why are trannys not in indian or arab guys

[bluesoul]

Somewhere?

okay. i hope you can understand my skepticism though because this is a country that, up until a few years ago, had outlawed pop culture in general.

[Ms.Stepford]

Yeah, but on the same side of the coin, they really don't like the gay boys and would prefer that they just be women.

Also, what's a few years? They've had excellent cinema for at least a decade. I remember watching a lovely Abbas Kiarostami film, entitled "A Taste of Cherry," back in the apartment my father lived in around 2001. (My frame of reference for this is, of course, where I was when 9/11 happened.

ed: Actually, Kiarostami, arguably the most exported figure in Iranian cinema, has been making feature length films in Iran since the nineties.

[GroobySteven]

okay. i hope you can understand my skepticism though because this is a country that, up until a few years ago, had outlawed pop culture in general.

Where did you read that?

[surf4490]

Iran is Persian and this seems to confuse a lot of Americans .Next time you hear a politician say Iran is supporting al qaeda it's beyond idiotic .Its more likely for Gerry Adams to join the British Army .My impression is Shia Islam (Iran,Syria Palestinian ect)are not as enthusiastic about imposing sex and gender rules ,but I'm no expert.

[bluesoul]

Where did you read that?

word of mouth from persian friends. it's the reason a lot of artists left iran during the revolution because "the 1979 islamic revolution did not allow this musical genre to survive long. ayatollah khomeini banned rock music" although pretty much anything "western" was outlawed.

matter of fact, even up to the late 80s, nobody was aware of exactly what was and wasn't illegal, and it wasn't until to ayatollah himself claimed to "enjoy" some form of music and approved a certain film (i think called the cow or something like that) and things got a little more relaxed.

you can read a more about it below:

http://www.freemuse.org/sw1420.asp

[serial138]

I'm amazed that anyone doesn't like Indian or Persian women. They are absolutely beautiful. The girl from Planet of the Apes and Slumdog Millionaire (her name eludes me at this time) is gorgeous. Long black hair and the natural tan gets me every time though.

I will admit though, the culture thing Dino mentioned is a big thing to overcome. I dated an Indian from Chennai in college and her parents where adamant about certain norms that had to apply whenever they came to visit. I couldn't eat any cow products when they visited, and her whole way of speaking and behavior changed as soon as they walked in the door. She's 26 now and her parents are basically trying to auction her off to anyone they can find on the web that's Indian. Even though she has a successful carreer in NY in the fashion industry and is in no hurry herself. It's something with the culture there, a woman over 25 that's not married is no bueno. While her and I got along great, she caught a lot of flack for dating outside her race.

Of course, I haven't dated a white woman in probably 15 years, so my opinions are biased the other way. My family is 100% pure blood German dating back many generations, until you get to my generation. I have 2 cousins married to latin americans, a brother married to a Jew, a sister married to a Puerto rican, and my ex-fance was black. It's not that my family is racist, they just didn't have much exposure to other cultures until my parents generation.

[bluesoul]

Yeah, but on the same side of the coin, they really don't like the gay boys and would prefer that they just be women.

Also, what's a few years? They've had excellent cinema for at least a decade. I remember watching a lovely Abbas Kiarostami film, entitled "A Taste of Cherry," back in the apartment my father lived in around 2001. (My frame of reference for this is, of course, where I was when 9/11 happened.

ed: Actually, Kiarostami, arguably the most exported figure in Iranian cinema, has been making feature length films in Iran since the nineties.

well, i know that the ayatollah watched the cow and supposedly started to laugh so this was taken as a sign that it was okay to poke fun of themselves (before that, it was unknown whether this sort of humor was illegal) and the ayatollah became leader in 79. i'm not sure when he watched the film, but it was when he was in power and afterwards, things became a little more relaxed in the country as far as how persians could express themselves- what jokes they could tell etc.

of course pre-ayatollah iran was a pretty swinging place full of really hot chicks

[serial138]

I vaguely remember reading something similar to what Ms. Stepford posted as well, that Iran's government pays for sex changes or something like that. They absolutely detest gay men, but being transexual is "curable" with government approved surgeries.

Such a weird country, but there are so many other countries with similar attitudes towards gays/transgendered around the world you can't really claim they are alone in that attitude. One of the many reasons I am thankful that I was born in the first world portion of the planet. We have many issues in how we treat our gays/transgendered as well, don't get me wrong, but we are light years ahead of a lot of places.

[serial138]

I am kind of a mutt when it comes to my ethnic background. My mothers side comes from China but then moved to the Filippines for the last three generations and my father is full Italian and met my mother while being deployed in the military. So I'm not sure what you would call me.

Is it bad that I can tell you're at the Rio in that pic? Maybe the Orleans, but I'm putting my money on Rio.

It's amazing how small this city really is.

[Prospero]

Iran is Persian and this seems to confuse a lot of Americans .Next time you hear a politician say Iran is supporting al qaeda it's beyond idiotic .Its more likely for Gerry Adams to join the British Army .My impression is Shia Islam (Iran,Syria Palestinian ect)are not as enthusiastic about imposing sex and gender rules ,but I'm no expert.

Broadly right - but the Palestinians are not, by and large, Shia. They are primarily Sunni though some are Christians. The conflict in Sria now is between various groups - though the majority of the Syrian population are not Shia either (though the ruling party and the Assad family are members of a paticular Shia sect)

Iran certainly does not support al Queda (which is a radical Sunni islamist movement).