Re: [Marxism] World Cup Patriotism: Iran v. Mexico

["Yoshie Furuhashi" <critical.montages@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 6/16/06, Nestor Gorojovsky <nestorgoro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Respuesta a:"Marxism Digest, Vol 32, Issue 43"
> Enviado por:marxism-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Con fecha:16 Jun 2006, a las 11:59
>
> > we have
> > to endure a wave of patriotism here. When I am looking out of my
> > office window I can see three German flags (not from official
> > buildings, but ordinary homes). No good time for Anti-Deutsche
>
> I live in a semicolonial country, thus waves of patriotism are not
> always exactly something to be "endured".   They may end up with
> seizing the sugar cane centrals, as in Cuba, or the oil, as in
> Bolivia, etc.

I watched the World Cup match of Iran and Mexico -- two peoples with
whom Washington is at odds! -- with my Iranian friends (mainly men).

Not knowing anything about Iranian football, before the match began, I
told my friends to point out to me cute guys on the Iranian squad, so
I would know where to focus.  :->  My friends said that Mehdi
Mahdavi-Kia
<http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/player/155853_MAHDAVIKIA_Mehdi.html>
is good-looking, though I thought that Vahid Hashemian
<http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/player/180400_HASHEMIAN_Vahid.html>
and Ebrahim Mirzapour (who turned out to be one of the players
responsible for Iran's defeat!)
<http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/player/185639_MIRZAPOUR_Ebrahim.html>
are more appealing.  But none of the Iranians is as pretty as Raphael
Marquez:
<http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/player/178119_MARQUEZ_Rafael.html>.
Naturally, my sympathies were torn.  After the President of Iran
issued a decree allowing women to attend sports events, Iran's ruling
clerics immediately vetoed it: "But when Ahmedinejad made his
announcement it forced the clerics to take a position and they said
women couldn't look at the naked legs and arms of the male players"
(Jafar Panahi, qtd. in Frances Harrison, "Iran's Female Fans Yet to
win Equality," <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5052000.stm>).
Yes, indeed, only MEN can appreciate the naked legs and arms of other
MEN!  What the clerics truly fear, however, might be that female fans
might find guys on the other team cuter than guys on their team.  :->

Iran held its ground in the first half; but, in the second half, the
Iranian team was on the defensive from the beginning, and the team's
morale seemed to collapse after Mexico scored its second goal, and
then the team allowed Mexico to score an easy third goal.  According
to my Iranian friends, that's typical of Iranian football: losing
confidence altogether after losing a little.  I hope that's not a bad
political omen!

We watched the match on ABC.  It should be noted that, whenever Mexico
scored, the camera showed ordinary Mexican men and women jumping up
and down and cheering in Mexico City, but it refused to show
comparable scenes from Tehran or even the Iranian diaspora when the
Iranian team did score its one and only goal that day.

--
Yoshie
<http://montages.blogspot.com/>
<http://mrzine.org>
<http://monthlyreview.org/>

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