Enlightening

It's extremely heartening to see this article.

"Not every rescue requires a feminine touch. But in the Islamic Republic, which tolerates little public mixing of the genders, the 11 women here are breaking new ground and creating a model for cities across the country. They also represent a strain of pragmatic progressivism in Iran that is rarely matched elsewhere in the region."

What a fantastic idea. What an enlightened approach. About bloody time too. I am not remotely feminist, not by a long shot, but it's stupid to treat 50% of your population as property.

Finding a balance between Islam and gender issues is easier in Iran than in some other Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, where women are not allowed to drive, much less hold office. A women's unit might have made a difference in the holy city of Mecca in March 2002, during a blaze at a girls' school. Some 15 girls died and 50 were injured when Saudi religious police, according to eyewitnesses, beat the girls and kept them from leaving the burning building because they were not wearing "correct" Islamic dress.

Remember that story? My heart sank and I wanted to punch the lights out of those religious policeman. It's the measure of the fanaticism and madness that treasure your dressing above your life.


Still, good news on the Iranian front! May they find even more ways to broaden such a forward-thinking evolution.