Public Private
Again, I am worried about my Farsi blog's privacy. I know that calling a blog private has some paradox in itself...But what I mean is that I really don't want my second cousin, my mom's staff, and some random family friends read this blog. I only gave my blog's address to two of my best friends....The thing is that my beloved sister's blog is known to the whole world! I understand that it is her choice. I respect that. But I haven't told anybody about it and I hate it when people whom I know talk to me about the things I write in my blog...(given that I haven't told them about it)
Two solutions came to my mind, well actually three:
1. Close the Farsi blog all together and open a new one anonymously.
2. Open a new Farsi blog but keep this one too.
3. Write most of the controversial parts in the English blog. I am sure most people don't bother to read the English blog.
There is always another solution too...Don't write controversial at all! But knowing myself that's not an option...I mean the culture is pretty conservative in certain subjects that almost anything that I say is controversial...
posted by Anar @ 5:12 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Do what I do: My suggestion is definitly an anonymous blogger. But remember it is hard to keep it anonymous!
Hmmm, you have something of a dilemma here! I recall that once before you thought about closing your Farsi blog. I tried to encourage you to be yourself and to write what was important to you. However, you taught me how important it is in Iranian society to behave in a socially acceptable manner. So, here you are once again. You want to discuss the points of disagreement between yourself and Iranian social norms, but you also want to be accepted and to avoid bringing shame on your family. Am I understanding the problem correctly?
Let me ask you something. How many women in Iran do you think suffer because they feel that they can never really express themselves? Of course, my knowledge of Iran is like a small child's compared to yours. However, I think that people are pretty much the same no matter what culture they are raised in. I think that people who are raised in an environment in which they are free to express their thoughts and feelings are healthier and happier people. I have heard the term "high maintanence" applied to some Iranian women numerous times in the past. I am not sure, but I suspect that some Iranian women are this way because there are so many social restrictions on their behavior and on what is acceptable for them to talk about. Is this possibly true?
In my opinion, the only way to begin to change things for the better is for people to have frank discussions about what can be improved.
Pantea, only you can decide what your comfort level is with regard to what you write. However, if you don't mind, I would like to say that in the more than one year that I have known you, I have seen you demonstrate a great deal of courage through some very difficult times. I feel honored to know a person such as you. Whatever you decide about your Farsi blog, I will still feel the same way.
Here is the thing...Speaking out my mind is a quality that I hav etrained myself for it. As David said, the general tendency is to cover up..not being yourself..not speaking of what you think...the need to be socially accepted...individuality is not very much appreciated I think.
But, I don't believe in such system. I think it's wrong. You can never make everyone happy. This is just not possible. And I would feel that I am betraying my own principle. I always thought of myself as a person who has thought behind her values...someone who can at least tell you why she believes in what she think is he perspective about life...I always though that I won't do something that I can not talk about it in public...and to be honest I have been loyal to this...con'd
cont'd...
But on the other hand, I have a tendency to keep my private life private. I won't talk about my boyfriends here but I very easily can talk about what I have read and learned about a touchy subject like masturbation.
So I think in my real life I have manged to speak out my mind and be private at the same time. In my Farsi blog however, I am not totally like that...or at least I think...
I always lose the line between speaking out my mind in a more general sense and talking about my own private life...hmm, maybe I should ask people about it in my Farsi blog...
Anyway, I am trying to describe the situation and explain why I think having an anonymous blog is painful to me...I am open to your suggestions and comments. Thanks in advance!
I think that asking people who visit your Farsi blog is a great idea! Maybe you could have a discussion there about the hesitancy of Iranians to speak their mind. I think that you will find that most of your visitors are very frustrated, just as you have been, by the difficulty of saying what they really think and feel.
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