Women in contemporary Iran

Résumé du document

The history of women's situation in Iran is very ambiguous. As Keddie points out, "the situation of women shows all the contradictions of the revolution [?]. Despite the great limits on women's rights enforced in the first years of the revolution, several factors led to a partial comeback". In Western countries, Iran is depicted as a jail for women, who are subjugated to the will of men. It is and undeniable fact that the Iranian Revolution has institutionalized the inferiority of women in the Islamic Republic. However, depicting Iranian women as passive casualties of the regime does not reflect the reality. Outwardly, women seem to comply with the fate the Islamists imposed on them. By an intimate study of the contemporary lives of Iranian people, it becomes obvious that a major transformation is taking place, a kind of silent revolution. For about twenty eight years, the Iranian population particularly women have been living under the restrictions imposed by the Islamists in power. One of the main ideas of the rulers was to reinforce the Islamic gender relations, particularly the withdrawal of women from public life. In reality though, different factors have strangled that purpose. From a historical point of view, Iranian women have always taken part in the political workings of their country, and the setting up of the Revolution is not an exception.

Extraits

[...] Iranian women are not feminist in the way we, westerner people, understand it. Out of thirty million of Iranian women, twenty-nine million have never heard the word “feminism” in any language. Very few feminist books are in circulation in the country and on the International Women's day in 2005, less than two thousand women did a public gathering.[21]Iranian women are not influenced by the western notion of feminism, “although only tacitly, feminism has now begun to define itself in the individual and social behavior of Iranian women in their everyday lives”.[22] Depicting Iranian women as submissive victims is a western misconception. [...]

[...] Many women have taken part in this movement. They hoped that their status would change. “Women were among the first to go on strike against the regime in many factories as well as in government offices and schools”.[3] Through a referendum, it was decided that Iran would become an Islamic Republic ruled by Ayatollah Khomeini. In the late 1970's, Iranian women did not have a strong feminist consciousness, their hatred for the Shah's dictatorial rule, considering women as sex objects, was the main reason for their involvement. [...]

[...] That is the paradox of the Iranian Republic. The regime should have been aware that education enhanced individual's capacity to think by its own, and to protest against any form of oppression. Iranian women have used this tool to contest the regime. Keddie speaks of a partial come back of women, however, it would probably be more accurate to refer to a continuous silent action. In many scholars' works, the notion of “feminism” is used to describe the fight led by women to acquire an equal status. [...]

[...] [29]However, the changes go even further. Azadeh Moavini depicts a surprising portray of the young Iranian society in in the Time of Mullahs”. His point is to relate his confrontation with the reality of what is happening in Iran, “sooner or later, if you are an Iranian living outside, someone will inform you of all that you have been missing in the Islamic Republic: a sexual revolution behind closed doors, where young Iranians drop ecstasy, host backroom orgies, and generally put Amsterdam to shame”. [...]

[...] They expected an improvement in their status. Symbolically, “they all covered themselves in black veils as a sign of solidarity regardless of their political and personal beliefs concerning the hijab(veil)”.[4] The veil served two major purposes, it was a way to avoid to be easily identified by the Savak (the Iranian Secret Police); and it was to show their discontent with the excessive westernization of the Shah's policy. Eliz Sanasarian raises an important interrogation, why did the religion fervor and support for Khomeini increased during the revolution? [...]