Covering Up

Some of the funniest parts of Marjane Satrapi's delightful Persepolis concern the dress codes imposed by the Islamic moral police in Iran. People of both sexes were obliged to cover themselves more or less completely in order, the authorities claimed, to protect members of the public from the rampant sexuality of their fellow human beings. No man who was not a cleric could be trusted to control himself at the sight of a woman's hair, any more than nice girls could be expected to remain chaste if a man wore a short-sleeved shirt. Satrapi and other morally questionable persons pushed at the boundaries of these rules by pushing their head-dress back an eighth of an inch a month until they were ordered to protect themselves more thoroughly; this tactic led eventually to a magnificent put-down by Satrapi's father of a sanctimonious female teacher, which is far too good to give away here.

In Mexico City, one Reverend Sergio G Roman has echoed the mad mullahs in a disquisition on family values; though, since he is a Catholic and not a Muslim, his moral itches are limited to female attire. "When we show our body without prudence, without modesty, we are prostituting ourselves," he wrote, referring apparently to the mini-skirt rather than to the notoriously provocative outfits of altar-boys and other sources of sexual temptation. There has been a healthy press and public reaction, causing the church to trot out the perennial excuse that their servant's words have been twisted. His article was intended only to provide "moral guidance for the Catholic community", rather than having anything to do with the real world.