The Iranian Revolution of 1979 had greatly transformed and affected the lives of women because it abolished all of the rights they had attained under the two previous Shahs decades before, however, not all women were impacted negatively since the new Islamic regime had given them new opportunities that they didn’t have before the Revolution . They played an important role during the Revolution because they succeeded in gaining a lot of support for the Ayatollah Khomeini, and were able to mobilize large numbers of people to remove the Shah from power. After the Revolution, while most women were negatively affected by the newly established fundamentalist Islamic regime, some women from poorer regions were able to obtain more power by becoming …show more content…
Iran was the one of the most progressive countries on women's rights in the Middle East during that time. After the first Shah staged a coup in 1921 to overthrow the Qajar dynasty, he decided to modernize the country by implementing top-down westernization, which included giving women more rights. He banned the veil in public places and gave more opportunities for women to receive a higher education. However, the Shah didn’t take into account whether women wanted these changes to be imposed because he thought the public in general wasn’t educated enough to know what was good for them. Traditional women were very upset when the Shah banned veils in public and allowed people to rip the veils off of them. A lot of women did not benefit from the new changes being made. Many were living under patriarchal families that didn’t allow them to obtain their rights, while others were conservative and had a strong dislike of the new secular policies put in place because they were very anti-western. But women who lived in urban areas and come from non-traditional families like Ebadi were able to take advantage of the rights given to them by going to college and getting high ranking government jobs. Even though they were treated better in society during that time, it did not stop many women from supporting the removal of the second Shah because at the time, since they cared more about …show more content…
Secular women from urban areas and traditional women from the rural countryside came together to protest against Mohammad Reza Shah and his control over the country. Many people were upset with the Shah because they thought of him as a puppet for the western countries, especially the United States. They were also were frustrated with the Shah because he ignored religion completely. Because of that, many women wanted the Shah to be removed from power, so they supported the Ayatollah Khomeini. There were some backlash from some people over women supporting the Ayatollah because it seemed hypocritical since there was a possibility that he might take away the rights they had gained in the past few decades. However, many women continued to support Khomeini because they felt that he was the only option that would get rid of the Shah. In her book, Ebadi says that she would “rather be a free Iranian than an enslaved attorney.” Many secular women that were backing Khomeini did not realize how much he would change their lives for the worse. Even though some were aware that their daily lives might be impacted, many women didn’t expect him to take all of their rights way and have a strict, fundamentalist view on how they should
The Islamic Revolution of 1979 placed an ideological wedge that created an increasingly pervasive rift in gender equality that is now only gradually being successfully challenged and correct upon.
Women’s rights in the Middle East are being restricted, therefore there are many different reactions. Some people were in favor of women having equal rights while there are some who are against women to have the same rights. Since before times, many countries in the Middle East have been taking women for granted and minimized their rights by telling them they can't do something or selling them as if they were prized. When women were treated as prizes it was a practice in Afghanistan called Ba’ad that used women as the compensation, for example a story of a girl named Sakina. She was a consolation prize so that her brother could marry a woman and the Jirga system told her she had to marry a 80 year old guy when she was like 18. This tells me
As I sat in an airport one day, I noticed a family approaching the same waiting area as mine. This family was not the same as your ordinary family; the mother was completely covered, with only her eyes and hands showing. I immediately found myself wondering, being in America, the land of the free, did she choose to wear that or is it mandatory for her due to her religion. I also wondered if she knew that people were looking at her, possibly with the same question as my own.
Women in Iran don’t have this luxury.They never got the choice to wear what they wanted to because religious customs were enforced into the law. In “Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return”, Satrapi states, Little details made a big difference in the fight against the rule(Satrapi,84). When some of the women defied the laws set by the government, they discreetly had demanded their freedom.Makeup or colored clothing displayed their demand. They wanted to express themselves so they rebelled with these little actions risking arrest. Their choice of clothes was never given to them so they demanded the right by rebelling. After years of not being able to express themselves they felt as though they were representing the community with the same clothes, but they wanted their own. Azar Nafisi says in “Reading Lolita in Tehran”,” Does she realize how dangerous she can be when every stray gesture is a disturbance to public safety?”(Nafisi,83). The author emphasizes that many actions and clothing are banned so there is opportunity to rebel. Rebelling is demanding for it to be changed. Clothing and movements can be an act that represents the demand. This granted them the ability to rebel and
Regardless of location, revolutions have always had an effect on women's role in society and on themselves as well. Some Revolutions gave women more opportunities while others restricted them to domestic servants. During the Chinese revolution of 1949, women gained their greater rights and freedoms and joined various branches of the Women's National Salvation League, while education rights were given to city women it didn't spread countryside. In Iran, matters were taken in opposite directions in their revolution of 1979, where women had expected to receive equal opportunities and gender rights none were received. During the revolution and war women were expected to work in place of men in factories, but this arrangement was only seen by the government to be temporary. This did not remain so. Women were not to have a point of view in men's perspective and society's perspective before the revolution. Women revolted and paraded for their rights and freedom in both Iran and China, sometimes the government listened and other times they struck them down.
Throughout history women were taught that they needed to learn how to sing, play a piano, keep up with the latest current events, socialize, etc. in order to maintain their status as a woman. However, they were only taught to learn these various things on a minimal level in order to entertain a crowd, make simple conversation, and appear wealthy and educated. This was especially this case in Iran in the 1930’s. Women were/still are pressured to embody a modest personality and style. Women were especially not expected to be poets and/or film directors. Regardless of the societal standards Forugh Farrokhzad was held to, she had an influential career as a poet thus becoming a bold female voice that was able to express what it meant to be a feminist
There are many examples throughout the text that specifically focus on the overbearing treatment of women. During the country's revolution there is a shift to extremely conservative religious conviction that force women to cover themselves head to toe while in public. Ultimately, Nafisi refuses to wear a veil while teaching at the University of Tehran which leads to her expulsion. These examples presented throughout the text along with various outside sources, can be a tool to interpret and scrutinize the oppressive treatment of people in unjust societies like that of Iran's.
Tohisi, Nayereh. "Iranian Women and Gender Relations in Los Angeles." California Dreams and Realities: Readings for Critical Thinkers and Writers. Ed. Sonia Maasik, and J F. Solomon. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 1993. 149-159. Print.
The reformation of the country of Iran toward Islam caused turmoil among the people because the drastic changes forced on the people were not easily accepted. One of the major changes is that women were forced to wear veils as a religious requirement. A change in government toward a religion is difficult to overcome because not everyone agrees on the changes and many people want to keep things the way they are. This change to Islam is difficult for Marjane and the other children as she explains “We didn’t really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to” (3). Marjane’s family serves as an example that there are families in Iran who do not strictly follow the Islamic religion and do not understand why they are being forced to follow the government mandated rules. Although many people did not believe the government’s proposition that women’s hair excites men, they still had to wear the veil to live safely. Marjane claims, “I think that the reason we were so rebellious was that our generation had known secular schools” (98). Constantly struggling to make the transition to the religious schools was difficult for the children of Iran because they had already be...
The religion of Islam was imposed upon Iranians, whether they liked it or not. Marjane and her classmates “...didn’t like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to”(Satrapi 3). The young girls were against wearing the veil because they were not practicing
In the book, Women in the Middle East, a Saudi Arabian proverb states, "A girl possesses nothing but a veil and a tomb" (Harik and Marston 83). The key words, "veil" and "tomb" lend evidence to the fact that many Middle Eastern women lack identity symbolized by the “veil” and lack the right of ownership except for their veil and the tomb. This statement further enforces the notion that many women in the Middle East are expected to serve and tolerate the oppression of the men in their lives throughout their lives on this earth. Moreover, it confirms that many of these women do not get the opportunity to obtain education, join the work force, and even participate in the political affairs of the country. This arrangement further helps the Middle Eastern men to view women as their properties, servants, or even as slaves. Ultimately, there are three main reasons why Middle Eastern men engage in the act of oppressing their women.
The Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979 created a lasting affect on the societal role of women through modern day Iran. Women in Iran before the revolution were not entirely treated equal to men, but despite some cultural perceptions of women being inferior to men, they had made progress to become socially equal under the Shah. Several misconceptions and theories have been published and studied to show the inequality of women versus men because of Islam. However, contrasting theories have also been made to show that inequality has little to do with the religion, but instead with the forceful nature upon which it was implemented in the revolution. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the Islamic and political history of Iran and its social implications over Iranian women.
The Women of the Middle East have played substantial roles for their corresponding countries since the advent of colonialism in the region. Middle Eastern women have worked in all types of fields including medicine, education, agriculture, government, private sector, and even defense. They have kept roofs over their family’s heads while their husbands were away in wars, or even in foreign countries to work in jobs that they could not find in their own countries. The roles of women in the countries of Yemen and Oman are no exception, but while they still find ways to contribute to their country, they care constantly stereotyped, discriminated, and ridiculed by men who are known and unknown to them. This paper will discuss the individual contributions of the women living in Yemen and Oman, and will discuss in further state laws and cultural norms that are affecting the women living in these countries today.
Six million women of reproductive age obtain healthcare through the Medicaid system; imagine if there came a point where all of these women who are incapable of purchasing an abortion because of their financial status were forced to carry through a pregnancy and give birth to a child who they may not even be ready to have. If abortion funding was included within the Medicaid system, many of these issues that are produced because some women are unable to purchase an abortion and are forced to carry out through a full three trimesters of birth wouldn’t exist.
The role and place of Women in Islam has changed drastically, in a positive way, over the past millennium: the changes can be greatly attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, and the Qur’an. To understand the changes in women’s rights and freedoms, one must understand their role and place before Islam was created, which happened in the Arabia Peninsula, now Saudi Arabia (Angha). Before Islam was formed women lacked many of the basic human rights, and they were treated as more of a burden in their culture then someone who should be respected, but that is not the case today. Though women in Islam have gained many rights, there is still some controversy over whether or not women are still being oppressed and treated like second class citizens compared