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  • Leila Hatami Scandal One Example of Iranian Misogyny

    Leila Hatami Scandal One Example of Iranian Misogyny

    We told you recently about the scandal that has erupted in Iran over famous Iranian actress Leila Hatami. While attending the Cannes Film Festival , Hatami was greeted by Festival president Gilles Jacob with a customary two-cheek kiss. The kiss was filmed and photographed, as everything surrounding the festival is, and ended up being seen by the folks back home in Iran.

    That’s when the Sharia hit the fan.

    Iranian deputy culture minister Hossein Noushabadi issued a strongly worded statement, accusing Leila Hatami of bringing shame on all Iranian women for her brazen act of public display of affection.

    “Those who attend international events should take heed of the credibility and chastity of Iranians so that a bad image of Iranian women will not be demonstrated to the world,” Noushabadi said.

    Gilles Jacob rode to Hatami’s rescue, claiming that he approached her and greeted her as was his custom, implying that she did not return the kiss.

    But women in Iran are often subject to all manner of rules and denigrations that Western women would never put up with.

    For example, a recent viral video showed girls in Iran dancing to the Pharrell Williams’ hit song “Happy”. The problem was, these women were not wearing the required hijab head covering for women. Now, according to Iranwire, some of these women have been arrested.

    Tehran Chief of Police Hossein Sajedinia said his security forces, “were able to identify [these young people] within two hours, and within six hours had arrested them all.”

    The girls confessed on the evening news that they had been deceived into appearing in the video. The families of the girls were all told that their loved ones would not be released from police custody if they talked to the press about the charges at all.

    The Iranian morality police arrested Zuhara Bani, a 27-year-old medical student, for walking in the park with her boyfriend. Bani hanged herself in the detention facility where she was being held after her arrest.

    Ahmad Ruzbahani, chief of the morality police, said, “If someone walks in the street with his partner and commits an offense, we will deal with it.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Leila Hatami in Trouble in Iran Over Kiss

    Iranian actress Leila Hatami co-starred in the 2011 film, “A Separation,” which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. But now she is in the world spotlight for a very different reason.

    Leila Hatami was attending the Cannes Film Festival where she was greeted by the president of the Cannes Film Festival, Gilles Jacob, with a customary two-cheek kiss. Most of those kisses never even make contact with skin. So what is the big deal?

    “Those who attend international events should take heed of the credibility and chastity of Iranians so that a bad image of Iranian women will not be demonstrated to the world,” said Iranian deputy culture minister Hossein Noushabadi.

    Conservative religious leaders in Iran, those who hold the real power in Iran’s government, interpret the laws that govern the daily lives of Muslims to mean that a woman should show no public sign of affection, even something as nonchalant as that kind of kiss, to anyone other than her husband.

    In fact, there is a severe limit on what couples may do in public, which is enforced by a morality police. One woman was arrested for walking in the park with her boyfriend.

    “If someone walks in the street with his partner and commits an offense, we will deal with it,” said Ahmad Ruzbahani, chief of the morality police.

    That woman, Zuhara Bani, a 27-year-old medical student, hanged herself in the detention facility where she was being held after her arrest.

    Knowing Iran’s draconian stance on such things, Gilles Jacob did the gentlemanly thing and insisted that Leila Hatami did not kiss him. He kissed her.

    “I kissed Mrs Hatami on the cheek. At that moment, for me she represented all Iranian cinema, then she became herself again. The controversy over a usual custom in the West has therefore no reason to be,” he wrote on Twitter.

    Image via YouTube

  • Leila Hatami’s Kiss On The Cheek Displeases Iran’s Media

    A simple kiss on the cheek has caused controversy in the international film community. Cannes Film Festival Gilles Jacob kissed Iranian actress Leila Hatami as a greeting on Sunday at the Cannes Film Festival. A public kiss, even on the cheek, can be a big no no in Iran, especially between people who aren’t married to each other.

    Jacob, along with Hatami, was condemned by Iranian deputy culture minister Hossein Noushabadi, who called the kiss “a bad image of Iranian women”. Jacob defended himself by saying that he did not just simply kiss her, the actress, but “all Iranian cinema”, since that’s what she represents at the festival. But it seems that some political, religious, and media leaders in Iran do not want to take the compliment.

    Leila Hatami serves on the competitive jury of the festival with Sofia Coppola, Willem Dafoe, Carole Bouquet, Jeon Do-yeon, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Gael Garcia Bernal, Iran’s Press TV reported last month. Together, they will decide who will be honored at Cannes.

    According to the Washington Post, The Young Journalists Club accused the actress of “unconventional and improper behavior” not only because of the kiss, but because her neck was showing. But most other higher level Iranian government and media outlets are remaining mum. After all, former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad received similar criticism last year, by embracing the late Hugo Chavez’s mother.

    Leila Hatami is best known for her movie, A Separation, which won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe in 2012 for best Best Foreign Language Film. She also won the prestigious Silver Berlin Bear award at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival for her acting in the movie. According to IMDB, she currently lives in Iran and is the daughter of Director Ali Hatami and Actress Zari Khoshkam.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Leila Hatami In Hot Water Over Kiss At Cannes

    Leila Hatami, a popular Iranian actress, is in headlines today after cameras caught her giving the customary double-cheek kiss at Cannes to festival president Gilles Jacob.

    Iranian deputy culture minister Hossein Noushabadi is outraged that Hatami would kiss a man who isn’t her husband in public view, saying that it damages the reputation of Iranian women who are meant to be seen as chaste and innocent.

    “Those who attend international events should take heed of the credibility and chastity of Iranians so that a bad image of Iranian women will not be demonstrated to the world,” he said.

    Jacob responded to the backlash on Twitter, saying that a Western custom shouldn’t interfere with the way all Iranian women are viewed.

    “I kissed Mrs Hatami on the cheek. At that moment, for me she represented all Iranian cinema, then she became herself again. The controversy over a usual custom in the West has therefore no reason to be,” he wrote.

    Hatami is a judge on the Palme d’Or prize jury at Cannes this year and has also made waves with her mode of dress at the festival; although she was wearing a head scarf in the photo with Jacob, her neck was uncovered, which is considered improper in Iran.

    Hatami has not responded to the backlash, but Twitter has.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons