Hey

I am going to Iran soon and have been wondering whether it is necessary to wear a headscarf under the helmet or if it is acceptable to put it on when you take your helmet off?
Can anyone answer this?

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I would personally recommend wearing your buff(r) or other kind of neck warmer over your head and under your helmet. I did this because
a) I thought I would forget...
B) In the end I didn't want to attract more attention!

the local men said its ok to remove your head scarf, but those are just the horny beggars waiting for a glimpse of a single hair strain.

You start out hating the scarf but leave completely comfortable with it. Just dont use a red one... try for dull or a black one.

AND make sure your top covers your ass and at least goes down to your elbows.

You will have fun and actually enjoy there clothing experience...

*to top it off, go on the subway in Tehran in the womens only section... thats awesome even in peak hours! *

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For your comfort, prefer always black (in color) and cotton..If you will be there in very hot weathers, silk is the best option.(not to harm your throat)
If you are interested for more inf.,here is a link.
Fashion and the treatment of women in Iran
As experienced marvellous friend Dan. says, keep your belly! covered.
Wish you all the best.

I'm in Iran now and apart from wearing the scarf under the helmet, for my own confort I also bought one "manto" (the dress with long sleves) so I don't have to check every 3 seconds if my back is showing...
Anyway, from my point of view the scarf is not the most annoying part of the hejab: comparing to the fact that women cannot touch any man beside the husband in public (not even to shake hands) the scarf is nothing..

Your right, the scarf is nothing... but actually I got to enjoy not shaking or touching any man - i then applied this to all Muslim countries i visited after that. ESPECIALLY when I didnt want to touch the man....

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I've just spent 6 weeks in Iran after having ridden through India and Pakistan. During my time in various parts of the country I saw many Iranian women in brightly coloured headscarves (including red), as well as wearing jeans and less formal attire. Black is definitely not a requirement and only about 1/3 of the women we saw wore the hijab. Scarves, especially on young women were often way back on their heads with plenty of hair showing. Keep in mind that a good number of Iranians like elsewhere are not practicing moslems and therefore it was not uncommon for men to greet women with a handshake.

My wife for instance was frequently hugged, (might have to do with our age who knows), and we always felt comfortable. She was often on her own and had no problems. People treated us with respect and we did the same. We were invited into many Iranian homes, enjoyed wonderful hospitality and kindness and made many friends. Yes, there are certain cultural differences but they're not always as formal as some would have you believe. Follow your instincts, they're rarely wrong. If something doesn't feel right then it probably isn't.

I would recommend wearing a headscarf under your helmet only for the reason that it's easier than trying to put it on quickly when you remove your helmet if there's a crowd around you, and a foreigner on a bike does attract interest. Both my wife and I were approached constantly in the street by people wanting to know where we were from, what did we think of the country and offering help if we needed it. Yes, we were frequently stared at, but more in a curious way and most people returned a smile or offered a friendly greeting. Enjoy Iran, it's a beautiful country with wonderful people.

Ron

I just want to clear a few things up from the last post -
In Iran - by law you have to wear a head scarf at all times! unless your in a private family residence and they tell you its ok to take it off or your own hotel room.

You must wear something that covers your upper arms and your bottom.
Under that, you can wear tights... anything! except shorts... or just your undies! ok so you have to wear something long pants or a long skirt!

Pakistan - its up to you if you cover your hair or not. You will be respected more if you do. Pakistani's do not have a dress code as such, but i would avoid wearing short skirts, shorts, singlets (even if i was a guy) this is really impolite and will attract the wrong attention.

Iraq- I was shocked when I saw the women wearing tights and a mini skirt in the big city! in the country side they go back to more of the traditional covering up with long skirts and tops.

India - it doesnt really matter what you wear! look at the local women, they wear sarees that show off their arms and tummy!! Plus all the tourist are running around like they are at a beach party!

What I wore while riding - just my normal motorcycle pants and amour jacket - i didnt bother with covering up while on the bike (except for my hair) because when your a girl on a bike your treated completely different to a single women traveller walking in the streets. Your treated with the most respect and almost parallel to god! lol

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I also got thousands of hugges and kisses and everybody was extremely nice and respectful to me. Women in Iran are considered equal as men,they just have to go around fully covered..
The fact that people do it doesn't mean that it is legal to do so. I think it is better to know how the law works and then perhaps decide not to follow it, than not to know it and put people in embarrassing situations..

What I was told about how to deal with the scarf inside other people's house is "do like the other women do, anyway be sure that if they are too Muslim they will not even invite you in..".

Once a policeman when he saw from my passport that I was a woman asked me to take off the helmet, for the fact that he didn't ask to Thomas to take it off I'm assuming that he asked it only to see if I was wearing the scarf (but this is only my guess). We have also been told by a policeman that Thomas's hair (long and dreadlocks) are illegal in Iran, we laughed and went away, what to do?

Anyway people are so nice and helpful that if you are doing something wrong somebody will come and tell you for sure...

Agata

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Maximondo it seems you may have misread my post. I didn't say women don't have to wear a head scarf in public, I'm aware the law says they do. I was responding to a post that suggested not wearing a red scarf, as we saw many Iranian women in brightly coloured scarves, including red, yellow white, green and multicoloured, not only in large cities, but throughout the country.

I replied to the poster who asked for advice about wearing a scarf under her helmet. I suggested it was a good idea and might save any embarrassment when she removes her helmet. Yes, arms are usually covered, though I noticed many Iranian women wearing three quarter sleeves. I didn't raise this issue as it wasn't asked by the poster. Having spent nearly two months in Iran and only leaving a few days ago, I would consider my observations are pretty up to date. Granted we all see things through different eyes. I hope your experiences in Iran were as positive as ours were.

I was very surprised at how relaxed Iran has got about women covering up in public. I first rode across in 1997 and then again last year, and at one point I was heard to gasp "My god I can see her forearms!" about a local woman who was a bit scantily dressed by local standards- she was Iranian and was getting quite a few looks in public. There was definitely a difference in attitude between the rural areas and rhe cities. However as the others have said, it is a wonderfully friendly and welcoming country.

I had rather lazily just dug out my chador from 14 years previously and once more slung it on over my bike gear, comedy value for the rest of the group was priceless when they saw me appear looking like this and riding the 1200GS down the road.

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