I knew this person well and I learned that Persian culture, unlike American culture, has concepts for sucking up to female authority figures as well as male. The expressions I learned were pretty sexually explicit and I don't know if I remember them well. But I was very struck by the fact that the culture had egalitarian qualities my own culture lacks. For me, it was a growth experience and provided much needed mental models for my own life.
No culture is a monolith. The modern government in Iran is being transposed over a culture that is thousands of years old. It is a rich culture and has many fine qualities.
Having been friends for a time with an Iranian, the thing I think of is politeness: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taarof
The second thing I think of is that Farsi is a genderless language: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_neutrality_in_genderless...
I knew this person well and I learned that Persian culture, unlike American culture, has concepts for sucking up to female authority figures as well as male. The expressions I learned were pretty sexually explicit and I don't know if I remember them well. But I was very struck by the fact that the culture had egalitarian qualities my own culture lacks. For me, it was a growth experience and provided much needed mental models for my own life.
No culture is a monolith. The modern government in Iran is being transposed over a culture that is thousands of years old. It is a rich culture and has many fine qualities.