page_title: Sex segregation in Iran
section_title: Dress code
hierarchical_section_title: Sex segregation in Iran / After the Islamic Revolution / Dress code
caption_attribution_description: English: Women on the street in Shiraz فارسی: مردم در شهر شیرازWomen on the street
context_page_description: Sex segregation in Iran encompasses practices derived from the conservative dogma of Shiite Islam currently taking place in Iran. Most areas of the country are segregated by sex, except universities. In many cities, there are women parks, just for females.
context_section_description: After the revolution, Parliament made it compulsory for all women to observe the veil and for the first time rules prescribing the Hijab as proper attire for women were written into the law.
  According to the law, women’s clothing should meet the following conditions:
  Women must cover their entire body except their faces and hands (from wrist to the base of the fingers).
  Women who choose not to wear chador, must wear a long overcoat called manteau. Manteau should be thick enough to conceal what is underneath, and should be loose fitting.
  Women should not wear bright colored clothes or clothes that are adorned so that they may attract men's attention. Although in recent years many women wear more colorful dresses in public and this seems to be tolerated by the moral police.
  Correspondingly, bad hijabi (improper veiling”) was considered a cultural crime. Bad hijabi is defined by the law as: “uncovered head, showing make-up, uncovered arms and legs, thin and see-through clothes, tight clothes such as trousers without an overall over them, clothes bearing foreign words, signs or pictures, nail varnish, brightly colored clothing and improper modes of body movement or talking”.
  The punishment of bad hijabi was 74 lashes in the 1983 Penal Law. In 1996, the Penal Law was reformed and the punishment of bad hijabi was reduced to prison (from ten days to four months) and/or a fine (from 50,000 to 500000 Rials).
  What follows is an excerpt from Ayatollah Khamenei's speech regarding bad-hijabi:
  More than Iran's enemies need artillery, guns and so forth, they need to spread their anti-culture that leads to moral corruption. Instead of bombs, they now send miniskirts and short manteaus. If they arouse sexual desires in any given country, if they spread unrestrained mixing of men and women, and if they lead youth to behavior to which they are naturally inclined by instincts, there will no longer be any need for artillery and guns against that nation. 
  Iranian women are not required to wear chadors. Some do so, as wearing it is a claim to respectability and Islamic piety. However, women may also fulfill the government requirements for modest dress by wearing a combination of a headscarf and manteau.
  Men are also concerned with veiling. Like women, men are not allowed to exhibit their legs or upper torso. Although wearing ties or bow-ties is not prohibited, since they are considered signs of western influence, they are not acceptable as an official norm. Wearing earrings is prohibited for men.
caption: Women wearing chador in Shiraz Bazar
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