Iran's Female Athletes

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Goosie

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Joined: July 16, 2003
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Posted: Aug 17, 2004 - 03:19 AM
Post subject: Iran's Female Athletes

Television broadcasters in a number of Muslim countries have been instructed by their governments not to broadcast any live and/or uncensored coverage of women's Olympic sporting events, lest "viewers be confronted with uncovered parts of the female anatomy in contests."

My male friends can't think of another reason to watch women's sports, but Muslims apparently take this seriously:

"The question how much of a woman's body could be seen in public is one of the two or three most important issues that have dominated theological debate in Islam for decades," says Mohsen Sahabi, a Muslim historian. "More time and energy is devoted to this issue than to economic development or scientific research. "

And we all know how much time and energy Muslims have devoted to economic development and scientific research. . . .

Islamist theologians are divided on how much of a woman's body can be exposed in public. The most radical, the Sitris, insist that women should be entirely covered from head to toe, including their faces and fingers. The less radical Hanbalis say a woman should be covered all over, but recommend a mask with apertures for the eyes and the mouth. (A version of this, known as the burqa, was imposed on Afghan women by the Taliban).

That's right folks, allowing peepholes is the liberal position.

Hijab theoreticians agree on one claim: a woman's hair emanates dangerous rays that could drive men wild with sexual lust and thus undermine social peace.

The mullahs in Iran thought they'd found a solution to the dangerous sexual hair-ray problem, but alas, it was not to be:

Tehran unveiled a plan to develop women-only sports grounds. A model stadium was set up with 12-foot-high walls to make sure that no one could see the women from the outside. The stadium was to operate with an all-female staff, including coaches and administrators.

The plan was scrapped last February, however, when critics claimed that the proposed stadium was located close enough to an airport that women in the stadium might be seen by men flying above them in jetliners and helicopters.

And if the threat posed to civil aviation by hair rays and nude ankles isn't enough, there's this to consider:

Some theologians claim that any form of sporting activity by women produces "sinful consequences." In 2000, for example, the Khomeinist authorities in Tehran announced a ban on women riding bicycles or motorcycles. The rationale? Riding bicycles or motorcycles would activate a woman's thighs and legs, thus arousing "uncontrollable lustful drives" in her. And men watching women on their bikes in the streets could be "led towards dangerous urges."

Still, the Iranians are not completely intransigent. While pumping peddles is out of the question, they are willing to let their women play with shuttlecocks:

The Islamic Republic, has agreed to host the Muslim Women's International badminton games next year. Although all the participating athletes have agreed to wear uniforms that cover them from head to toe.
No word as to whether eye appatures will be permitted.

The Iranian organizers, however, are still worried that men might sneak in to have a look at what is going on. To solve that problem, the authorities have decided to hold the games in a remote mountain resort. The only road leading to the resort will be sealed by an all-female unit of the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The games will be organized and supervised by exclusively female staff and recorded by an all-female TV crew.

Furthermore, Iran did send one female athlete to Athens, where she will compete wearing the full hajib. Presumably not in the swimming events.

*******

So, I guess this means that males in Iran have absolutely no self-control. I mean, they have to seal off and guard the only road leading to the mountain resort where the games will be held so that men can't get nearby? Besides, we wouldn't want them flying helicopters over the site and losing control of the choppers and themselves, now would we?

Jesus H. Christ. How did these guys ever get toilet trained???