Azadishooneh.

Wednesday, we went out to see what was going on outside on the streets on the last day of campaigning before the election Friday. Thursday, the day before the election, all campaigning must cease, with fines for violators incredibly steep for the average income. This was our last chance.
At this location the night before, the two sides (Mir Hussein Mousavi and Ahmadinejad (incumbent)) clashed, throwing stones at each other, and setting two motorcycles on fire. Today, not quite that extreme. As a precaution, we were back in the house by 8, one for our safety, and two a storm was coming (foreshadow?). Anyways, there were people everywhere. One side of the square was lined with Mousavi supporters, all decked in green (his color)—the other side for Ahmadinejad, who has adopted the flag of Iran as his color. Each side was chanting clever slogans, with men and women standing next to each other (this is not common), working up to a noisy crescendo with people jumping up and down and motorcyles zipping in and out of the crowd. At first, I was a bit annoyed at all the yelling and craziness. I was talking to one of my cousins (in farsi, since it could be dangerous to speak english), saying something to the effect of, “wow, they are sure making their presence known” and a woman overheard me. She made eye contact with me, smiled, and said, “Azadishooneh”, which translates to “It’s their freedom.” At first I was puzzled, confused as to why she would make that comment. How can this be their freedom? This was not at all what I consider to be freedom. All of a sudden, it dawned on me.
At any other point in time, young men and women intermingling like this would be severely punishable by law and would get someone sent to prison. With the election present, young men and women have a guise to intermingle under the umbrella of political activism. They go out at night, some out till 5am handing out pamphlets and posters, arguing with car drivers about who should be president, and being very brazen in public. This behavior is unheard of and considered reckless at any other time. Respectable girls have to be home by the time the sun goes down.
The election gives boys and girls who are strangers an excuse to talk to each other. For women to have discussions with strange men or men to have discussions with strange women is completely impossible at any other time. The election is a skeleton key. It opens doors for communication that would certainly be locked otherwise.
Free speech during the election is also more lax, as the government doesn’t want to crack down on people since they want people to vote and the incumbent to win. During the election, people can shout from the rooftops who they want to have as their president and go around town beeping their horns for a candidate, exalting their glories without getting sent to prison. I've heard them yelling myself. That kind of noise any other time of the year (minus weddings) is drawing attention to oneself, which is looked down upon in Islam, and thus Iran.
The older people have begun making analogies between the times leading up to the Iranian Revolution and this election. Tehran, and indeed Iran as a whole has not seen people spilling into the streets like they have for the leadup to the election since the Iranian Revolution. What’s even more interesting, the individuals who are mostly behind all the hullabaloo are the children of the 1979 revolutionaries. The ones making the racket now were not around during the 1979 revolution, and indeed don’t really have ties to the 1979 revolution themselves. They are making their own footprint on the Iranian government much like their parents did, albeit in a seemingly different direction.
Our generation has been making their own “revolutions”. They’re occurring all around the world. We had ours in America with the election of Obama, and now Iran is seeing theirs. They’re getting a moderate candidate who is willing to speak to the world instead of an isolationist egomaniac who says he personally is responsible for the switch in American foreign policy with regards to Iran, which is clearly false.
That woman was completely right. This election is a chance for them to be free. I mean, I guess as free as Iran currently will allow, and while quite exciting for them, it’s also sad. Once the election is over, things will go back to “normal” for here. The barrier between the sexes will go back up, the muzzles go back on the newspapers and people, and people will lose faith in their government.
Something makes me think, however, that the young people might like their taste of freedom. Why should it be limited the way it is? I’ve heard talk along these lines walking down the street. I could not be more excited to see what happens with this election. It’s going to be an exciting next couple of days.