2020

Iranian Culture Essay

Emma Blair
Professor Kelly Smith
12/10/2020
 Recently, the news always seems to have something negative to say about the relations

between Iran and America. As these news stories have circulated, the average person has

slowly become subconsciously prejudiced towards Iranians, and Middle Easterners in general.

Stereotypes and opinions have been formed by many, but is what the media tells us really

representative of their culture or not? Perhaps they are similar to us in some ways. In this paper

I will be discussing a variety of aspects in Iranian culture. At the end, you can decide if Iranians

are as the media depicts, or perhaps they are not as you thought they were.

When looking at a country, one of the first questions to ask is, “Do they prefer

collectivism or individualism?” A professor told me that, while they are not individualists, he

would not call them strong collectivists either. He believes that they are communal. They have

strong ties to their relatives and practice group harmony in the families. This tight knit mentality

extends to their local community but stops about there. So, while they are collectivistic on a

somewhat small scale, they do not tend to have that mentality strongly directed towards the

entire country.

Iran promotes a high context culture. “People tend to rely on an elaborate system of

symbols, body language, intonations of speech, figures of speech, metaphors and implicit

meanings and gestures.” (Khatib, 2019) They have a beautiful language that makes use of

several metaphors, figures of speech, and vocal inflections. For them the same phrase can be

used in several situations, but the direct meaning may not make sense in that circumstance. An

example of this is their use of the word ‫( بفرمایید‬Bay-far-moe-een) which literally means “here

you are.” It is translated as something along the lines of “go ahead.” They also value the beauty

of words and figures of speech. For example, there way of saying “you didn’t see that” is by
saying ‫( شتر دیدی ندیدی‬shet-tor-dede-na-dede) literally translates to “the camel you saw you did

not see.”

While each person is unique, there are a few general values that most Iranians hold.

One of these values makes them rather similar to Americans. That value is national pride. Iran

came from the Persian Empire and still has roots in “the old glory days” of that time. This

fosters a sense of pride and confidence in their nation. Another important value is beauty.

Iranians have an impressive eye and appreciation for beauty. They build stunning mosques and

monuments that are decorated in exquisite colors and stonework. In addition to their beautiful

architecture, they also have several centuries filled with great poets. “’It’s at the very fabric of

Persian culture . . . Our cultural and national heroes are not political leaders, are not religious

leaders … they’re poets.’” (Harriet, 2018) They have streets named after their poets, and the

majority of Iranians are able to quote famous poems. Iran is a land filled with poetry, and its

language is beautifully expressed through it. The last general value that I will touch on is the

respect of elders and something called taarof. In Iran, respect and manners are extremely

important. Children are never to interrupt adults, and the oldest in the room receives respect

from everyone else there. This respect ties into taarof. This is the Iranian word which refers to

etiquette. Iranians feel that it is imperative to be polite. While their manners are different from

ours, they enable Iranians to easily show deep respect for one another. One common example

is their refusal of something offered to them. When an Iranian is offered something, such as a

cup of tea, it is customary for them to refuse. It is seen as rude to accept something when first

offered. They will refuse something up to three times before accepting, depending on the

formality of the situation. This is their way of saying, “I could not imagine bothering you for a
cup of tea. You are much too kind. I cannot accept.” As a good host, it is customary to offer an

item several times so that these cultural customs can be carried out. This is even continued in

the home. However, due to the fact that it is less formal, refusing once will suffice. This is just

one of the many ways that they practice etiquette in Iran.

The next cultural aspect that I will address is time. Iran tends to favor a polychronic

time system. According to the textbook, polychronic time is defined as “cultural temporal

orientation that stresses the involvement of people and completion of tasks as opposed to

strict adherence to schedules; time is not seen as measurable.” (Neuliep, 2018) When talking

with a Farsi teacher, I was told that it is normal to be invited to someone’s house for dinner and

to show up an hour to an hour and a half late. In fact, that would not necessarily even be

considered late. Once again, I will mention that each Iranian is individual. However, this is an

overview of how the general Iranian culture handles time. This view of time is once again

related to the old Persian Empire. Before cars and other means of quick travel, people would

walk or ride animals. There was no way to give an exact estimate of the time that it would take

to travel from one location to another. Thus, people arrived when they could. This way of

thinking about time never seemed to change.

When many Americans hear about Iran, one of the key differences they think of involves

gender groups and roles. What they do not realize is that Iran has opportunities for women and

that most women are happy with the life they have. We tend to learn through the media, and

those who are unhappy are typically the ones who are loud enough to get the attention of the

media. It is rare to find people who say that there is little conflict and that life is happy. A major

difference from America is that, in Iran, almost everything is gender or sex segregated. What
people do not realize is that women are not prohibited from engaging in the same activities as

men. It simply means that they have a group for women and a group for men. For example,

there are subways that are only for women, sports groups that are only for women and sports

groups that are only for men. If women want to wrestle, they can wrestle. Just with other

women, as is the same for men. These groups partake in the same sports, but with their own

sex. This may seem strange and unfair to those who are uncertain about their gender. However,

in Iran, they do not support or understand the way that we view one’s ability to change their

gender. To them, a man is a man, and a woman is a woman. They do believe that a man can

have effeminate qualities and that a woman can have masculine traits, but they do not believe

that a person can change completely. Thus, they do not see a problem with having things

segregated. While it is traditional to stay home and do housework, if a woman wants, she can

get a job and start her career in any field that she wishes. Another controversy that tends to

arise around Iran and gender is their requirement of women to stay covered. The level that a

woman stays covered depends on where they live in Iran. While the head coverings are

required by law, most of their thoughts about clothing revolve around modesty and are also

practiced by men. It would be rare to see a man walking around with his shirt off. Both men and

women in Iran are expected to dress modestly. Thus, depending on the individual person, there

is little that women are not allowed to do.

As I just discussed some of the problems that Americans have with Iran’s gender

treatment, it feels only natural to continue this paper with a quick look at stereotypes.

“Stereotypes typically refer to membership in social categories – such as sex, race, age, or

profession – that are believed to be associated with certain traits and behaviors.” (Neuliep,
2018) Some Americans tend to stereotype Iranians as being religious fanatics. While Iranians

are religious, most are not fanatics. Once again, it goes back to what the media shows us. The

few who are fanatics are loud and seek attention, and the media gives it to them. It is not

necessarily their religion that makes some seem bloodthirsty to Americans, but rather their

natural response to their global situation. It is important to remember that national pride and

pride in the old Persian Empire are still held by many. Currently, Iran has many enemies who

threaten their country. Thus, they have decided that they need to act strong and to ignite

national pride. By backing them into a corner, many of the other countries have left Iran with

no choice other than to become bold. So, in hopes of being interculturally competent, it is

important to also look at how the situation appears to some Iranians. Personally, I am not sure

that either America or Iran is correct in how it handles relations. I believe that compassion and

understanding is required to have any hope at rebuilding trust. Other stereotypes include the

idea that Iranian men wear way too much cologne and always drive fast, sporty cars. Or, that all

Iranian daughters are spoiled princesses with grumpy fathers. While occasionally this may be

true, it is important to recognize that these are stereotypes and generalizations. We must learn

to get to know the individual person without preconceived notions brought on by stereotypes.

According to my Iranian culture teacher, Iran could be referred to as a moderate-to-high

contact country. While it is not appropriate for men and women to freely touch each other, it is

normal for them to touch others of the same sex. Men commonly greet each other by kissing

on the cheeks, and women do the same. This is the equivalent of how we view hugs in America.

While there are many other topics that I could discuss in relation to Iranian culture, I will

close my paper here by briefly discussing how learning more about the Iranian culture will help
me in my potential career. I hope to obtain a job in law enforcement, specifically to work for

the FBI. I am currently working on learning Farsi, which is the native language of Iran,

Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, in hopes of possibly becoming a translator. I feel that you cannot

truly appreciate a language if you do not try to understand the culture and people behind it. I

am very grateful that I have been given the chance to learn the language of this country, and

also, to further explore its culture through this assignment. I had not realized how many

stereotypes and preconceived ideas I had about the country and its people before I started

learning about it. I wonder if I have done the same to other countries. Iran is not just what the

media portrays. It is a country filled with beauty, respect, and individual people who each have

their own story and experiences. So, what do you think? Is Iran really as different as we have

been told? Or does it have many more qualities that are not frequently seen or talked about?
 References:

Harriet. “Studio 360 Explores Poetry's Cultural...” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 2018,

www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2018/08/studio-360-explores-the-cultural-

significance-of-poetry-in-iranian-culture.

Khatib, Hakim. “The Middle East Enjoys a High-Context Culture While Europe Does Not.” Mpc

Journal, 4 Apr. 2019, mpc-journal.org/blog/2015/03/29/the-middle-east-enjoys-a-high-

context-culture-while-europe-does-not/.

Neuliep, James William. Intercultural Communication: a Contextual Approach. SAGE, 2018.