fashion insult to injury

i'm sure you were all greatly relieved to hear of the release of the british sailors held captive by iran after their "apparent" invasion of iranian waters. the sailors took top press coverage on the front of at least 2 major us newspapers (the washington post and the ny times) and showed the captives smiling and waving to what is apparently a crowd in iran. one interesting point, for those with access to the hard copies, is that the post managed to crop out the 4 very surly looking sailors who belie the gracious and thankful attitude of the others waving and smiling, obviously relieved by their eminent freedom or feeling pressure to make nice with iranian officials lest they renege on their promise to release you (again).

my biggest beef with the iranian government is after all they put Faye Turney through did they really have to throw her in that chadwick-esque outfit while the men got decent (if ill-fitting) suits? i mean, its hard enough to pull off a head scarf without pairing it with a monstrous navy and red striped shirt three sizes too large. all in all i can't help but feel that iran was trying to send the statement visually that this woman had no place as a sailor with a career, but rather should be in her rightful position at home in her suburban housewife outfit (granted most housewives i know dress way better than that). i'll admit there are a few pictures of her looking more put together, but if going on the pictures alone seems too judgemental (maybe they're fashion challenged), let me reference the iranian president's own words, who "admonished london for sending a mother, Leading Seaman Faye Turney, on a dangerous mission in the persian gulf". seems to me they see women in the military as a no-no.

fashion, or at least style of dress, does matter, especially in commanding respect for a position and conveying a sense of dignity. and the fact that the iranians would deny a person that, while obviously bestowing that consideration on her peers of the opposite gender, is almost more annoying to me than their increasingly pompous and provoking propaganda of late.
and if this seems like a bit of overreaction, well, i did label this a rant :)