life in iran
TRANSCRIPT
LIFE IN IRAN“NOT WITHHOUT MY
DAUGHTER”
By: Monica Damron
NOT WITHOUT MY DAUGHTER
Written by Betty Mahmoody and William Hoffer
True story of a mother and daughters experience
and escape from Iran
Has been made into a motion picture
Chose to read this book due to a recent cesarean
section and could not travel
IRAN
SUBJECT TO MALE DOMINANCE
Women were to remain at home and care for the
children
Men worked and provided the income
Women could only do as the husband had
instructed
Women were submissive
BETTY’S EXPERIENCE
Betty agreed to go on vacation to Iran for two weeks, her
husband had promised on the Koran, that they would return
afterwards
They left on in August 1984
She soon learned that she nor, their daughter, Mahtob would be
returning to the United States
She began to live a submissive life as an Iranian woman
She wore the rusari (to cover her hair) and the chador (to cover
her body), it’s much like a loose fitting trench coat
KORAN
Islamic Bible
THE EMBASSY
Could not help her unless she was willing to leave
her child
Could keep in contact with her family for her
Suggested that she try not to escape due to women
being raped and killed
Checked on her to make sure she was okay
THE ESCAPE
Moody had been called away for an emergency
Betty and Mahtob began their journey to a man that had
promised to help
The stayed in apartment until they began their decent at night
They were driven in cars, rode mules, walked and rode buses
Aided by numerous individuals who gave them clothing to
match theirs and fed them
Arrived home on February 7, 1986
THEIR ESCAPE ROUTE
500
MILES
TODAY: BETTY MAHMOODY
Has written another book called “For the Love of a Child”; about other stories from parents whose foreign parents estranged them from their children.
TODAY: MAHTOB MAHMOODY
Mahtob never again saw her father;She is now 31 years old;She is a public speaker at domestic assault vigils
TODAY: MOODY
Sayyad Bozorg Mahmoody “Moody” died in Iran on August 23, 2009 of Kidney Failure;He wrote a book in 2002 about how Hollywood had made him out to be a mad man and a wife beater; that he never did those cruel things; and his book has his side of the story
MY OPINION
I am glad that I am a United States citizen
I am not subject to male dominance
I can wear what I want to wear
I have rights
We don’t have missile attacks
We have clean food and water
I look at immigrants with understanding; for I too would want to
escape the trials they face on a daily basis
I would highly recommend that everyone read this book