Rage Against the Veil

By Parvin Darabi

On February 21, 1994, a gesticulating and screaming woman entered a crowded public square in Tehran, removed her government-mandated veil and full coat, poured gasoline on her body and lit herself on fire. The crowd watched in horror as this woman, who had shouted, "Death to tyranny Long live freedom ", committed a slow, painful suicide in a last, desperate attempt to make the world aware of the slavelike conditions of women living in Iran.A shockwave was felt in the American medical and feminist communities as well as in the Iranian political regime when the media reported that the self-appointed martyr was well-respected Dr. Homa Darabi, a lifelong advocate of civil rights and the first Iranian ever to be accepted into the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Darabi had risen from a student activist to a civil rights leader and moved on to a brilliant career in medicine as a premier psychiatrist, teaching at the University of Tehran, and establishing the first clinic in Iran to treat children's mental disorders.In this moving memoir, Darabi's sister, Parvin, and her son, Romin P. Thomson, vividly recreate Homa's childhood in Iran in the politically tempestuous '50s and '60s-a time of limited resources, tensions, and religiously sanctioned child abuse. They remember Homa's early yearnings for justice; the battle for democracy during the Shah's regime; and her marriage, which began as a loving partnership and ended under Khomeini in disaster. They unflinchingly recount the stonings, beatings, rapes, and executions of women, all performed in the name of God-outrageous abuses that Dr. Homa Darabi tried to expose to the world through her own final act of desperation.If you care about basic human rights, this scathing indictment of contemporary oppression in Iran will enrage you.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1573926825
• ISBN13: 9781573926829
• Release Date: February 1999
• Publisher: Prometheus Books
• Length: 276 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Touching story, shows that there is still so much oprression

This book describes the life of a female Iranian doctor, Homa Darabi, who was highly gifted and eager to help the people in her country, and whose only intention in life was to sacrifice herself for others. Since she also was sensitive and fragile, she was broken by the oppressive system in Iran which forced her to become a housewife, also she probably had been one of the most qualified doctors in Iran - as far as can be told from the book she was e.g. both morally and intellectaully far superior to her husband who also is a doctor. Her desparation left her only one way out: burning herself. We all have to be grateful to Mrs. Parvin Darabi, who is Homa Darabi's sister, and her son Mr. Romin Thomson that they prevented her story from being forgotten. A word to muslim readers: The problem islamic countries is not whether or not to wear a veil etc. but whether or not a woman (or a man) can be f o r c e d to follow the rules of a faith not shared by her (or him). In western countries you have the right to be islamic, but in many islamic countries freethinkers, homosexuals etc. seem not to have the right to pursue t h e i r way of life.

Who is supposed to tell us what to read?

I am a Christian and I started reading Rage Against The Veil before the Islamic Human Rights Commission banned it in Europe. I wanted to learn a little more about Islam and Iran. I don't know why the book is so offensive to the IHRC, except perhaps because it speaks out for free thought and choices for citizens in Iran, especially women. The biography is a somewhat personal account of sisters Parvin and Homa Darabi, growing up in Iran, and the decisions and choices they have to make. To a westerner this day to day living gives a little glimpse inside of an Islamic country. The marriage laws of the country are very important in the book, especially if one is a woman. Planned marriages at an early age, are the norm for girls. Thirteen or sixteen years old might be the average age of a bride, but a nine year old girl can be married to a fifty year old plus man. Muhammad himself married a nine year old girl, and the nine year age for wives is written into the Koran. Obviously the girl has no choice. She might be the first wife for her husband, or the fourth wife. A married woman has to have permission from her husband to go anywhere, and permission from her husband to get a divorce. Another book, The Princess, by Jean P. Sasson, is somewhat comparable to Rage Against The Veil, except in The Princess the main character and her sister are princesses, and the location is Saudi Arabia. Much abuse of human beings is mentioned there. A Phillipine national is hired to work as a housecleaner in Saudi Arabia, and then finds out she has to do her work and also sexually satisfy two young men in the family. She did get back home to the Phillipines alive, after two years. I do not see why Rage Against The Veil was singled out to be banned. Once one starts to ban books there is no limit to what should be banned. A nine year old girl in Iran is considered a woman and can be given a sentence by a court of law to be executed. One such execution is mentioned in the book. The best thing to do is to read Rage Against The Veil yourself and see what it says.

The book banned by Islamic Human Rights Commission!!!

I read this book and as a Muslim-born woman in an Islamic society, it could have been my life. Except that I was not able to achieve as much as the Darabi sisters did. I was married off to a much older man when I was only sixteen years old. I never got the opportunity to develop myself into a doctor, a writer, a lawyer, a judge or even a teacher. I have lived a sad life most of the time. Never had anything in common with my husband and never learned to love a man as a man. To me men are either fathers, husbands, brothers or sons and never a partners, friends or lovers. I don't understand why the Islamic Human Rights Commission recently banned this book. I did not find anything Islamophobic in the book. I believe Muslims should read books to learn what is happening to people in the name of their Allah and their religion so that they can stop these brutalities rather than just stop the sale of books that are not in their liking. Why doesn't Islamic Human Right Commission stop the brutality in Afghanistan, Sudan, Algeria, Iran and others. Just campaigning to stop a distributor from distributing a book such as Rage Against the Veil is not a move for the acceptance of Islam. But Islam always promotes violence and wants to conquer with sword. The book is a true life story of any woman in Islamic countries except that most women in these countries are not as courageous and outspoken and accomplished as Dr. Homa Darabi. Most women in Islamic countries, in many ways like myself, live an unhappy life of working as domestic help for our husbands and children. We have no life of our own.

A Courageous Declaration of Independence

RAGE AGAINST THE VEIL is extremely powerful--every anecdote describes how patriarchal violence is made manifest not only in social, but in famial relationships, as well. Men perpetuating acts of violence against women in the name of God is a given; what was especially heart-rending is how the patriarchy corrupts the bond between women. Dr. Homa Darabi self-immolation was a couragegous declaration of independence by a woman who could only--and would only--live free & die free. This book is a must read for anyone interested in redressing violence against women.

Riveting story making you, too, raging against the veil

The authors have woven a haunting story of life in the Islamic society of Iran.The story centers around Homa, the sister of Parvin Darabi, who was a lifelong advocate of human rights and the first Iranian ever to be accepted into the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Homa raged against the legacy of stonings, beatings, rapes and executions of women, performed in the name of God.She took her own life setting herself ablaze in Tehran as her last resort of protest. Her outcry "death to tyranny, long live freedom" will change your life. I couldn't stop reading the book and I was feeling terribly sad and moved. I recommend this book to all fighting for human rights all over world especially against the abuse of women in non-secular Islamic countries.