Man-Made Nose; Man-Made Flower

Nose operations, corrections of virginity, and even sex changes are no longer a rarity in the Islamic republic. Charlotte Wiedemann on the influence of modern surgery on the self-image of young Iranians

Two youths in Iran (photo: Deutsche Welle)
Some people are against plastic surgery for religious reasons. "God made us the way we are," says a female student in Kerman, "and for him we are all beautiful."

​​The young girls in Teheran's Café Brasillia all look suspiciously alike. At first glance, it may seem to be down to the way they are dressed: figure-hugging shirt dresses, pointed shoes, and a mere hint of a headscarf over their hair. At second glance, however, one notices their noses: they are all identically small and pretty and they give the girl's faces a snub-nosed naivety that makes them difficult to tell apart.

Café Brasillia belongs to the Jaam-e-jam food court: the in meeting place for affluent, trendy and hideously bored young people from the north of the city. Just like the car keys and mobile phones alongside the beakers of caffé latte on the table, the man-made nose is an accessory in these circles.

There are several other places in the Iranian capital where such noses are on display, Vanak Square is another one. This quarter is full of cosmetic surgeries: "Skin, hair, beauty, plastic surgery" boast the signs on the side of the road. Young women with plasters over their noses are window shopping in the vicinity. It is no shame to have your nose corrected. On the contrary, the plaster tells passers-by: "Look at me. I can afford it!"

"Beauty is important for us Iranians"

A standard operation costs about € 700; that's what an Iranian teacher earns in about two or three months. But that only gets you a prêt-à-porter nose; a customised nose job will easily set you back one thousand euros or more.

On Vanak Square, a young woman is standing in front of the "Centre for Facial Surgery", her eyes scouring the doctors' signs. "Nose?" she promptly answers, "No, breasts!" That will cost her at least nine teachers' monthly wages. Her searching gaze is already crowned with artificial eyebrows. They have been tattooed on. "Beauty is important for us Iranians," she says.

The fake nose is a phenomenon of the urban middle and upper classes. There's a derisory saying in Iran: the further away one moves from Teheran, the bigger the noses. When asked about their reasons for undergoing such an operation, the women often say that it is the fact that they have to wear a headscarf: a big nose stands out even more when you are not allowed to show your hair. Older, wealthy women have their faces lifted and gel injected under their skin and also point to the headscarf as their reason for doing so.

Chiselled noses and lifted breasts

The reality of the matter is different: there is a whole bouquet of reasons for the boom in cosmetic surgery. Even in the days of the Shah, a so-called "Aryan ideal of beauty" haunted Persian tastes. The term "Aryan" means little to the youth of today; they are copying what western films tell them is beautiful. The hollywoodisation of oriental faces. In Los Angeles, home to a large number of exiled Iranians, some Iranian doctors are earning a fortune by performing cosmetic surgery. But that doesn't surprise anyone in Hollywood.

But western astonishment at chiselled noses and lifted breasts in the Islamic Republic is a sign of how little we know about one another. After all, the leaden political situation in Iran can be considered another reason why people are willing to manipulate in an area where change is possible. It is easier to correct a nose than an entire system. Creating perfect beauty - or what people consider to be perfect beauty - is one of many small escapes from standstill and boredom. As is zipping around in a flashy car or taking drugs.

Apparently, there are over one hundred cosmetic surgeries in Teheran today. The older surgeons learned the trade of plastic surgery the hard way, namely by operating on the mutilated men who came back from the Iran-Iraq war.

Cosmetic surgery is a good source of income for doctors today; certainly a much better one than treating your average medical patient. In other words, the growing market for cosmetic correction is not only fed by a social demand, but also by suppliers who are looking for a demand.

Keeping up appearances

Just as the correction of a nose is important for a city girl, so is the correction of virginity urgent for many a girl from the country. Golduzi - "embroidering flowers" - is the poetic term people use when a discreet doctor reaches for his scalpel. A new flower costs € 250 - a fortune for a provincial girl. It is easy to understand why many suspect that this fee goes not only towards the doctor's embroidery talents, but also his silence.

Sometimes, a bride-to-be wants to keep her sexual experience a secret from her future husband. However, it is often the case that the groom himself pays for a new flower, after having himself destroyed the first one. In so doing, the young couple keeps up appearances for the sake of the rest of the family, which demands the proof in the form of blood-stained wedding sheets. And some girls even pay multiple visits to the Golduzi; that's how strange the times are.

It is not easy to say whether the body is corrected to keep up appearances, to attain an ideal, or simply for personal pleasure. Sometimes it can be a mixture of all three. Nothing seems impossible in the land of the mullahs. Vagina tightening may be a recent addition to the Swiss plastic surgery market; in Iran, however, it is an open secret that many men would like to "rejuvenate" their women in this way. Even sex changes are legally available in Iran: transsexuality is considered to be an illness that can be cured.

It would, however, be wrong to generalise and to think that every man and every women in Iran is yearning for plastic surgery of some sort. Some people hold this trend in contempt. Some people are against it for religious reasons. "God made us the way we are," says a female student in Kerman, "and for him we are all beautiful." When a young man in a Teheran gay café begins to speak about his nose surgery, his partner interrupts him tenderly with the words: "I would love you even if you had your old nose."

Charlotte Wiedemann

© Qantara.de 2006

Translated from the German by Mark Rossman

Qantara.de

Sexuality and Sex Education in Iran
No Longer a Taboo
For some time now, sex education classes have been part of the national birth control programme in the Islamic Republic of Iran. They are seen as part of the effort to limit the country's population explosion. Roshanak Zangeneh visited a course for young adults in Teheran

AIDS
Dubious Education
AIDS has long ceased being a taboo topic in Iran. The state has made efforts to bring the problem under control. However, official statements and social reality are still worlds apart. Shahram Ahadi reports

Women's Sport in Afghanistan
Training in Secret for Fear of Extremists
Afghanistan's very first fitness and beauty center has recently opened in Kabul. The owner has nonetheless decided to keep its location a secret. Three years after the fall of the Taliban regime, she remains fearful of arousing the fury of those aiming to preserve traditional customs and practices. A report by Ali Matar