#womeniniran

[persianatpenn]

Women and Feminism in Iran

In “Islamist women and the emergence of Islamic feminism,” Janet Afary traces the many ways that the Islamic Republic cultivated and rewarded loyalty to the regime. In many ways, poor and lower-middle class (Bazaari) women benefited while upper-class, westernized women lost out. Khomeini permitted and encouraged women to seek a university education, have jobs, and exist in public – so long as they were veiled. The new welfare state gave widows and poor women and independence they previously lacked. And deep investment in “war widows” and the mothers of martyrs after the Iran-Iraq war constituted another avenue for women to have public support. In these ways specific kinds of women materially benefited from the new Iranian regime. Moreover, the Islamic revolution encouraged them to be more independent and challenge Pahlavi-era social norms that subordinated or made women dependent on their husbands. Men no longer had the right to deny their wives employment, nor could they quickly and expediently divorce their wives, leaving them financially insecure.

     Of course, none of the previous social facts imply that women gained total or meaningful equality. Privately domestic violence was still a problem. And just because men lacked public rights to interfere over women’s lives did not mean that they did not wield such powers privately. And the ways that women had access to a meaningful public life – like college education or a baseline of social welfare – were still constrained. Nonetheless, these material benefits were an improvement over the Pahlavi era, and thus incentivized a number of women to support the revolution – much to the chagrin of westernized Iranian feminists who felt betrayed by their sisters.

     The chapter concludes with the advent of the reformists in Iran in the 90s, during which time Iranian “Islamic feminists” emerge. These women were actively concerned with the ways the private sphere permitted an inequality between men and women where the former had violent power over women. They turned to the Qur’an and Islamic jurisprudence to argue for a more egalitarian vision of Islam that insisted on an equality of women that went beyond the basic financial security of Khomeini’s revolutionary thought.

     Overall, Afary argues that women negotiated the political scene in Iran in complex ways. Women’s status in Iran should not be reduced to one of passive subordinance, because women contested politics through the many avenues that became open to them after the revolution. The egalitarian, feminist movements that emerge look different from Western ones because they are responding to a different political situation.

 Afary, Janet. Sexual Politics in Modern Iran. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Pp. 292-322.

-- H.O.

[mehrsambeautystore]

‏‎#گشت_ارشاد #گشت #توهین #زنان_مظلوم_سرزمینم #ضحاک #مزدور #بی_شرف #ظلم #ظلم_پایدار_نیست #ظلم_بس_است #مرگ_احساس #مرگ_انسانیت #iraniangirl #iran🇮🇷 #womenofiran #womeniniran #womenempowerment #burningman #harassmentofwomen#InsultingIranianwomen #insulting #architecture #gaming #goodvibes #jimin ‎‏ https://www.instagram.com/p/CVF1dQRoBb_/?utm_medium=tumblr

[stephenphotom]

🔺Women's rights in Iran - Photo : © Stephen photographer _ During the late 20th and early 21st centuries in Iran, women's rights have been severely restricted, compared with those in most developed nations. The World Economic Forum's 2017 Global Gender Gap Report ranked Iran 140, out of 144 countries, for gender parity. In 2017, in Iran, females comprised just 19% of the paid workforce, with seven percent growth since 1990. In 2017, the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Index ranked Iran in the bottom tercile of 153 countries. Compared to other South Asian regions, women in Iran have a better access to financial accounts, education, and cellphones. Iran was ranked 116, out of the 153 countries, in terms of legal discrimination against women. _ #زنان_ایران #زن #حجاب_زن #حجاب_اجبارى #حجاب_بی_حجاب #حجاب_شیک #چادر #دختران_خیابان_انقلاب #دختر #دخترایرانی #ایراناینترنشنال #ایران_رو_پس_میگیریم #ایران_فروشی_نیست #خیابان_انقلاب #حقوق_زنان_در_ایران #حقوق_مدنی #حقوق_شهروندی #womenfreedom #womeniniran #girls #hijabstyle #hijablove #freedom (at Tehran, Iran) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgcYBzMN7Te/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[allaboutpersia-blog]

watch from 2:19.

I feel like Iranian women are such underrated inspirations - they have come so far compared to many muslim countries and they are still rising and trying to gain more freedom and fighting for more equal rights.