>I don't think that anybody is assuming that Iranians don't want (the
>right) to wear bikinis. What they are objecting to is the assumption
>that lots of Iranians do.
This is disingenuous.
If you tally up the assumptions here it's clear more assuming is being done by people starting posts with e.g. "I think" or "I don't think" than by those taking off from, and taking a lot of time to post from books, articles, and essays like what Michael Pollak just posted.
These are answered by throwing out an opinion, or saying a bunch of stuff and then denying you have an opinion, reporting on a conversation with someone's mother to shoot down straw-people, or saying "we just don't know."
Feh.