Feminism in Iran
One Hundred Years of Feminist movement in Iran
From the very start of the Khomeini regime to modern day Iranian authority, Iranian women put themselves first in public activities to change the Iranian society deprived of freedom, independence, and equality. Among the harsh oppression and rampant turmoil, women were in the center of crisis, withstanding violence and persecution to turn bleak future of Iran into more liberal, protective place for vulnerable women and children. Whichever direction the future of Iran would take, women will be the primary force for change.
The Early Days (1838-1904)
In March 1838, American Presbyterian missionaries established the first all-girl school in Azarbaijian. Armenians, who comprised the majority of religious minorities, attended the school. Soon other cities followed the trend and opened schools in Tehran, Hamden, Rasht, Masshad, and so on. Meanwhile, Muslim girls were not allowed to attend these missionary schools due to the religious authorities and public pressure. Yet in 1870, the first Muslim girl school showed its presence among with American schools in Tehran.
Despite the approval of schools that permitted girls, the public was disregarding of women’s efforts to become liberalized and the state authority ignorant and oppressive about their plights. On the strength of obstacles, Nasseredin Shah’s daughter Taj Saltaneh criticized veiling of women and patriarchal ideas in 1850. In her memoir she claimed that “women make up half of any nation. No plan of national significance will love forward unless women are consulted. The potential of a woman aware of her human essence, to serve in the progress of her country is equivalent to that of 100 men.”
Despite the approval of schools that permitted girls, the public was disregarding of women’s efforts to become liberalized and the state authority ignorant and oppressive about their plights. On the strength of obstacles, Nasseredin Shah’s daughter Taj Saltaneh criticized veiling of women and patriarchal ideas in 1850. In her memoir she claimed that “women make up half of any nation. No plan of national significance will love forward unless women are consulted. The potential of a woman aware of her human essence, to serve in the progress of her country is equivalent to that of 100 men.”
Constitutional Revolution Era (1905-1907)
“Persian women since 1907 have become almost at a bound the most progressive, not to say radical, in the world. That this statement upsets the ides of centuries makes no difference…Having themselves suffered from a double form of oppression, political and social…they broke through some of the most sacred customs which for centuries past have bound their sex in the land of Persia.” Quote by W. Morgan Shuster, April 30, 1912
Women particularly in Tehran and Tabriz began participating in the strikes to resist constitutional conflict. From 1904 t0 1905, active resistances such as boycotting foreign goods and selling jewelry to support reformers were carried out by female activists. Violence was also a tool that was used by belligerent women. In 1905, a group of militant women, led by Zaynab Pasha, assaulted Kamran Mirza, a despotic force on the street. Meanwhile, seven more other groups were formed to strengthen the rebellion. Furthermore, when government authorities threatened the bazaar merchants to open their shops, Zaynad Pasha and her armed members re-closed the shops, revealing the clear sign of strike. On January 10, 1906, a group of women attacked the Shah’s carriage on the street. Under the frantic situation one woman read a line: “Beware of the day when the people take away your crown and your mantle to govern.”
In response to the assault on the Shah, the judicial branch of Iranian government officially barred women from participating in political affairs.
The electoral law of September 1906: “Women’s education and training should be restricted to raising children, home economics, and preserving the honor of the family.”
In response to the oppressive statement of the Iranian court, a women’s meeting was launched on January 20, 1907 in Tehran, where ten resolutions for women’s rights and education were finally approved.
Women particularly in Tehran and Tabriz began participating in the strikes to resist constitutional conflict. From 1904 t0 1905, active resistances such as boycotting foreign goods and selling jewelry to support reformers were carried out by female activists. Violence was also a tool that was used by belligerent women. In 1905, a group of militant women, led by Zaynab Pasha, assaulted Kamran Mirza, a despotic force on the street. Meanwhile, seven more other groups were formed to strengthen the rebellion. Furthermore, when government authorities threatened the bazaar merchants to open their shops, Zaynad Pasha and her armed members re-closed the shops, revealing the clear sign of strike. On January 10, 1906, a group of women attacked the Shah’s carriage on the street. Under the frantic situation one woman read a line: “Beware of the day when the people take away your crown and your mantle to govern.”
In response to the assault on the Shah, the judicial branch of Iranian government officially barred women from participating in political affairs.
The electoral law of September 1906: “Women’s education and training should be restricted to raising children, home economics, and preserving the honor of the family.”
In response to the oppressive statement of the Iranian court, a women’s meeting was launched on January 20, 1907 in Tehran, where ten resolutions for women’s rights and education were finally approved.
The Present
Shirin Ebadi became the first woman to earn the Nobel Peace in 2003. A long-time women’s rights activist, Ebadi has launched more than 32 all-women NGOs services in the efforts to relieve Bam earthquake.
Ebadi raises a concerned voice about the current Iranian system of human rights since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 is “a revolution against the rights of Iranian women”. Today only nine out of 270 Majilis government officials are female who represent the other half of the female half of 80 million populations. From the generation to generation, the leaderships of Iranian society have never recognized women’s political and social participation and thus, have formed many obstacles to their public life.
Women are expected to live in seclusion in their homes, follow the obligatory hejab dress code, give up on public involvement, and accept the long traditions of polygamy and second-class citizenship in their own country. Women have long lived under restrictive traditional values and oppression from the fact that Islamic leaders consider women as “sexually tempt men with their satanic attractions, which can corrupt the foundations of family and society”.
With the end of the Iran-Iraq war and the death of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989, groups of alliance appeared and pressed the state for changes in social reforms and legal policies affecting women. Reform-minded women, along with other secular women, together problematized the abusive social system of Iran and collectively worked in various continents. These women used conflicts between political factions within the government institution to their advantages by laying intellectuals against the clerics. They questioned the gender segregation, unequal labor division, domestic violence, and exploitative prejudices within Iranian Islamic family.
Women are now engaging in commercial, industrial, educational, agricultural, cultural, political and entertainment sectors. Women’s achievements in education have now surpassed those of men’s on every level of intellectual positions.
In one case, Ebadi and her organized women members protested the death penalty of Afsaneh Nowroozi, an Iranian woman who killed her husband in self-defense. The death sentence is currently suspended.
By 2004, a group of hundreds of Iranian female activists regarded March 8 as International Women’s Day, despite life-threatening warnings and assaults from the Iranian government authorities that the gathering is illegal. These women have been working their ways up to pursue freedom of severely harassed women.
Ebadi raises a concerned voice about the current Iranian system of human rights since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 is “a revolution against the rights of Iranian women”. Today only nine out of 270 Majilis government officials are female who represent the other half of the female half of 80 million populations. From the generation to generation, the leaderships of Iranian society have never recognized women’s political and social participation and thus, have formed many obstacles to their public life.
Women are expected to live in seclusion in their homes, follow the obligatory hejab dress code, give up on public involvement, and accept the long traditions of polygamy and second-class citizenship in their own country. Women have long lived under restrictive traditional values and oppression from the fact that Islamic leaders consider women as “sexually tempt men with their satanic attractions, which can corrupt the foundations of family and society”.
With the end of the Iran-Iraq war and the death of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989, groups of alliance appeared and pressed the state for changes in social reforms and legal policies affecting women. Reform-minded women, along with other secular women, together problematized the abusive social system of Iran and collectively worked in various continents. These women used conflicts between political factions within the government institution to their advantages by laying intellectuals against the clerics. They questioned the gender segregation, unequal labor division, domestic violence, and exploitative prejudices within Iranian Islamic family.
Women are now engaging in commercial, industrial, educational, agricultural, cultural, political and entertainment sectors. Women’s achievements in education have now surpassed those of men’s on every level of intellectual positions.
In one case, Ebadi and her organized women members protested the death penalty of Afsaneh Nowroozi, an Iranian woman who killed her husband in self-defense. The death sentence is currently suspended.
By 2004, a group of hundreds of Iranian female activists regarded March 8 as International Women’s Day, despite life-threatening warnings and assaults from the Iranian government authorities that the gathering is illegal. These women have been working their ways up to pursue freedom of severely harassed women.
Work Cited
Abdul-Hossein Nahid, Zanan-e Iran dar Jonbesh-e Mashruteh (Iranian Women in the Constitutional Movement), Germany, Navid Publications, 1989
IDA, LICHTER. "Iran Wages War On Campus Women." Australian, The (2012): 9. Newspaper Source. Web. 19 Feb. 2013
John Roberts Kiran Chetry Kara Finnstrom Jim Acosta JohnKing Christiane, Amanpour. "More Information Flowing Out Of Iran, Largely By Twitter; Iranadmits
Ballot Boxes Stuffed; Obama On The Hot Seat; Pivotal Time Forwomen In Iran." American Morning (CNN) (n.d.): Newspaper Source. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.
Mahdi, Ali Akbar. "The Iranian Women's Movement: A Century Long Struggle." Muslim World 94.4 (2004): 427. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.
Ramesh Sephrrad, Women’s role in popular movements during Qajar dynasty, National Committee of Women for Democratic Iran Publications
Schweickart, PatsyCarroll, BereniceAfary, Janet. "Feminism, Peace, And War." NWSA Journal 18.3 (2006): vii-x. Professional Development Collection. Web. 19 Feb.
2013.
"With Its Current Regime, Iran Needs No Foreign Invasion." Middle East 433 (2012): 24. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.
Ziba Mirhosseini, Islam and Gender: The Religious Debate in Contemporary Iran. Princeton, 1999.
IDA, LICHTER. "Iran Wages War On Campus Women." Australian, The (2012): 9. Newspaper Source. Web. 19 Feb. 2013
John Roberts Kiran Chetry Kara Finnstrom Jim Acosta JohnKing Christiane, Amanpour. "More Information Flowing Out Of Iran, Largely By Twitter; Iranadmits
Ballot Boxes Stuffed; Obama On The Hot Seat; Pivotal Time Forwomen In Iran." American Morning (CNN) (n.d.): Newspaper Source. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.
Mahdi, Ali Akbar. "The Iranian Women's Movement: A Century Long Struggle." Muslim World 94.4 (2004): 427. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.
Ramesh Sephrrad, Women’s role in popular movements during Qajar dynasty, National Committee of Women for Democratic Iran Publications
Schweickart, PatsyCarroll, BereniceAfary, Janet. "Feminism, Peace, And War." NWSA Journal 18.3 (2006): vii-x. Professional Development Collection. Web. 19 Feb.
2013.
"With Its Current Regime, Iran Needs No Foreign Invasion." Middle East 433 (2012): 24. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.
Ziba Mirhosseini, Islam and Gender: The Religious Debate in Contemporary Iran. Princeton, 1999.