Women power in Iran - no more short coats, skimpy scarves

The image above shows Iranian women protesting after the weekly Friday prayer in Tehran to force their government to act against loose veiling.

These women – dressed in traditional black chadors – say that the authorities have failed to enforce respect for the strict Islamic dress code which has been in place since the 1979 revolution.

In recent years, a liberal attitude and a touch of westernization has resulted in the code to be ignored by many. However the hardline Islamists under the present regime are keen to bring back the tight control of how women should dress and have promised an imminent police crackdown.

Apparently the womenfolk themselves are keen to adhere to the dress code, as seen by their recent demonstrations.

Fortunately for the liberal-minded women, their president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gives an assurance that his government will not use strong-arm tactics to enforce the Islamic dress code.

But how soon before the protesters get louder and for the hardliners to influence the president? Do we hear the Iranian silent majority protesting too?

As I see it, very soon we will not see “women in short coats and Capri pants showing their bare legs as well as the ones with skimpy headscarves” in Iran. According to the Tehran police chief General Morteza Talai, these are what the police will be looking for once the clampdown begins.

On the bright side, at least the Iranian women can drive, vote and run for office, unlike their counterparts in Saudi Arabia. And more recently, they were also allowed to attend football games, as long as they sit away from the men.

But would all these 'freedom' give the women their dignity when someone else (most probably some conservative men) is actually dictating their dress sense?

I just wonder if it will make the women who don't adhere to the strict Islamic dress code any less religious from the ones which do.