Comments on: I don’t know how to ride a donkey!

By: Banafsheh

Banafsheh — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 19:59:22 +0000

Dear Dr.Parvaresh,

Thanks for your post. It was so interesting and insightful like your previous posts.
I have a friend in California. Once she wrote me ” Is it right that women cannot drive in Iran?”
I did not write her anything but attached some photos,especially Laleh Sedigh and Zohreh Vatankhah photo(Iranian Rally champions).
“A picture is worth a thousand words”. So let us choose the best pictures to introduce our culture all around the world.

By: khan

khan — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:57:07 +0000

Thanks for the post , Vahid, very interesting. I would like to make a general comment about man/woman tendency to be taken in by the text .

Textual analysis are a good entry point into ideologies, histories, politics etc, but lived experiences are something else. Perhaps it is time consuming, therefore, does not fit in with the preferred methods of knowledge construction by transnational agencies etc

You are so right in your observations that meta images permeate the everyday discursive spaces.

Best,
Khan

By: Golnaz

Golnaz — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:48:18 +0000

In reply to Dariush Izadi.

Dear Mr Izadi ,
Nice post . Well it’s true and the reason he doesn’t believe these ways of news and media propagration is because we have still real and great Iranians all arround different countries, that care to their nationality , that is , some days ago a real real gentelman has asked the mayor of Los Angeles to put the already built sculpture of Cyrus the great in the center of one the known squres of the L.A . You see , media is bad , the other countries due to many reasons don’t show our real face , but some times it’s also our fault as Iranians to let such misinterpretations happen .I believe that the fact that Iam an Iranian and I know all about my History and culture mustn’t stop me from exploring the truth , so that when a foreinger ask me sth , I just get blushed .

Thanks ,

Best

By: Dariush Izadi

Dariush Izadi — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:58:13 +0000

In addition, he mentioned he knows women in Iran do not wear veils irrespective of what we see in the media, referring to a documentary he had seen on TV a while ago.
I believe because of his nodding acquaintance with Iranians and not paying much attention to media and to political propagations gave rise to speaking up for Iran and Iranians.

By: Dariush Izadi

Dariush Izadi — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:57:31 +0000

Dear Vahid
Thanks for the excellent post!
In the place (in Sydney) where I work, there’s an English gentleman who has recently joined our team. When I introduced myself (meaning I’m Iranian) he was really eager to talk to me about Iran. At first, I thought he would be talking about the same stuff pointed out in this blog and honestly wanted to avoid talking to him. However, when he started his conversation, he said “I’m very pleased to have learned that history has seen such great men like Cyrus the Great and Darius the great”. He said we (he meant Europeans) are greatly indebted to you (Iranians) for your great leaders and their humanitarian purposes. He went on to about the rights of women at the time and Cyrus cylinder and how this affected the United Nations declaration of Human Rights. When I asked what he thought of the current situations in Iran, he said he never believes what he reads or watches in the media. He also said he knows that people in Iran now drive the most expensive cars and achieve relative prosperity.

By: Golnaz

Golnaz — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:27:20 +0000

Dear Dr.Parvaresh ,

It was exactly last year while my vacation to the Uk , I was asked this question also ! Our British friend said , Iam really starving to visit Iran, beacuase there streets are not ” asphalt ” and people ride motor cycle and bike ! She also told me it’s AWESOME to ride horse , but do you really know how to ride horse ? beause you are a girl and girls mustn’t ride horse !

I was all shocked to … , but as you know it’s all politicals propagrations . I opened my laptop and showed her the pictures of cars , houses , streets in Iran .She was shocked to believe that people in Iran spend 77 ,000 $ on Sorento instead of 34 ,000 $ on it , because we here love to enjoy our life if we have money and we also love to taste new technologies . But I tried my best to tell her that ofcourse ,it’s not common every where , as we have modern life and modern streets in some parts of city and we don’t have it in some other parts . and she accpted all my words .

Best ,

By: Jean Cho

Jean Cho — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 06:32:38 +0000

Thanks for such a perceptive post Vahid. I particularly like the way you expanded on the bizzare question to find a link to Orientalism.

By: Giti

Giti — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:24:30 +0000

Thank you for your entry.

If I were you, i might just laugh and told my housemate” oh…its interesting, would you like to experience it. come to my country and we will” but I am delighted to see your perseverance in finding the source for such a bizarre question!
You are definitely right regarding media effect. as you pointed it out, although it is a recent encyclopedia, but there are pictures like this in it!!!
I as an Iranian person living in this country have never seen something like this!!!!! How can they show it as a way of life in Iran!!!!