"Each time I return to Tehran, I wait until the last possible moment, when my plane lands on the tarmac, to don the scarf and long jacket that many Iranian women wear in lieu of a veil"
I like this passage because it shows how Asayesh is torn between two different cultural lifestyle. She values and respects her culture but she also enjoys the luxury and freedoms she has in America. She talks about how her sister comments on how she wears her makeshift scarf. She wants to feel "hot" at least according to what we Americans would consider to be hot. However, her sister believe that they are "hot" because she is a little more excepting of the things her culture wears. Yet, she describes what the hijab means in Iran. "The veil masks erotic freedom, but its advocates believe hijab transcend the erotic-or expands it." I think this best describes the conflict that Asayesh has between American and Iranian traditions and believes. I believe that this story helps the audience understand the cultural conflicts people have when they come to American or to another country and to show that it's not easy to transition from one place to another.
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2 comments:
I interpet it the same way people from other culturese do have to go through of alot of identy struggles. Especially in their adolecense coming to another country.
I agree interiorly. While i was in iraq i was completely covered when out in public not because i was scared for my safety but because the public appreciated the respect i showed towards their culture. I had asked a few of the Iraqis I got to know well and they told me that the older generation (the ones we mainly worked with) liked it, though they knew i wasnt 100% sure why they covered up, they knew i understood a little. To many iraqis it was used to hide a female so she wasnt stared at or thought about by other men, " masks erotic freedom". They explained it like this, would a man in the US want his wife walking around in a bra and underwear and have other men stare at her. Its a large exaggeration but that is how they felt about women showing their face, hands, etc. After being covered for almost an entire year i understood what Asayesh was going though when she was torn weather to wear the hijab or not to wear it. its like to have respect for the culture and her family or to be "comfortable"?
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