ABSTRACT
This text takes the reader on a journey with a young female Sepideh, an eyewitness of the times before, during and after the Iranian revolution. She tells about the failure of Shah Reza Pahlavi and his one-party rule to satisfy the desire of his people for freedom. The movements and riots against him included left-wing and religious groups as well as many people who longed for political freedom, regardless of their political affiliation. In the centre of the narrative are women in this fateful period. In Iran, religion has always had significant influence, especially among the disadvantaged sections of the population. Sepideh observes though that educated women and men in Iran also began to appreciate religious values and classify them almost euphorically as waywisers in their lives. However, after the revolution those women became disappointed in the new system in many respects, unfortunately also in their male intellectual comrades-in-arms. In addition to the clothing regulations, they had to accept other losses. The text also investigates why the appearance of women in public plays such an important role and why the headscarf has become such a central topic in many countries. Sepideh observes how after the revolution many people left Iran and how the emigration wave increased in the following decades, leading to the formation of a large Iranian diaspora.
