Mon Shari'a mour

From al-Reuters:

Iranian police have launched a crackdown on women's dress before the summer season when soaring temperatures typically tempt many to flout the strict Islamic dress code, witnesses and Iranian state media said on Sunday.

Under Iran's Islamic Sharia law, imposed after the 1979 revolution, women are obliged to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise their figures and protect their modesty. Violators can receive lashes, fines or imprisonment.

Stuff like this. It's nothing new of course, but try as they may some hardliners remain:

Many young women, particularly in wealthier urban areas, shun the traditional head-to-toe black chador, wearing calf-length Capri pants, tight-fitting, thigh-length coats and brightly colored scarves pushed back to expose plenty of hair

What an amazing 21st Century story, eh? Let me say first that I'm not against the Chador or headscarf per se. We have an ever-growing Muslim population here in Memphis, easily noticed by the many women sporting such dress in public. There's a certain elegance to it, actually. For me the issue isn't the clothing it's the notion of them being forced to wear the clothing--or else.

When Jesus walked the earth he talked of the Jewish restrictions on certain foods, reminding folks to look within themselves for salvation, yet 2000 years later al-Qaeda is still focused on food. Recently an Azerbaijan Mullah categorized the virtue of women based on their dress (and they say westerners are hung up on sex--as one of the Gateway commenters said, Jihadi heaven is a brothel!).

All quite silly, but it points out the rather bizarre defense some on the liberal left (especially the feminist liberal left) give the Mullahs whenever Bush utters the slightest condemnation. I don't recall the NOW ladies speaking very loudly about this issue. If they have it's not been carried much by the mainstream media.

Fortunately that's a problem that can be corrected by the chief feminist herself, who has a rather large rhetorical bullhorn at the moment. She's used it before:

One of the keys to help people in the Middle East move in the direction of greater freedom, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights involves the very simple but profound recognition of the humanity and dignity and the capacity of girls and women; or as we used to say way back in the 20th century, "Women's rights are human rights."

She knows (and said in that speech) that pushing for democracy is the key to women gaining their rights, which should say something about our present situation.

MORE 4/24/07

Pass through the Gates of Vienna for more on this potential clothing malfunction, including a teacher's strike, which most likely contributed to the crackdown.