Many Iranians live two lives: one in public to conform with the Islamic republic’s severe restrictions, and one in private to avoid the curbs as thousands of people protest on the streets in a show of dissent.
The double life involves what in the west is normal. Like drinking, letting your hair down, listening to music, dancing, and riding a motorbike rather than drunken, wild celebrations or torrid depravity.
Music, alcohol, nightclubs, gambling, mixed sports, and sex outside marriage are prohibited in the Islamic republic, founded by Iranian political and religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979.
To stop men and women from working in the same places, the nation has also established gender segregation restrictions in certain areas.
The curbs are harsher for women, who have to cover themselves in veils.
Women who do not wear headscarves are “naked,” said Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic revolution of 1979 that brought seismic changes to Iran.
Women were also prohibited from driving motorbikes and bicycles, singing in public, or practicing some sports.
Years later, Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Khomeini’s successor, said riding bikes and bicycles “exposes society to corruption” and “contravenes women’s chastity”.
https://www.laprensalatina.com/behind-the-veil-the-dual-life-iranians-live-to-dodge-islamist-curbs
