Boundaries
The boundaries between private and public life in Iran is obscure. I have lived in the United States for more than two decades, so I have a few points of comparison between these two cultures.
I had to live two lives under Iran’s theocratic regime, one public and one private. In public I covered from head to toe. In private I didn’t have to. In public, I had to bite my tongue, shutting up about my opinion fearing of what I say may taste unpleasant for the Iranian regime. In private, I swore at the authorities and said what I wanted. In public, I was reminded that I was a woman with few rights. In private, I enjoyed the fact that at least my dad was a feminist.
Here in the United States, in private and within the company of friends, I enjoy being both Iranian and Muslims. But in public, I hide my Muslim identity. In public, some of my American friends talk down about women in Iran, or women in Muslim countries in general. I see pointless to pick up the fight or argue every time I see something unfitting.
On the other hand, I also see some universal commonality between Iranian and American cultures. Iranians are proud people, boasting about their undeniable rich culture and heritage. We are the same in the U.S. Without getting into recent politics, the American culture is a supreme culture around the world. By witnessing how we manipulate and conquer the world, I could imagine the Persian Empire in days past.
Women in both nations are resilient. We fight for what we want for our lives. We do not take the government’s bulshit as ‘matter of fact.’ We challenge authorities. Although, I give Iranian women more credit for fighting harder, and getting killed for demanding more freedom. At the same time, Iran has been destabilized by us Americans a thousand times. If you can be patient with me, I’m going to show you how.
Coming back to the Newsroom
My 19-year-old soul didn’t have any of those insights into Iran and the U.S. At the time, I was not even thinking of the U.S. or anything American. My only concern was to do my studies, prove myself in the newsroom, and try to see how I could survive.
Being new in the newsroom, and not knowing what was right or wrong, I couldn’t comprehend how to interact when I got back from bathroom one day and saw the men, I mentioned in the previous piece, searching my handbag. The boundaries between private and public life violated. I had no clue how to act against their behavior.
You’ll see in the next piece of what they did.
Stay tuned!
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