Driving With the Wind in Your Head Scarf

Iranian marketers are beginning to uncover a potentially lucrative consumer constituency that they have long overlooked - women!

State-backed car company Iran Khodro is in the process of designing a new "women-specific" car model.

The bundle of gender stereotypes on wheels will have an automatic rather than manual transmission, alarms for flat tires, a navigation system, and a special jack designed to make it easier to change a tire. The vehicle will be painted in "feminine" colors and include interior designs tailored to women's tastes. There will also be entertainment systems for children.

"Women's necessities are different from men's," Vahid Najafi, managing director of Iran Khodro's order unit, told the Guardian. "For example, a woman goes shopping, takes children to school - so this car is going to have some visual distinctions that will separate it from other cars. It will be more beautiful. Cheerful and attractive colors will be used - for example red. A series of decoration pieces will be added to the interior, on the dashboard for example. What's important for women is that the car should be comfortable and handle well."

The very creation of a female-oriented car may seem like a liberal gesture for an Islamic state (in Saudi Arabia, women aren't even allowed to drive), but rest assured this is no real progress from the status quo. The idea is in line with gender separation long encouraged by the country's Islamic leaders; Iran has a women-only taxi service, and men and women are segregated on buses and subways.

Although women can (and do) hold political office in Iran, Islamic law imposes tight restrictions on its female citizens. They need a male guardian's permission to work or travel, they are not allowed to become judges, and a man's court testimony is considered twice as important as a woman's. Women have half the inheritance rights of males, and lose custody of their children in divorce cases.

It's within the rights of the father or male relation of a girl who has been raped to murder that girl for the sake of the family's reputation. There are still reports of women being stoned to death for adultery (although that's officially illegal).

Iran Khodro says its new cars will go on sale next June, to coincide with Iranian Women's Day.

Liz Gunnison

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