With quiet effect, Iranian women advance
From The Human Rights Project
Dateline: August 14, 2005, TEHRAN
When Farzaneh Taheri works out in the park on Friday mornings with her tai chi class, the slow, flowing combination of martial art and meditation also serves as an exercise in Iranian feminism.
For one thing, the class includes both men and women "so that we get the yin and the yang," Taheri said, her eyes twinkling with the understanding that a public, mixed-gender class is in itself a victory for women's rights in this conservative Islamic republic. For another, the women wear tai chi pants and shirts, not Islamic dress, except for the hijabs that cover their hair and shoulders.
Posted on 8-15-2005
