Persian women's movement
Encyclopedia
This article is primarily about the women's movement. For information about women in Iranian/Persian culture, please see Iranian women
..
The Iranian women's movement involves the movement for women's rights
and women's equality in Iran
. The movement first emerged some time after the Iranian Constitutional Revolution
. The first journal published by a woman in Iran was Danesh, started in 1910. The movement lasted until 1933 in which the last women’s association was dissolved by the Reza Shah
’s government. It heightened again after the Iranian Revolution
(1979).
, Noor-ol-Hoda Mangeneh
, Mohtaram Eskandari
, Sediqeh Dowlatabadi
, and Qamar ol-Molouk Vaziri
.
At the turn of 20th century, many educated Persian women were attracted to journalism and writing. Danesh (1907) was the first specialized journal focusing on women's issues. Later, Shokoufeh, Nameie Banovan, Alam e Nesvan, and Nesvan e Vatan Khah were published in Tehran
. Moreover, Nesvan e Shargh in Bandar Anzali, Jahan e Zanan in Mashhad
, Dokhtaran e Iran in Shiraz
, and Peik e saadat in Rasht
addressed women's issues throughout Persia (Iran). Although the defeat of the constitutionalists (1921–25) and the consolidation of power by Reza Shah
(1925–41) destroyed the women's journals and groups, the state during these years implemented social reforms such as mass education and paid employment for women. Reza Shah also began his controversial policy of Kashf-e-Hijab, which banned the wearing of the Islamic hijab
in public. But like other sectors of society in the years under Reza Shah's rule, women lost the right to express themselves, and dissent was repressed.
" in 1962 and ratified important women's rights measures, including suffrage
and the Family Protection Law of 1967, later amended more heavily in favor of women in 1975, which ended extrajudicial divorce and restricted polygamy
.
of 1979 that toppled the shah.
Notwithstanding this, the Islamic republic of Ayatollah Khomeini severely curtailed rights that women had become accustomed to under the shah. Within months of the founding of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the 1967 Family Protection Law was repealed; female government workers were forced to observe Islamic dress code; women were barred from becoming judges; beaches and sports were sex-segregated; the legal age of marriage for girls was reduced to 9 (later raised to 13); and married women were barred from attending regular schools.
Almost immediately women protested these policies. The Islamic revolution is ideologically committed to inequality for women in inheritance and other areas of the civil code; and especially committed to segregation of the sexes. Many places, from "schoolrooms to ski slopes to public buses", are strictly segregated. Females caught by revolutionary officials in a mixed-sex situation can be subject to virginity tests.
's supervision), began the most fierce crackdown on what is known as "bad hijab
" in more than a decade. In the capital Tehran thousands of Iranian women were cautioned over their poor Islamic dress and several hundred arrested.
In May 1997, the overwhelming majority of women voted for Mohammad Khatami
, a reformist cleric who promised more political freedom. His election brought a period during which women became increasingly bold in expressing ideas, demands, and criticisms. The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize
to Shirin Ebadi
, an Iranian human rights and women's right activist, further emboldened women's rights activists inside Iran and cemented their relationships with Iranian feminists abroad.
During the Sixth Parliament
, some of Iran's strongest advocates of women's rights emerged. Almost all of the 11 female lawmakers of the (at the time) 270-seat Majlis tried to change some of Iran's more conservative laws. However, during the elections for the Seventh Majlis, the all-male Council of Guardians banned the 11 women from running for office, and only conservative females were allowed to run. The Seventh Majlis reversed many of the laws passed by the reformist Sixth Majlis.
In 2008, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration introduced a "family support bill" in the parliament that would have allowed men to marry a second wife without his first wife's permission, and put a tax on Mariyeh - which is seen by many women "as a financial safety net in the event a husband leaves the marriage and is not forced to pay alimony."
In September 2008, however, the bill for the tax was returned by Iran's judiciary to the legislative council with complaints about the polygamy and tax articles, and these were removed from the bill.
During the administration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration, the use of Siqeh, or temporary marriages (that can last from 30 minutes to a lifetime), was used, especially in response to the financial demands of prenuptial agreements. The temporary marriages, enacted by fatwa
in 1983 under Khomeini, are heavily criticized as a form of legalized prostitution.
. It argued that gender equality was Islamic and that religious literature had been misread and misappropriated by misogynists. Mehangiz Kar, Shahla Lahiji, and Shahla Sherkat, the editor of Zanan, led the debate on women's rights and demanded reforms. The leadership did not respond but, for the first time since the revolution, it could not silence the movement. However, at the end of January 2008 the Iranian regime closed the magazine down as a “threat to the psychological security of the society” claiming it showed women in a “black light.” It had been the only Persian women's
magazine.
founded the first school for Persian girls in 1907. In this school, Iranian women could study a variety of subjects, including history
, geography
, law
, calculus
, religion
, and cooking
.
Enrollment of 12 women into the Tehran University in 1936, marked the entry of women into university education in Iran. As of 2006, women account for well over half of university students in Iran and 70% of Iran's science and engineering students.
Such education and social trends are increasingly viewed with alarm by the Iranian secularists and opposition groups. A report by the Research Center of the Majlis
(controlled by conservatives) warned that the large female enrollment could cause "social disparity and economic and cultural imbalances between men and women."
The Iranian Revolution
initiated social changes that and helped more women enroll in universities. Today more than 60% of all university students in Iran are women.
Iranian women have participated in science Olympiads. For instance, Maryam Mirzakhani
won gold medals in the 1994 and 1995 International Mathematical Olympiads. An alumna of the Sharif University of Technology
, she is an assistant professor at Princeton University
.
In 2001, Allameh Tabatabaii University
, Tarbiat Modares University
, and Azzahra University initiated women's studies programs at the Master of Arts
level, and shortly thereafter Tehran University organized a similar program.
, which originated in the royal courts of Persia 2,500 years ago. The queen and her ladies-in-waiting played against the emperor and his courtiers.
Today, Iranian schools offer sport for Iranian students, including girls. Despite restrictions, Iran has many female athletes who have won medals in international competitions. In 2000, Atousa Pour-Kashian became world chess champion. In 2004, Zahra Asgardoun won a silver medal in the sanshou (sparring) competitions of the Asian women's wushu
(martial arts) event.
On 30 May 2005, Farkhondeh Sadegh, a graphic designer, and Laleh Keshavarz, a dentist, became the first Muslim women to make a successful ascent of Mount Everest
. In December 2005, Iran won the Asian women's canoe polo
crown. In 2006, Iranian wushu athletes won five medals in the Third Grand International Wushu Festival in Warsaw
, Poland. Iranian women's national team athlete, Elham Sadeqi, won three golds in taolu (wushu forms) events. Iran's top race car driver is Laleh Seddigh
, who is skilled in both circuit and rally driving. However, in December 2007 it was reported that Seddigh, known as the "Schumacher of the East", was banned from racing for one year for allegedly tampering with her car's engine. "I did not commit any irregularities," said Seddigh, "They simply want to exclude me from racing because I'm a woman."
National Iranian women's teams take part in football (soccer), taekwondo, chess, and track and field events.
Acts of protest against sex segregation of women includes an event of the 1997 so-called "Football revolution
" when an estimated 5000 women defied the ban on entering football stadiums and stormed the gates to join 120,000 men in celebration of Iran's national football team which had returned to the country from qualifying for the World Cup
.
Female Iranian athletes are all but prevented from participation in the Olympic Games
. In December 2007 the vice president of the Iranian Olympic Committee, Abdolreza Savar, issued a memorandum to all sporting federations about the "proper behavior of male and female athletes" and that "severe punishment will be meted out to those who do not follow Islamic rules during sporting competitions" both local and abroad. Men are not allowed to train or coach women. Iran's female volleyball
team was once considered the best in Asia, but due to the lack of female coaches it has been prevented from international competition.
Iranian women are allowed to compete in sports that require removal of the hijab
, but only in arenas that are all female. They are banned from public events if spectators include unrelated men. Thus, of the 53 Iranian athletes in the Beijing Olympics, there were only three women: Sara Khoshjamal Fekri (taekwondo
), Najmeh Abtin (shooting
) and Homa Hosseini (rowing).
Women may not wear Lycra as it is too form-fitting; when Homa Hosseini competes in rowing she must wear her hijab secured by a hat, a long-sleeved baggy top and tracksuit
bottoms. If women do not conform to the dress code rules, they face severe punishment and a ban on participation in any future national or international competitions.
At the 2004 Athens Olympics there was only one female athlete, ironically in shooting.
s promoted the health of women by stressing the importance of regular check-ups such as the Pap smear
, mammography
, and blood tests. Vitamin D and calcium supplementation and hormone replacement therapy
were emphasized with the goal of preventing osteoporosis
.
In 2005, the Iranian parliament approved abortions carried out before four months gestation if a woman's life was at risk or if the fetus was malformed. With technical support from the United Nations Population Fund
, the government undertook literacy and family planning initiatives. The fund's specific contributions to the Literacy Movement Organization of Iran included training more than 7,000 teachers, developing a nine-episode television series on women's health issues (including family planning), and procuring computers and other equipment.
, incest
and adultery
.
" campaign aims to end legal discrimination against women in Iranian laws by collecting a million signatures. Examples of such laws include one that gives lower value to legal testimony by women than to legal testimony by men, and one that limits punitive damages in cases of the wrongful injury or death of a woman to half of that of a man. The supporters of this campaign include many Iranian women's rights activists inside Iran and also international activists including many Nobel Peace Prize
laureates. However, according to California State University
professor Nayereh Tohidi, women collecting signatures were attacked and arrested, which has slowed the campaign and caused it to extend its two year target.
After the victory with the marriage bill in September 2008, a court sentenced four of the women leaders, all involved in the One Million Signatures campaign, to jail for contributing to banned websites. They were identified as Mariam Hossein-khah, Nahid Keshavarz, Jelveh Javaheri and Parvin Ardalan.
Women of modern Iran have close contacts with the women from the Iranian cultural sphere, that is, Persian-speaking countries, primarily Tajikistan
, Afghanistan
, and the Kurdish areas
of Iraq and Central Asia
. Many women's rights
activists, artists, and literary figures in the region cross borders to assist each other. For example, Iranian journalist Jila Bani Yaghoub and film-maker Samira Makhmalbaf
have contributed to the culture of Afghanistan. Iranian intellectual Farah Karimi
wrote a book entitled "Slagveld Afghanistan" that criticizes Dutch military policies in Afghanistan, and in 2006, she was appointed as the representative of the United Nations
in Afghanistan affairs. In 2003, Sima Bina
, the voice of Khorasan (a region of northeastern Iran), performed secular threnodies
at the Théâtre du Soleil
for the benefit of the "Afghanistan: one child one book" project created by the organization Open Asia. Moreover in 2004, the World Bank
funded a "network of Persian women" for promoting the welfare of women in Persian-speaking lands.
Tajik women founded more than 100 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in recent decades to defend their rights and improve their quality of life. Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi
acted as a role model for a new generation of Tajik women. Many Tajik businesswomen have economic ties with Iran. In 2005, a conference on poverty among women was organized in Iran, and a group of Tajik journalists, activists, university lecturers, and athletes were invited to Iran to exchange experiences.
In 2006 Anousheh Ansari
, a woman whose family fled the country after the 1979 revolution was the first Iranian woman in space. The feat, undertaken in Kazakhstan
, was reportedly an inspiration to many Iranian women.
By contrast, others suggest that parochial movements of women will never be successful, and that until a global sisterhood made up of women from all nations and religions has been established, feminism has not truly arrived.
There is yet a third perspective suggesting that a global women’s movement will inevitably ignore and undermine the unique elements of indigenous Iranian feminism which have arisen as a result of their history and religion.
Websites and forums:
Iranian women
Iranian women in this article refers to women of, or from, traditional Persian or modern Iranian culture.-Depictions and appearance:...
..
The Iranian women's movement involves the movement for women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
and women's equality in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. The movement first emerged some time after the Iranian Constitutional Revolution
Iranian Constitutional Revolution
The Persian Constitutional Revolution or Iranian Constitutional Revolution took place between 1905 and 1907...
. The first journal published by a woman in Iran was Danesh, started in 1910. The movement lasted until 1933 in which the last women’s association was dissolved by the Reza Shah
Reza Shah
Rezā Shāh, also known as Rezā Shāh Pahlavi and Rezā Shāh Kabir , , was the Shah of the Imperial State of Iran from December 15, 1925, until he was forced to abdicate by the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran on September 16, 1941.In 1925, Reza Shah overthrew Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last Shah of the Qajar...
’s government. It heightened again after the Iranian Revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
(1979).
The Persian Constitutional Revolution
Iranian women played a significant role in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1905-11, which became a turning point in their lives. They participated in large numbers in public affairs and held important positions in journalism and in schools and associations that flourished from 1911-24. Prominent Iranian women who played a vital part in the revolution include Bibi Khatoon AstarabadiBibi Khatoon Astarabadi
Bibi Khānoom Astarābādi was a notable Iranian writer, satirist, and one of the pioneering figures in the women's movement of Iran....
, Noor-ol-Hoda Mangeneh
Noor-ol-Hoda Mangeneh
Noor-ol-Hoda Mangeneh was a Persian intellectual and one of the pioneering figures in the Women's rights movement in Iran. She was born in Tehran....
, Mohtaram Eskandari
Mohtaram Eskandari
Mohtaram Eskandari was an Iranian intellectual and one of the pioneering figures in Iranian women's movement. She was the first leader of feminist Nesvan e vatankhah association and publisher of its journal for women....
, Sediqeh Dowlatabadi
Sediqeh Dowlatabadi
Sediqeh Dowlatabadi was a Persian scholar and one of the pioneering figures in Persian women's movement.Sediqeh Dowlatabadi in 1919 published the first women gazette in Esfahan called Zaban-e Zanan.- External links :...
, and Qamar ol-Molouk Vaziri
Qamar ol-Molouk Vaziri
Qamar ol-Molouk Vaziri is Iran's "Queen of Persian Music" and a prominent vocalist and intellectual....
.
At the turn of 20th century, many educated Persian women were attracted to journalism and writing. Danesh (1907) was the first specialized journal focusing on women's issues. Later, Shokoufeh, Nameie Banovan, Alam e Nesvan, and Nesvan e Vatan Khah were published in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
. Moreover, Nesvan e Shargh in Bandar Anzali, Jahan e Zanan in Mashhad
Mashhad
Mashhad , is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia Muslim world. It is also the only major Iranian city with an Arabic name. It is located east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Its...
, Dokhtaran e Iran in Shiraz
Shiraz
Shiraz may refer to:* Shiraz, Iran, a city in Iran* Shiraz County, an administrative subdivision of Iran* Vosketap, Armenia, formerly called ShirazPeople:* Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet* Ara Shiraz, Armenian sculptor...
, and Peik e saadat in Rasht
Rasht
Rasht is a city in and the capital of Gilan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 551,161, in 159,983 families.Rasht is the largest city on Iran's Caspian Sea coast. It is a major trade center between Caucasia, Russia and Iran using the port of Bandar-e Anzali...
addressed women's issues throughout Persia (Iran). Although the defeat of the constitutionalists (1921–25) and the consolidation of power by Reza Shah
Reza Shah
Rezā Shāh, also known as Rezā Shāh Pahlavi and Rezā Shāh Kabir , , was the Shah of the Imperial State of Iran from December 15, 1925, until he was forced to abdicate by the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran on September 16, 1941.In 1925, Reza Shah overthrew Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last Shah of the Qajar...
(1925–41) destroyed the women's journals and groups, the state during these years implemented social reforms such as mass education and paid employment for women. Reza Shah also began his controversial policy of Kashf-e-Hijab, which banned the wearing of the Islamic hijab
Hijab
The word "hijab" or "'" refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general....
in public. But like other sectors of society in the years under Reza Shah's rule, women lost the right to express themselves, and dissent was repressed.
Shah's era
The shah's government began its "White RevolutionWhite Revolution
The White Revolution was a far-reaching series of reforms in Iran launched in 1963 by the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Mohammad Reza Shah’s reform program was built especially to strengthen those classes that supported the traditional system...
" in 1962 and ratified important women's rights measures, including suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
and the Family Protection Law of 1967, later amended more heavily in favor of women in 1975, which ended extrajudicial divorce and restricted polygamy
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
.
Women and the Iranian Revolution
Women participated heavily in the Iranian RevolutionIranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
of 1979 that toppled the shah.
Notwithstanding this, the Islamic republic of Ayatollah Khomeini severely curtailed rights that women had become accustomed to under the shah. Within months of the founding of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the 1967 Family Protection Law was repealed; female government workers were forced to observe Islamic dress code; women were barred from becoming judges; beaches and sports were sex-segregated; the legal age of marriage for girls was reduced to 9 (later raised to 13); and married women were barred from attending regular schools.
Almost immediately women protested these policies. The Islamic revolution is ideologically committed to inequality for women in inheritance and other areas of the civil code; and especially committed to segregation of the sexes. Many places, from "schoolrooms to ski slopes to public buses", are strictly segregated. Females caught by revolutionary officials in a mixed-sex situation can be subject to virginity tests.
Hijab
"Bad hijab" ― exposure of any part of the body other than hands and face — is subject to punishment of up to 70 lashes or 60 days imprisonment. In April 2007, the Tehran police, (which is under Supreme Leader Ali KhameneiAli Khamenei
Ayatollah Seyed Ali Hoseyni Khāmene’i is the Supreme Leader of Iran and the figurative head of the Muslim conservative establishment in Iran and Twelver Shi'a marja...
's supervision), began the most fierce crackdown on what is known as "bad hijab
Hijab
The word "hijab" or "'" refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general....
" in more than a decade. In the capital Tehran thousands of Iranian women were cautioned over their poor Islamic dress and several hundred arrested.
Post-Khomeini era
The early 1990s brought a marked increase in the number of women employed in Iran. Dramatic changes in the labor force might not have been possible if Khomeini had not broken the barriers to women entering into the public sphere unchaperoned. Women were also more likely to pursue higher education, a product of the free education and the literacy campaigns. Today, more women than men are pursuing higher education in Iran even though the Islamic Republic tries to limit women to domains exclusive to women. For example, the government has set quotas for female pediatricians and gynecologists and has made it difficult for women to become civil engineers.In May 1997, the overwhelming majority of women voted for Mohammad Khatami
Mohammad Khatami
Sayyid Mohammad Khātamī is an Iranian scholar, philosopher, Shiite theologian and Reformist politician. He served as the fifth President of Iran from August 2, 1997 to August 3, 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture in both the 1980s and 1990s...
, a reformist cleric who promised more political freedom. His election brought a period during which women became increasingly bold in expressing ideas, demands, and criticisms. The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
to Shirin Ebadi
Shirin Ebadi
Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially women's,...
, an Iranian human rights and women's right activist, further emboldened women's rights activists inside Iran and cemented their relationships with Iranian feminists abroad.
During the Sixth Parliament
Majlis of Iran
The National Consultative Assembly of Iran , also called The Iranian Parliament or People's House, is the national legislative body of Iran...
, some of Iran's strongest advocates of women's rights emerged. Almost all of the 11 female lawmakers of the (at the time) 270-seat Majlis tried to change some of Iran's more conservative laws. However, during the elections for the Seventh Majlis, the all-male Council of Guardians banned the 11 women from running for office, and only conservative females were allowed to run. The Seventh Majlis reversed many of the laws passed by the reformist Sixth Majlis.
Marriage law
In 1997, it became legal to sign a new kind of prenuptial document in Iran, with the object of giving them more rights than regular marital contracts. Under the terms of this prenuptial contract, the groom forfeited rights to polygamy and unconditional divorce, and the bride acquired rights to initiate divorce, divide assets, claim joint custody of children, and receive child support. As most men would not sign such contracts, the possibility of signing had little practical effect. A small number of family courts have returned, and divorce is referred to these courts. Women can function as judges but do not have the title. Mahriyeh ("bridal treasures", a stipulated sum that a groom agrees to give or owe to his bride) is indexed and linked to inflation. Women have more legal options for initiating divorce than they had in the past.In 2008, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration introduced a "family support bill" in the parliament that would have allowed men to marry a second wife without his first wife's permission, and put a tax on Mariyeh - which is seen by many women "as a financial safety net in the event a husband leaves the marriage and is not forced to pay alimony."
In September 2008, however, the bill for the tax was returned by Iran's judiciary to the legislative council with complaints about the polygamy and tax articles, and these were removed from the bill.
During the administration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration, the use of Siqeh, or temporary marriages (that can last from 30 minutes to a lifetime), was used, especially in response to the financial demands of prenuptial agreements. The temporary marriages, enacted by fatwa
Fatwa
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
in 1983 under Khomeini, are heavily criticized as a form of legalized prostitution.
Zanan magazine
In 1992, Shahla Sherkat founded Zanan (Women) magazine, which focused on the concerns of Iranian women and tested the political waters with its edgy coverage of reform politics, domestic abuse, and sex. Zanan is the most important Iranian women's journal published after the Iranian revolution. Zanan criticized the Islamic legal code. Article topics covered controversial issues from domestic abuse to plastic surgeryPlastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand...
. It argued that gender equality was Islamic and that religious literature had been misread and misappropriated by misogynists. Mehangiz Kar, Shahla Lahiji, and Shahla Sherkat, the editor of Zanan, led the debate on women's rights and demanded reforms. The leadership did not respond but, for the first time since the revolution, it could not silence the movement. However, at the end of January 2008 the Iranian regime closed the magazine down as a “threat to the psychological security of the society” claiming it showed women in a “black light.” It had been the only Persian women's
Iranian women
Iranian women in this article refers to women of, or from, traditional Persian or modern Iranian culture.-Depictions and appearance:...
magazine.
Education
The writer and activist Bibi Khatoon AstarabadiBibi Khatoon Astarabadi
Bibi Khānoom Astarābādi was a notable Iranian writer, satirist, and one of the pioneering figures in the women's movement of Iran....
founded the first school for Persian girls in 1907. In this school, Iranian women could study a variety of subjects, including history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
, law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, calculus
Calculus
Calculus is a branch of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem...
, religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, and cooking
Cooking
Cooking is the process of preparing food by use of heat. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the world, reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural traditions. Cooks themselves also vary widely in skill and training...
.
Enrollment of 12 women into the Tehran University in 1936, marked the entry of women into university education in Iran. As of 2006, women account for well over half of university students in Iran and 70% of Iran's science and engineering students.
Such education and social trends are increasingly viewed with alarm by the Iranian secularists and opposition groups. A report by the Research Center of the Majlis
Majlis
' , is an Arabic term meaning "a place of sitting", used in the context of "council", to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups be it administrative, social or religious in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to Islamic countries...
(controlled by conservatives) warned that the large female enrollment could cause "social disparity and economic and cultural imbalances between men and women."
The Iranian Revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
initiated social changes that and helped more women enroll in universities. Today more than 60% of all university students in Iran are women.
Iranian women have participated in science Olympiads. For instance, Maryam Mirzakhani
Maryam Mirzakhani
Maryam Mirzakhani is an Iranian mathematician, Professor of Mathematics at Stanford University...
won gold medals in the 1994 and 1995 International Mathematical Olympiads. An alumna of the Sharif University of Technology
Sharif University of Technology
Sharif University of Technology is a university of higher education in technology, engineering and physical sciences in Tehran. Sharif University of Technology is one of the most prestigious universities in the country, and is considered Iran's MIT...
, she is an assistant professor at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
In 2001, Allameh Tabatabaii University
Allameh Tabatabaii University
Allameh Tabatabai University , is a public university in Tehran, Iran, under the supervision of the Ministry of Sciences, Research and Technology...
, Tarbiat Modares University
Tarbiat Modares University
Tarbiat Modares University is located in Tehran, Iran, and was founded in 1982. Tarbiat Modares University is the only exclusively graduate university in Iran, and is a highly reputed university, which was actually funded to train university professors.-Faculties and academics:TMU includes seven...
, and Azzahra University initiated women's studies programs at the Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
level, and shortly thereafter Tehran University organized a similar program.
Sports
Women contributed to the development of poloPolo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
, which originated in the royal courts of Persia 2,500 years ago. The queen and her ladies-in-waiting played against the emperor and his courtiers.
Today, Iranian schools offer sport for Iranian students, including girls. Despite restrictions, Iran has many female athletes who have won medals in international competitions. In 2000, Atousa Pour-Kashian became world chess champion. In 2004, Zahra Asgardoun won a silver medal in the sanshou (sparring) competitions of the Asian women's wushu
Wushu (sport)
The sport of wushu is both an exhibition and a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts. It was created in the People's Republic of China after 1949, in an attempt to nationalize the practice of traditional Chinese martial arts...
(martial arts) event.
On 30 May 2005, Farkhondeh Sadegh, a graphic designer, and Laleh Keshavarz, a dentist, became the first Muslim women to make a successful ascent of Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
. In December 2005, Iran won the Asian women's canoe polo
Canoe polo
Canoe Polo is a competitive ball sport played on water, in a defined "field", between two teams of 5 players, each in a kayak...
crown. In 2006, Iranian wushu athletes won five medals in the Third Grand International Wushu Festival in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Poland. Iranian women's national team athlete, Elham Sadeqi, won three golds in taolu (wushu forms) events. Iran's top race car driver is Laleh Seddigh
Laleh Seddigh
Laleh Seddigh is an Iranian female race car driver. She races both on circuits and in rallies. She lives in Tehran and has been called the "little Schumacher". She is recognized as the best female racer in the country...
, who is skilled in both circuit and rally driving. However, in December 2007 it was reported that Seddigh, known as the "Schumacher of the East", was banned from racing for one year for allegedly tampering with her car's engine. "I did not commit any irregularities," said Seddigh, "They simply want to exclude me from racing because I'm a woman."
National Iranian women's teams take part in football (soccer), taekwondo, chess, and track and field events.
Acts of protest against sex segregation of women includes an event of the 1997 so-called "Football revolution
Football revolution
The football revolution refers to the events in Iran since 1997 in the context of football in that country, a notable part of the secularization and women's rights movements...
" when an estimated 5000 women defied the ban on entering football stadiums and stormed the gates to join 120,000 men in celebration of Iran's national football team which had returned to the country from qualifying for the World Cup
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
.
Female Iranian athletes are all but prevented from participation in the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
. In December 2007 the vice president of the Iranian Olympic Committee, Abdolreza Savar, issued a memorandum to all sporting federations about the "proper behavior of male and female athletes" and that "severe punishment will be meted out to those who do not follow Islamic rules during sporting competitions" both local and abroad. Men are not allowed to train or coach women. Iran's female volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
team was once considered the best in Asia, but due to the lack of female coaches it has been prevented from international competition.
Iranian women are allowed to compete in sports that require removal of the hijab
Hijab
The word "hijab" or "'" refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general....
, but only in arenas that are all female. They are banned from public events if spectators include unrelated men. Thus, of the 53 Iranian athletes in the Beijing Olympics, there were only three women: Sara Khoshjamal Fekri (taekwondo
Taekwondo
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...
), Najmeh Abtin (shooting
Shooting
Shooting is the act or process of firing rifles, shotguns or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman...
) and Homa Hosseini (rowing).
Women may not wear Lycra as it is too form-fitting; when Homa Hosseini competes in rowing she must wear her hijab secured by a hat, a long-sleeved baggy top and tracksuit
Tracksuit
A tracksuit is an article of clothing consisting of two parts: trousers and a jacket usually with front zipper. It was originally intended for use in sports, mainly as what athletes wore over competition clothing and would take off before competition. In modern times, it has become commonly worn...
bottoms. If women do not conform to the dress code rules, they face severe punishment and a ban on participation in any future national or international competitions.
At the 2004 Athens Olympics there was only one female athlete, ironically in shooting.
Women's health
In the 20th century, female social activists, health workers, and non-governmental organizationNon-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
s promoted the health of women by stressing the importance of regular check-ups such as the Pap smear
Pap smear
The Papanicolaou test is a screening test used in to detect pre-cancerous and cancerous processes in the endocervical canal of the female reproductive system. Changes can be treated, thus preventing cervical cancer...
, mammography
Mammography
Mammography is the process of using low-energy-X-rays to examine the human breast and is used as a diagnostic and a screening tool....
, and blood tests. Vitamin D and calcium supplementation and hormone replacement therapy
Hormone replacement therapy (menopause)
Hormone replacement therapy is a system of medical treatment for surgically menopausal, perimenopausal and to a lesser extent postmenopausal women...
were emphasized with the goal of preventing osteoporosis
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fracture. In osteoporosis the bone mineral density is reduced, bone microarchitecture is deteriorating, and the amount and variety of proteins in bone is altered...
.
In 2005, the Iranian parliament approved abortions carried out before four months gestation if a woman's life was at risk or if the fetus was malformed. With technical support from the United Nations Population Fund
United Nations Population Fund
The United Nations Population Fund is a UN organization. The work of the UNFPA involves promotion of the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. This is done through major national and demographic surveys and with population censuses...
, the government undertook literacy and family planning initiatives. The fund's specific contributions to the Literacy Movement Organization of Iran included training more than 7,000 teachers, developing a nine-episode television series on women's health issues (including family planning), and procuring computers and other equipment.
"Stop Stoning Forever"
In May 2006, a group of women's movement activists in Iran initiated the "Stop Stoning Forever" campaign. The campaign claims it has succeeded in saving 5 women from stoning up to March 2008, in association with the Volunteer Lawyers' Network. In August 2008 the Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women! announced that there were still at least eight women and one man sentenced to die in Iran by stoning for convictions of prostitutionProstitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
and adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
.
"One Million Signatures campaign"
On August 27, 2006, a new women's rights campaign was launched in Iran. The "One Million SignaturesOne Million Signatures
One Million Signatures for the Repeal of Discriminatory Laws , also known as Change for Equality, is a campaign by women in Iran to collect one million signatures in support of changing discriminatory laws against women in their country.Activists of the movement...
" campaign aims to end legal discrimination against women in Iranian laws by collecting a million signatures. Examples of such laws include one that gives lower value to legal testimony by women than to legal testimony by men, and one that limits punitive damages in cases of the wrongful injury or death of a woman to half of that of a man. The supporters of this campaign include many Iranian women's rights activists inside Iran and also international activists including many Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
laureates. However, according to California State University
California State University
The California State University is a public university system in the state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the...
professor Nayereh Tohidi, women collecting signatures were attacked and arrested, which has slowed the campaign and caused it to extend its two year target.
After the victory with the marriage bill in September 2008, a court sentenced four of the women leaders, all involved in the One Million Signatures campaign, to jail for contributing to banned websites. They were identified as Mariam Hossein-khah, Nahid Keshavarz, Jelveh Javaheri and Parvin Ardalan.
The Persian cultural sphere
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, and the Kurdish areas
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region of Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. The regional capital is Arbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr...
of Iraq and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
. Many women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
activists, artists, and literary figures in the region cross borders to assist each other. For example, Iranian journalist Jila Bani Yaghoub and film-maker Samira Makhmalbaf
Samira Makhmalbaf
Samira Makhmalbaf is an internationally acclaimed Iranian filmmaker and script writer. She is the daughter of Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the film director and writer. Samira Makhmalbaf belongs to the New Wave movement within Iranian cinema...
have contributed to the culture of Afghanistan. Iranian intellectual Farah Karimi
Farah Karimi
Farahnaz Karimi , 15 November 1960) is an Iranian-Dutch politician. She was member of the House of Representatives between 1998 and 2006 for GreenLeft.-Life before Politics:...
wrote a book entitled "Slagveld Afghanistan" that criticizes Dutch military policies in Afghanistan, and in 2006, she was appointed as the representative of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
in Afghanistan affairs. In 2003, Sima Bina
Sima Bina
Simā Binā is notable Persian classical musician and Iran's researcher, composer, singer and song-writer of Iranian folk music...
, the voice of Khorasan (a region of northeastern Iran), performed secular threnodies
Threnody
A threnody is a song, hymn or poem of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person. The term originates from the Greek word threnoidia, from threnos + oide ; ultimately, from the Proto-Indo-European root wed- that is also the precursor of such words as "ode", "tragedy", "comedy",...
at the Théâtre du Soleil
Théâtre du Soleil
Le Théâtre du Soleil is a Parisian avant-garde stage ensemble founded by Ariane Mnouchkine, Philippe Léotard and fellow students of the L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in 1964 as a collective of theatre artists. Le Théâtre du Soleil is located at La Cartoucherie, a former munitions...
for the benefit of the "Afghanistan: one child one book" project created by the organization Open Asia. Moreover in 2004, the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
funded a "network of Persian women" for promoting the welfare of women in Persian-speaking lands.
- Afghanistan: Influential figures include:
- Sima SamarSima SamarDr. Sima Samar OC is a politician in Afghanistan, who served as Minister of Women's Affairs of Afghanistan from December 2001 to 2003...
, the first Deputy Chair and Minister of Women’s Affairs. - Safeeieh Ammeh Jan, prominent Tajik-Afghan women's rights activist.
- Sima Samar
- Tajikistan:
Tajik women founded more than 100 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in recent decades to defend their rights and improve their quality of life. Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi
Shirin Ebadi
Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially women's,...
acted as a role model for a new generation of Tajik women. Many Tajik businesswomen have economic ties with Iran. In 2005, a conference on poverty among women was organized in Iran, and a group of Tajik journalists, activists, university lecturers, and athletes were invited to Iran to exchange experiences.
In 2006 Anousheh Ansari
Anousheh Ansari
Anousheh Ansari is an engineer and the Iranian-American co-founder and chairman of Prodea Systems. Her previous business accomplishments include serving as co-founder and CEO of Telecom Technologies, Inc. . The Ansari family is also the title sponsor of the Ansari X Prize. On September 18, 2006,...
, a woman whose family fled the country after the 1979 revolution was the first Iranian woman in space. The feat, undertaken in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, was reportedly an inspiration to many Iranian women.
Relationship with western feminism
Some suggest that only by accepting help from western feminists, whose progress has been recognized within western society, can the Iranian Women’s Movement be recognized. This perspective suggests that western feminism can offer freedom and opportunity to Iranian women that their own religious society cannot. In addition, advocates of this view argue that no matter what the Iranian Women’s Movement is able to achieve within Iranian society, the status of individual women within this society will always be less than what has been achieved by western feminists.By contrast, others suggest that parochial movements of women will never be successful, and that until a global sisterhood made up of women from all nations and religions has been established, feminism has not truly arrived.
There is yet a third perspective suggesting that a global women’s movement will inevitably ignore and undermine the unique elements of indigenous Iranian feminism which have arisen as a result of their history and religion.
See also
- Iran's Family Protection LawIran's Family Protection LawIn 1967, Iran adopted a set of progressive family laws, the Family Protection Act, which granted women more rights in the family; those rights were expanded in the Family Protection Law of 1975...
- Feminism in 1950s BritainFeminism in 1950s Britain1950s Britain has traditionally been regarded as a bleak period for feminism. In the aftermath of World War II, a new emphasis was placed on the nuclear family as a foundation of the new British welfare state...
- Intellectual movements in IranIntellectual movements in IranIntellectual movements in Iran involve the Iranian experience of modernity and its associated art, science, literature, poetry, and political structures that have been changing since the 19th century.- History of Iranian modernity :...
- One Million SignaturesOne Million SignaturesOne Million Signatures for the Repeal of Discriminatory Laws , also known as Change for Equality, is a campaign by women in Iran to collect one million signatures in support of changing discriminatory laws against women in their country.Activists of the movement...
- Sex segregation in IranSex segregation in Iran-Reza Shah Era:Reza Shah was against sex-segregation and he ordered Tehran University to enroll its first woman in 1936. Reza Shah forcibly unveiled women and promoted their education in the model of Turkey's Ataturk.-After the Islamic Revolution:...
- Feminist movementFeminist movementThe feminist movement refers to a series of campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment and sexual violence...
- Women's rights movement in IranWomen's rights movement in IranThe Iranian women's movement is based on the Iranian women's social movement for women's rights. This movement first emerged some time after the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906...
Further reading
- Edward G. Browne, The Persian Revolution of 1905-1909. Mage Publishers (July 1995). ISBN 0-934211-45-0
- Farideh Farhi, Religious Intellectuals, the “Woman Question,” and the Struggle for the Creation of a Democratic Public Sphere in Iran, International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, Vol. 15, No.2, Winter 2001.
- Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Religious Modernists and the “Woman Question”: Challenges and Complicities, Twenty Years of Islamic Revolution: Political and Social Transition in Iran since 1979, Syracuse University Press, 2002, pp 74–95.
- Shirin Ebadi, Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope, Random House (May 2, 2006), ISBN 1-4000-6470-8
External links
Articles:- Despite Odds, Women's Movement Persists In Iran, National Public Radio, February 2009
- Starting at Home, Iran’s Women Fight for Rights , The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, February 2009 - Portrayal of Women in Iranian Cinema: An historical overview by Shahla Lahiji
- One Million Signatures Campaign (we-change.org)
- The Iranian Camila Batmanghelidjh has won the UK's Women of the Year 2006 award. (BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
) - Iran's Women's Rights Movement and the One Million Signatures Campaign
- The Iranian Women’s Movement: A Century Long Struggle
- Women Mayors in Iran
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