Iranians are not so different from Americans.
In fact, they generally want the same things that we want, said Hooman Majd, an Iranian-American journalist, during his lecture “Iran’s Heart and Soul.” Majd came to the UMC’s Glenn Miller Ballroom to give his speech, sponsored by the Cultural Events Board, at 7:30p.m., on Thursday. Majd spoke until about 9:00p.m., after which audience members asked questions for another 20 minutes.
“There’s nothing American that you can’t buy in Tehran,” Majd said. “In Iran, boys and girls have sex. They do the same things that we do in America.”
Such things include computer-literacy, a vibrant underground gay and lesbian culture and one that does not shy away from drinking, according to Majd. He said that although the government is religiously conservative, the people largely find a way to work around many religious restrictions.
That is not to say that the Iranian people wish for a complete expulsion of their theocracy.
“By and large, Iranians do trust their government,” Majd said, adding that Iranians take pride in the fact that although they participate in American culture, they are still very much their own country.
Majd said that the problem arises in foreign relations, when the U.S. assumes that because Iranians enjoy the Today show, they would also like their government to mirror the United State’s.
“Iran has managed on it’s own for the last 30 years. It does not expect help from the U.S., and in fact it doesn’t want it,” Majd said.
Sara Azimi, a 23-year-old senior international affairs major, is Iranian-American and well-aware of the political and cultural setting in Iran. She said that what Majd said was “right on,” and exactly what Americans needed to hear about Iran.
“I could go up and give him a big fat smooch because we needed something like this in Boulder,” Azimi said. “As an Iranian, I thought it was perfect for an American audience because it gave that general sense, it showed how everything there is not black and white.”
Sometimes, Majd said, wanting the same thing ends up in a clash of values and viewpoints, such as our governments’ desire for influence, power and economic power.
“Iranians tend to like Americans, but they don’t trust the American government,” Majd said.
The problem, Majd said, is that for the last 30 years there has been an element of disrespect for Iran—the idea that Iran should comply with specific restrictions by the U.S. and other countries before even agreeing to talk.
According to Majd, this assumption that Iran must think the same way politically as the U.S. is where the danger in reconciling the two cultures lies.
“By and large, the people are united in believing in having their own country, their own values, and not being subservient to the West,” Majd said.
Vera Awachie, the Cultural Events Board vice chair and a 21-year-old senior political science major, said that Majd was the perfect speaker for relating American and Iranian culture.
“I think that was he has to say is great because, a lot of people don’t realize how if you go to Iran, you could really relate to the average Iranian much more than you think you could,” Awachie said.
Adel Shahnoushi, a 20-year-old sophomore biochemistry major, said that this was exactly what he got out of the lecture.
“It certainly clarified misconceptions about Iran,” Shahnoushi said. “What I like about this speaker is that he has been there, he knows the people that run the country, and yet he has lived in the U.S. too for a long time.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Write Ana Romano at Analisa.romano@colorado.edu.
1 comment
This guy Majd obviously puts Islam above Iran. He is wrong to say that some Iranians like the Theocrats. No one likes them. The ones that do, do not like Iran, and they want The Mahdi come out of the well etc etc.