He has a beard!!!!
Writing by Rezareza on Friday, 30 of November , 2007 at 7:05 pm
You know what’s wrong with us Iranians? We easily judge everyone based on the way they look. If someone has a beard they are Hezbollahi. If someone wears tight jeans and jell in his hair he is “soosool.” Don’t get me started on what we label individuals based on just a few comments we have heard them make. If one makes a comment slightly resonating a social thought we label him/her as a communist. “Agha taraf comonisteh!” Everyone is either a communist, a royalist, a Hezbollahi, a mojahid…and the list goes on.
About 3 weeks a go I decided to grow a beard. Not because of any specific reasons. I honestly though it might be fun. After a week or two my beard was getting pretty full. But as my look was changing the attitude of my co-workers around me was changing too. All of a sudden I felt like everyone is more reserved and uncomfortable around me. I didn’t know what the reason was until one of my co-workers approached me and said, “Hey man…sooo…you decided to grow a beard?” I responded “yes!” His response really surprised me. “So when are you gunna shave it, because you kind of remind me of a Hezbollahi” I didn’t know what to say. What do you say? All of a sudden I felt like I have to explain myself and present my co-workers with facts and reasons about why I am not a Hezbollahi and how my political beliefs haven’t changed.
Iranians talk about change. We talk about how democracy is the way that the country should be headed and how Iranians are finally ready for a true democracy, if only “they” (oonha) would let us. Now you probably ask who is “they”? Well it’s different for everyone. “They” could be the current ruling clerics in Iran, the Americans, the British… and this list goes on too. We never mention, for a true democracy to take place our thoughts have to change. Our viewpoints have to change. We can not judge people based on what they look like or what they wear or if they have a beard or not.
Afshin Molavi in his book “Persian Pilgrimages” which I strongly recommend to everyone, has a chapter entitled “Politics of Personal Appearance”. In this chapter he explains how one can easily be judged based on his appearance in Iran. He talks about a boy who because of acne problems decides to grow a beard, but he eventually gets shunned by all his friends who thought he became very conservative. So he decides to shave his bread and live with his bad skin rather than to put up with his friend’s judgments. Molavi explains this phenomenon very well. “in an authoritarian government that interferes in the personal lives of its citizens, as does the Islamic Republic, clothes become an important symbol of politics.” But we can not continue to think that way. We cannot judge a book by its cover. If the Islamic Republic forces our women to wear Hejab, we can not force our men to shave the beards or adapt a western type of clothing to make a political statement. Ones politics should be judged by his actions, not by the length of his beard.
Sohrab Sepehri has a very famous poem that I believe sums up my point;
من نمي دانم
كه چرا مي گويند: اسب حيوان نجيبي است ، كبوتر زيباست
و چرا در قفس هيچكسي كركس نيست
گل شبدر چه كم از لاله قرمز دارد
چشم ها را بايد شست، جور ديگر بايد ديد
I don’t know
why some say that the horse is a noble animal, the pigeon is beautiful
and why no vulture dwells in any person’s cage
I wonder why the clover is inferior to a red tulip
Eyes have to be washed, things have to be looked at differently.
Category: Politics, Iranian Americans, pop culture
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Comment by persiancowboy
Made Saturday, 1 of December , 2007 at 4:48 pm
I agree with you and I’ve been thinking of growing beard a few times. However I never did it for the same reasons you are talking about.
