From Library Journal
Former BBC correspondent Howard, who covered the fall of communism in Bulgaria and the war in Croatia and Bosnia, here recounts her experiences living in Iran from 1996 to 2000 as the wife of a UN diplomat. Relying heavily on anecdotes about individual women, Howard places in context the history and politics of gender in Iran, making this volume accessible to a popular audience. She attempts to evoke the atmosphere of dinner parties and of rice paddies while noting the differences between the official accounts of women's situation and their real circumstances. She also often focuses on paradoxes; for example, new educational opportunities for girls include university attendance while at the same time they can be married at their father's insistence at age nine. The legal code is harsh, but some women have found ways to circumvent it. Howard's tone is generally optimistic, as she points to the creation of the Centre for Women's Participation in the wake of the Beijing Conference on women, but, sensibly, her optimism is guarded. Recommended for public libraries. Cynthia Harrison, George Washington Univ., Washington, DC
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Review
"Inside Iran: Women's Lives shows us vividly what life is like in Iran today"
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