Evin is a Kurdish female name, meaning "love".
December 7, 2007 7:52 AM   Subscribe

Evin is a Kurdish female name, meaning "love": Part [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
posted by chunking express (14 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Thanks chunking - not sure if you've seen the One Million Signatures Campaign. Now back to reading.
posted by Abiezer at 9:05 AM on December 7, 2007


I only read the first link. Then I remembered that dictatorships are evil so I stopped.
posted by ewkpates at 9:09 AM on December 7, 2007


I read this with great sadness and then saw the second comment and wish people like this would collect their toys and go and play somewhere else.
Thank you chunking, and Abiezer
posted by adamvasco at 9:22 AM on December 7, 2007


Jeeze, that's horrifying. I read things like this, and I realize how lucky I am, especially as a woman, and I wonder what I can do... as a human being.

I only read the first link. Then I remembered that dictatorships are evil so I stopped.

Well, er... isn't that sort of, you know, how dictatorships stay strong?
posted by katillathehun at 10:25 AM on December 7, 2007


Well, if all you do is not read about dictatorships, then I don't suppose they would get any stronger from that. No, to make them stronger you'd have to support them somehow, say build an economy dependent on their exports... that would help them stay strong.

You would have to treat them like they were human to support them, keep them strong. Even though you knew they weren't. You'd have to negotiate with them and agree to meet with them to discuss solutions like they were human and represented humans.

But they aren't. And they don't.
posted by ewkpates at 10:32 AM on December 7, 2007


Well, if all you do is not read about dictatorships, then I don't suppose they would get any stronger from that.

Dictatorships operate best when people are silent and turn a blind eye to their crimes.
posted by katillathehun at 10:36 AM on December 7, 2007


The social worker nodded in a manner that indicated her disgust at our request but that she condescended to do it merely as a courtesy
If the social worker was wearing a hijab too this seems unlikely. It's a terrifying article, but sentences like this, and the condescending editorial tone in general (only a high school diploma, three week course, fat bearded men), detract from the seriousness of the issue.
posted by pantsrobot at 10:44 AM on December 7, 2007


hijab->chador
posted by pantsrobot at 10:47 AM on December 7, 2007


Thanks very much for this post. Not an easy read, but a hell of a lot easier than doing time in Evin, or even doing research there.

I only read the first link. Then I remembered that dictatorships are evil so I stopped.

I only read the first page of Darkness at Noon. Then I remembered that dictatorships are evil so I stopped.

I only read the first paragraph of The Gulag Archipelago. Then I remembered that dictatorships are evil so I stopped.

I only looked at the cover of Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Then I remembered that dictatorships are evil so I stopped.

Then I realized that I need never read, look at, or experience anything ever again as long as I remember that dictatorships are evil.

It's a terrifying article, but sentences like this, and the condescending editorial tone in general (only a high school diploma, three week course, fat bearded men), detract from the seriousness of the issue.

You're being just as condescending as you think she is. Evil can only be reported by people who meet your high standards of reportorial tone?
posted by languagehat at 11:42 AM on December 7, 2007


pantsrobot, i'm not sure what you want here. It's an informal set of articles for a web site, not a journal article. You should also keep in mind that she had to venture into a prison day after day for months only to have all her work confiscated -- I figure I can ruin the ending since it sounds like some people won't make it to part six. Also, as a woman interviewing woman prisoners I imagine it's hard to check your emotions. I agree there is a quiet rage to the whole series. I would expect no less.

I read the first 3 parts last Februrary, and then forgot to finish the series. For some reason the prison was on my mind after seeing the trailer for Persepolis.

ewkpates, thanks for letting us all know you managed to read the first article. Good for you.
posted by chunking express at 11:58 AM on December 7, 2007


Thank you, Languagehat, for reminding us that the less articulate have, and deserve, voice as well.
posted by cookie-k at 12:38 PM on December 7, 2007


The prison is named "Love?"
What, did someone think 1984 was a how-to manual?
(sarcastic and glib, yes, but I'm a bit too horrified to actually go into what I'm really thinking)
posted by Kellydamnit at 10:23 PM on December 7, 2007


The prison is named "Love?"

No, the prison is called Evin Prison because it's in the neighborhood of Tehran called Evin. It's true that evin means 'love' in Kurdish, but so what? That has nothing to do with the prison, and the vast majority of Iranians don't know a single word of Kurdish; it's just one of those stupid journalistic tricks to tug at your heartstrings. Like pantsrobot, I'm annoyed by various aspects of the writing; unlike pantsrobot, I don't think they "detract from the seriousness of the issue."
posted by languagehat at 5:30 AM on December 8, 2007


my name's evan. any relation?
posted by tehloki at 11:29 AM on December 8, 2007


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