Collection 2: "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi

She directs wayward strands of hair under the scarf, puts her notes into her large bag, straps it on over her shoulder and walks out into the hall.

You might notice that her gait and her gestures have changed.

She walks quickly and with a sense of determination.

The streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities are patrolled by militia, who ride in white Toyota patrols, four gun-carrying men and women, sometimes followed by a minibus.

She will pass slogans on the walls, quotations from Khomeini and a group called the Party of God: MEN WHO WEAR TIES ARE U.S. LACKEYS. VEILING IS A WOMAN’S PROTECTION. Beside the slogan is a charcoal drawing of a
woman: her face is featureless and framed by a dark chador.

She will pass slogans on the walls, quotations from Khomeini and a group called the Party of God: MEN WHO WEAR TIES ARE U.S. LACKEYS. VEILING IS A WOMAN’S PROTECTION. Beside the slogan is a charcoal drawing of a
woman: her face is featureless and framed by a dark chador.

If she gets on a bus, the seating is segregated. She must enter through the rear door and sit in the back seats, allocated to women.

If she gets on a bus, the seating is segregated. She must enter through the rear door and sit in the back seats, allocated to women.

Is she angry that women of her mother’s generation could walk the streets freely, enjoy the company of the opposite sex, join the police force, become pilots, live under laws that were among the most progressive in the world regarding women?

Does she think how vulnerable the Revolutionary Guards are who for over eighteen years have patrolled the streets of Tehran and have had to endure young women like herself, and those of other generations, walking, talking, showing a strand of hair just to remind them that they have not converted?

Does she think how vulnerable the Revolutionary Guards are who for over eighteen years have patrolled the streets of Tehran and have had to endure young women like herself, and those of other generations, walking, talking, showing a strand of hair just to remind them that they have not converted?

These girls, my girls, had both a real history and a fabricated one.

Although they came from very different backgrounds, the regime that ruled them had tried to make their personal identities and histories irrelevant.

Although they came from very different backgrounds, the regime that ruled them had tried to make their personal identities and histories irrelevant.