Parks exclusively for women are popping up in Iranian cities, but critics are divided over whether this is just another ploy to keep them hidden in public<\/p>\n
\u201cI love to take off my headscarf,\u201d says Laleh, 47, a hairdresser from Tehran. She\u2019s sitting with a group of friends around one of the many picnic tables in the Mother\u2019s Paradise, a park in the Iranian capital. She\u2019s wearing a fringed mint-green T-shirt through which you can see her bare stomach. \u201cWe can wear airy clothes here, and that\u2019s a freedom I really enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Behind her, a group of women wearing T-shirts and skinny jeans are dancing to loud pop music. One of them climbs on top of a table and sways her hips to the rhythm of the music. A group of schoolgirls wearing white headscarves stop to watch.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hate the headscarf,\u201d says one of Laleh\u2019s friends, a retired nurse. \u201cWe are so happy to be able to go to a place where we can walk around uncovered, do sports and sunbathe.\u201d<\/p>\n