Does the average Iranian wanna pile-drive Dubya or its own Mullahs?
Marcello di Cintio's book POETS & PAHlEVANS: A JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF IRAN looks into the this question.
Alexander Varty's review in the Straight begins with this to ponder: "Consider this, connoisseurs of irony: you’re more likely to find Condoleezza Rice sipping espresso on the Drive than a George Bush–basher drinking tea in Tehran. In fact, when Marcello Di Cintio was last in Iran, Dubya’s approval rating was higher than it is in his own country today."
Di Cintio also explores the history and embedded place that the sport of wrestling has in Iranian male society on top of "its all-pervasive misogyny and the inexplicable popularity of Chris de Burgh."
Read the Straight review
Read an excerpt from the book
Read Poets & Pahlevans review/order book
As the writer of Poets and Pahlevans I would like to comment on something I found interesting about the Straight piece.
Varty writes that my book explores Iran's "all pervasive misogyny." In fact this is not true. My book is predominantly about Iranian men. As a male traveler I had very little contact with Iranian women; their world was inaccessible to me. (The only specific mention in my book about the plight of women in Iran is when I describe how city buses are segregated.) This is not to say that women in Iran are considered equal to men - of course not. Misogyny may in fact be all-pervasive in Iran, but you would not get that impression from reading my book as it is not an issue I chose to write about.
I don't really have a beef with Varty's comment - I was more annoyed that he said that I was 'Toronto-based', which is not true - but I do find it very interesting. It is as if a book about Iran must, as a matter of course, deal with matters of women's issues. The reviewer commented on something that he assumed must be there, even though it wasn't.
To me, this is an example of how many people in the West have their so minds made up about a particular culture that they 'see' the stereotype even when it isn't there.
Posted by: Marcello at October 9, 2006 12:06 PM
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As the writer of Poets and Pahlevans I would like to comment on something I found interesting about the Straight piece.
Varty writes that my book explores Iran's "all pervasive misogyny." In fact this is not true. My book is predominantly about Iranian men. As a male traveler I had very little contact with Iranian women; their world was inaccessible to me. (The only specific mention in my book about the plight of women in Iran is when I describe how city buses are segregated.) This is not to say that women in Iran are considered equal to men - of course not. Misogyny may in fact be all-pervasive in Iran, but you would not get that impression from reading my book as it is not an issue I chose to write about.
I don't really have a beef with Varty's comment - I was more annoyed that he said that I was 'Toronto-based', which is not true - but I do find it very interesting. It is as if a book about Iran must, as a matter of course, deal with matters of women's issues. The reviewer commented on something that he assumed must be there, even though it wasn't.
To me, this is an example of how many people in the West have their so minds made up about a particular culture that they 'see' the stereotype even when it isn't there.
Posted by: Marcello![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.schemamag.ca/nav-commenters.gif)
at October 9, 2006 12:06 PM
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