Women in Iran

I have been reading this morning about women in Iran. My attention was drawn to the issue in part because Delaram Ali, a woman's rights activist from Iran, was recently sentenced to a flogging and two-and-a-half years in prison for working against the state. Amnesty International and other groups are calling for her release.
(see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7088310.stm)

The BBC also has an article on the "fashion police" in Iran and how the authorities are attempting to get Iranian women to dress more conservatively. The article is interesting, but what I found most thought-provoking were the comments that follow the article. Some people criticise the BBC reporter for being too negative: one woman asks "We certainly do not question what is worn by the average person on the streets of London, Paris or Berlin? So why is there such a great interest in Iran?"

Another woman emphasises the way in which wearing the veil can be empowering - but also stresses how heavy-handed governmental enforcement of women's dress can make lead to distorted social views of women. This is how the veil becomes an article of oppression rather than of liberation:

"The issue of hejab occupies the minds of women and men alike since the Islamic revolution in 1979. A woman convinced of the necessity of hejab feels that she does not wish to attract the stares of strange men by exposing her body and hair and stressing the beauty of her face. She wants to be valued as a person, not as a beauty. In many Islamic countries, women wear hejab, but with much more variety. While I like to cover up, I think that the authorities, when imposing hejab shortly after the revolution, went too far and were too restrictive. Thereby, they created sensivities in men that it is now difficult to get rid of."
Madleine, Tehran, Iran