Ths is very true.

[Kath1]

[oberliner]

1. Except most Iranian women are not at all like her

What percentage of Iranian women study at the Lycée Français de Vienne in Austria, for example?

(Or got divorced, married a Swedish guy, and moved to Paris)

[Kath1]

2. Not many.

But the basic meaning of her statement is still true, in my opinion.

[oberliner]

3. People to people contacts definitely go a long way

I think especially in the USA so many people really have no concept of what the world is like in other countries, and don't realize how much common ground there is between people.

That being said, though, I think that the typical American lives a very very different life than the typical Iranian (or pick any of 100+ other countries).

[Major Nikon]

6. As far as the context of her quote goes, I suspect most are

Prior to the Iranian revolution the country was quite progressive. I've met a few Iranians over the years and found all of them to have strong western attitudes towards just about everything. Prior to Khomeini coming to power a great number of Iranians were educated in the west, and a considerable number of them married foreigners. So her situation is not really that uncommon, and even if it's just a small minority the majority of the country doesn't share the mindset of their fundamental leadership because they know things haven't always been as they are now.

[oberliner]

14. I would respectfully disagree

The Islamic Revolution was 35 years ago and things are quite different in Iran now than they were before 1979.

[Major Nikon]

18. Things were quite different days after the revolution

But it takes more than one generation to erase the memory of freedom from people as they pass it on to their children.

Days after the revolution, women took to the streets to protest the forced hijab:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. How many American women are like her? Study at the Lycee Francais de Vienne in Austria?

How may American women got divorced, married a Swedish guy, and moved to Paris?

In my travels to Asia and Europe and America, most people are just people.

[oberliner]

15. Not many

There really is no such thing as a typical American or typical Iranian. I just would argue that she is especially atypical.

[JI7]

9. Iran is very good when it comes to education for girls and women, i know many iranian women

who have studied in Iran . there are many problems in Iran including for women. but access to education is not one of them.

the people of Iran overall actually do pretty well when they move to western nations .

[Recursion]

12. Yep. It's that little secret nobody talks about.

Iran has a higher female college completion rate than the US.

[oberliner]

16. That's true

However, I think that this woman's life story is extremely atypical for an Iranian woman.

[madokie]

13. A friend of mine

best friend I might add, spend a few years living in Iran in the late '60s and early '70s and he said Iran wasn't much different from America for the everyday person. Laws were similar, customs were somewhat different but no that much. He had no problems there. They were wearing the same clothes as he was for the most part. No different than the Amish in our communities here in the states, for that matter. In fact our Amish live be a totally different set of laws than the rest of us do. They drive farm tractors or horse and buggies for transportation, they have no electric in their homes but they all have generators that they use to keep food frozen and to operate their machines but no meter to big power companies other than the fuel companies where they buy their fuel without paying a road tax like we do, tires also. No seat belts on their tractors, no seat belts in the converted pickup truck beds for trailers that that haul their families in. I try any of that and I'm in jail before I get to where I'm going. Drive up and down our roads at 30 mph and if its a two lane road and you get behind them guess what you drive at 30 mph too. Years ago they'd pull over to the side when they got a chance to let you get on by but not anymore. Pay no taxes. If you are bidding on a job and they're bidding on it too you lose out cause they pay no taxes, in fact they want cash and if you insist on paying by check you make the check out to their church and they take it to the church and cash it with the church keeping what they're going to get anyway 10% for the lord but not a single penny in taxes. When they buy food they don't pay sales tax on that either. So why are they allowed to do this I have no idea?

[oberliner]

17. Iran was a very different place before the Islamic Revolution of 1979

Have you been back there since then?

[Iliyah]

4. K & R

[TexasProgresive]

5. That is a stunning truth that it would be great if people knew it.

If Iranians, Americans and Canadians got together after talking about the weather, their children and work they could then commiserate about how crappy the government is. People are more alike than different.

[SheilaT]

7. Alas, I get stopped

by the cigarette. Smoking? Really? In the 21st century? Have you taken a look at the toll smoking takes?

Okay, I know that her statement has absolutely nothing to do with the cigarette she's holding, but I'm sorry, I can't help it, it's the first thing I noticed.

[Recursion]

11. She's lived in Vienna and Paris. Everybody smokes there.

It's just a thing.

[Recursion]

10. I met her in Vienna years ago

Amazing artist. Thank you so much for posting this. Love her work.

[Kath1]

19. You're quite welcome!

I would love to meet her. She is an amazing artist with excellent ideas.