Why do Iranians like to be called PERSIANS?
 

Didn't Persia cease to exist a long ass time ago? That's like someone from Korea demanding to be called Shillan or Koguryon.

???

No idea, but does that mean my cat is Iranian??

Nice breed of cat :)

that is easy . . . . because when Iran was holding the American embassy personnel as hostages (back in the Carter Administration) there was a lot of predjucice against Iranians. They figured no one would remember that Persia was Iran, thus no one would hassle them

I can understand that being an issue back in 79 when the Shah fell but why is it that when I hit the clubs in Westwood CA (lots of Iranians/Persians/Medes there) they always refer to themselves as Persians

Ive never even heard of this. That or ive never met an Iranian that told me otherwise.

why do gypsies refer to themselves as gypsies? or native ameican indians still call themselves indians? or palestinians? or any other people in this world?

because they trace their ancestral origins to an area, and just because most of these borders were created in the last 100 years, doesn't mean that those people necessarily chose to have the name of their land changed.

these peoples keep their individual identities alive eventhough the current name of their borders have changed

Isn't it more like Kurds? There are many of them, but they don't have their own country?

But do people IN Iran call themselves Persians or Iranians? If people wanted to call themselves Persians why not just change the name back to Persia? Or is it a non-Muslim v Muslim thing? or maybe a Shia vs Sunni thing (Iran is majority Shia)?

Same reason. They figure that Iranians have a bad rap (they do), and that most people aren't smart enough to associate Persia with Iran. They are probably right.

people in iran are still ostricized for being persian, jewish, because of the fanatical regime in charge there. so i believe that when they are there, they keep a lower profile, but when they leave the country they make public their ethniticy

Yup, and that trick works pretty well.

Wrong!

I got some persian sheets of ebay, never made the association. They said product of persia on them.

Iranians don't have a bad rap. Here in Los Angeles, many chicks associate being Persian/Iranian with being smooth and having class.:2 cents:

So if a person is from Iran, he is not automatically persian? What is the dominant ethnicity in Iran... isn't it Persian/Iranian/Medean?

no, iran is a mix of a few people.

i honestly dont know the actual numbers.

but the government is controlled by a bunch of fanatical shiite scholars.

word :thumbsup

but its mainly iranians which is same thing as persians right?

i dont think there is a difference between persian and iranian, same thing.

Persia just SOUNDS cooler then Iran.. that's MY theory. :)

IranianKitty.com just doesn't sound right, either.

good point :thumbsup

I have had the same experience. At least 3 iranians have told me they are persian
Duke

wrong about what? that most Americans won't associate Persia with Iran? give me a break, I have heard of Americans that don't know that Washington State and Washington, DC are two different places

Persian is relative to Iranian the same way Arab is relative to Iraqi the same way Blacks are relative to Americans the same way Coolie's are relative to Trinnidad etc.

To sum it up, persian is the race, Iranian is the country of citizenship.

Iranians born in America or who have American Citizenship, or who down right want to forget about their life in Iran want to be called Persians because that is their race. Alot of people confuse Persians with arabs because they have the same physical traits and religion, but they dont speak arabic and they have a somewhat different culture.

:2 cents:

I think this is mostly right. All of them do not want to forget about Iran, but I think they do consider Persian to be their race/ethnicity.

They have "Persian Pride" like some people are proud of being Jewish or Asian.

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/...k/geos/ir.html

Ethnic groups:
Persian 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%

Wrong about that being the reason persians call themselves persians.

i call myself persian i dont know why
even to another persian i say im persian...

:)

Persians are a nation of people. Iran is a country of Persians. Capiche?

And so many can't quite comprehend what the D.C stands for...and what it means.

To be honest, its the same reason mexicans etc like being called Latin. It sounds better, and makes the person sound of better bloodlines.

Considering all the past friction with Iran, the hostage crisis, the Shah etc... as well as the continued hostility - "Great Satan", "death to all Americans" etc.. it would not make a lot of sense for Iranians in the US to choose "Iranian" as a first choice. I am only 34 and I remember clearly, the hostility towards Iran when i was little during the hostage crisis.

ok porn webmasters here is the reason
when iran took us hostages the us starting beating up most iranians in the street cuz they were pissed so they decided to call themselves persians so most of the people didnt know persia = iran ... since then they still call themselves persian

I have one also. :)

Watchoo talkin bout, Puto?

In other words, you hate on them cuz they look, dance, and drive better cars than you. In LA, "Persian" is code for "smooth, classy, and refined." Apparently, based on your post, you are none of the three. How sad for you :(

Persians are diferent then Arabs. They look down upon Arabs - they consider themsevlves superior.

Persians are caucasians.

Yep, Farsi is an Indo-European language. They are a Caucasian people. Different language family from Semitic (which includes Arabs)

Might not want to fuck with Jesus tonight, he is on a roll and I have to say he is pretty funny. ( nothing personal I think everyone shuold be able to enjoy the American Dream)

Jesus you shattered my image of you I thought you were non-judgemental ... now I'm gonna have to re-evaluate my belief system:(

I'm persian/iranian or whatever....

I can tell you this much, its more comfortable to say you are persian, especially since most americans are not geographically inclined -- to them iran/iraq -- all the same.

Also, its somewhat true, 'persians' look down on arabs, mostly for the fact that the culture/religion was quite different in Iran of the past, but the Islamic takeover enforced a lot of the muslim/arab beliefs.

So many persians feel that they are more 'caucasian' than 'arab', and I agree.

Unfortuately in the US, specifically in LA, persians get pretty cutthroat, even to each other. Pride & prestige & material worth is given top priority over anything else. Hence why I live in Phoenix.

If you don't become a doctor, lawyer, engineer, your parents literally disown you haha. Maybe thats why I'm a dentist. But FTV makes more money now lol.

Jesus you really wish you were persian huh?


Try going up to a persian and talking that shit, let me know how it goes.

If my parents knew i was in porn they would have me murdered.

i highly doubt that.

You must be a tough guy:winkwink:

From my experience Iranians (persians) look at Arabs pretty much as the spanish look at gyppos, not favourably that is... :glugglug