Reconciling Reading Lolita with Goodreads

[Joan]

I have been dying to ask this question, and I think posing it in a discussion topic here is the most appropriate forum:

What is up with all of the Iranians on Goodreads? Please, please forgive my ignorance. After reading this book, and my other very limited American exposure to modern Iran (Persepolis, for instance), I got the impression that discussions of Western books could not happen in Iran in a free way. So how are hundreds of women, beautiful made-up and uncovered women with photos, posting stuff about Gatsby on Goodreads without state intervention? Please explain! (I would truly love to be told I have been manipulated by the Western media. It would make my day.) And again, apologies for my ignorance.

[Leslie]

Excellent Question! I'll be looking to see if there is a response (besides from me...not in Iran but Washington!). I just read a newspaper editorial about how sad it is that in the Western world, many people don't read, yet in Iran and other places, people, especially women, will sneak in order to be able to read!

[Doug]

Things change - and often rapidly.

Consider the difference in America post-patriot act.

[Joan]

Very true! But I still question how much the government is aware and/or monitors internet use. There still are free speech/press limitations in Iran (more than in the US), though they may be getting more lax.

An update on my original post...

I heard a story on NPR last week about how the movie Persepolis (in the original French) is being copied and passed around in Iran secretly. The government I guess permitted one "art fest" type of thing to show it in a small theater, although much content was edited out.

I am thrilled that the full film unedited is being circulated, it is great; although according to the reporter versions in Persian are hard to come by, so mostly only French speakers can watch it now.

[Sarah]

There are censorship laws in Iran, but that doesn't mean they're enforced, and people get around them all the time. And women aren't nearly as bad off as you think. Just because a woman wears a veil doesn't mean she's oppressed; and the women who don't want to wear it do something about it. Watch movies like "The Fifth Reaction," "The Hidden Half," and "Two Women" all with Niki Karimi, and instead of focusing on the one brutal fundamentalist, look at all the guys standing up for women. There is a change happening and we in the West are decades behind.