Dementia wrote:
] ] Clothing shops and factories have been given a written
] ] order to stop producing clothes that stray from the
] ] strict female dress codes, the head of a clothing trade
] ] union in Tehran told a local newspaper.
] ]
] ] Long, shapeless black coats and head coverings have been
] ] mandatory women's wear - regardless of religion - since
] ] the country's Islamic revolution 24 years ago.
] ]
] ] However, in recent times some Iranian women have been
] ] sporting shorter, paler coats that end at the knee and
] ] hug the body.
] ]
] ] Some don colourful headscarves that allow their hair to
] ] spill out from underneath.
] ]
] ] But now dress shops have been told they have a month to
] ] clear their shelves of items that do not conform to the
] ] code.
] ]
] ] Some traders in various shopping districts in Tehran told
] ] news agency AFP they had already been raided by police.
]
--
] I know - I just don't understand the culture. Still, I
] consider this moronic. So your women _want_ to look beautiful,
] and you won't let them? Idiots caging birds and not only never
] letting them fly, but covering them so no one can appreciate
] their beauty.

I'll take a shot at an attempt to understand it. From what I understand (mostly from 3rd party academic analysises of the religious texts), that women would want to be beautiful and the men denying them this fits well with the Koran. I recall specifically from the Koran that, "There were 10 parts of [sexual] desire, of which 9 were given to women." Some detail is gone into that most women are primarily sexual tempetresses to ensnare and distract men from other better (more holy?) persuits.

I guess if you accepted this it would seem rather reasonable to want to restrict womens' clothing in the manner described.

-Virgil

RE: BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Iran tells women to button up