Muslim world, and now this. Just seems kind of hypocritical to me. Throw a few rocks at Australian police and it's the end of the world. Put a Muslim man in the hospital and everybody claps and cheers.

The common thread here seems to me that people appreciate freedom and dislike when people try to take it away, whether by telling (admittedly buffoonish) filmmakers that they can't say bad things about Muhammad, or a woman on the street that she can't dress how she wants.