On the one hand, the ruling Islamic regime has succeeded in completely repressing Iranian women. Women are forbidden to go out in public unless they are covered by clothing that conceals everything but their hands and faces. At all government institutions, universities, and airports, there are separate entrances for women, where they are searched for lipstick and other weapons of mass destruction.... Yet, while these measures are meant to render women invisible and powerless, they are paradoxically making women tremendously visible and powerful.

The New Republic (22 February 1999)