Covering women heads (Iran)
We have misinformation or at least biased information about Iran. A country that once you have visited you think that in no way it resembles what you had been told or imagined. People imagine a country in which women dress homogeneously in black and they cover their bodies and faces completely. Nothing could be further from the truth. By law women must have covered their heads, but not need to wear a burka or niqab as many people could think. In fact, in Iran is very rare to find a woman in burka dress and completely covered, the most popular dresses are the black chador (not covering the face) and the head scarf (with many different names depend on the size, shape and materials) but there are many other options. Traveling around the country, I found great diversity in the way women cover their heads. In Verzaneh, for example, women wear a chador of a pure white color. In the village of Abyaneh they wear a white head handkerchief stamped with flowers and colorful skirts. In the village of Meymand (where their inhabitants still live in caves) they cover their heads usually with white head scarves and dress in a unique way. And in many cities, especially in Tehran, young women use a hair handkerchief which shows most of the hair. Of course, there are women who wear black chador but they are not the majority (apart from religious places of Qom and Mashad)