Iranian Women: some pictures

clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk The Western perception of Iranian women is that they live difficult, oppressed lives. Yet these pictures taken by the British photographer Olivia Arthur show Teheran's young women to be independent, party-loving, and leading surprisingly liberal lives. Fatima is 11 years old and lives in a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of Teheran with her mother and three aunts. Her father was a drug addict and left the family. The poster on the wall is of Fatima’s uncle, a local wedding DJ who plays ‘cheesy Iranian pop music’ Edyanita lives in Teheran and is Christian. She is a graphic design student The Christian community in Iran has a special legal status – Christians are permitted to drink alcohol and dance so long as they are not in the company of Muslims. many young Iranians are under-going plastic surgery; there are an estimated 3,000 plastic surgeons operating in Teheran.