When Reza Khan, the domineering bully, wanted to introduce us to western traditions, the first thing he brought over was the style of clothing and the removal of the veil: that was accomplished by use of force through his style of bullying! Dresses needed to be short; hats needed to be a special model--they even changed the name, hats became chapeaux! If anyone dared to wear a hat different from the "Pahlavi hat," which was the name given to the style worn at the time, or wore a long dress, they were beaten and repelled.
They adopted these traditions from western culture. Women were not allowed to keep their veils. Their chadors (the Iranian hijab) were already forbidden. If they covered their hair and neck, they were beaten! Why? Because in the West women did not wear headscarves. These styles were adopted from the West. They didn’t bring what was really needed for our nation. No knowledge, no experience, assiduousness and hard-working or risk taking habits--which were the good aspects of the western culture--none, were ever introduced to us. On the other hand, the things that were brought to our nation were accepted systematically. They brought ideas, but they accepted them with no analysis. They said we had to follow them because it came from the West. The clothing, eating, speaking, and even their style of walking were like that of westerners, so they were supposed to be accepted. There was no way out of it. For a country, this is the worst kind of poison. May 02, 2001
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