Jewels of Allah

The Untold Stories of Women In Iran
by
Nina Ansary

"It is difficult to find many bright spots in the lives of Persian women. ... Their liberty of movement, of action, and of speech is curtailed. ... In the prevailing social condition ... they could not do anything unless [they were] helped by men. ... But some of the women maintain, and I agree with them, that their wisest plan is to go ahead and show what they can do. The day will come when the men will ask for their help." -- Clara Colliver Rice, American missionary, 1923

I grew up in Iran with two very different grandmothers. As a young girl, I took at face value the fact that one of my grandmothers was a devout woman who never left her home without wearing a head scarf, and the other was a Western-educated progressive-minded woman who didn't think twice about swimming topless in the family pool. Yet both women were forces to be reckoned with and by no means subservient.