Massive Mumblings from Malaysia

I'd run to IRAN
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Most people know that women in Iran—even non-Muslim women—must cover when in public. But recently I learned that women’s history in Iran is so much more interesting and not nearly so simplistic! (I got much of the following from a really good, but really long article here. Quotes are from here unless otherwise indicated.)




Pre-revolution

Up until the mid-1920s, the chador (an ankle-length cape which covered the women’s hair and body, though not her face) was part of the traditional Iranian costume. When Reza Shah came to power in the mid-1920s, he wanted to modernize. A big part of that was a push for women’s education, which had previously been deemed as being against shari’a (Islamic law) by a previous Ayatollah at the turn of the century, even though girls’ schools had been separate, Islamic dress was enforced and all the teachers were female.

To modernize Reza Shah decided the veil must go. In 1936, the chador was outlawed and any headgear other than European hats was made illegal. Men also had to wear European clothing, though this was no so strictly enforced.

“For lower middle class and low-income urban women, who were socialized to see veiling, in the form of chador, as the only legitimate, acceptable way of dressing, the unveiling law was far from liberating.” Rather than set women free, the measure forced many no other choice but to stay home and give up their public activities: shopping for the family, engaging in economic activity outside the home, visiting neighbors, going to the public baths. The result was that many women became dependent on their husbands, sons and male relatives to do things they had normally done for themselves.



Revolution

Women participation in street demonstrations during the Revolution was unprecedented. The movement adopted the black chador as a symbol rejecting the Shah’s regime. Non-veiled middle class women put it on and traditional segments of the population—those who had stayed home when told to de-veil—joined in.

Because the Shah’s regime had been progressive in women’s rights, the women participating in the Revolution did not raise gender specific issues and their demands were those of the Revolution’s in general. Women who raised concerns that the Ayatollah Khomeini (who the Revolution brought to power) had traditionally been against women’s rights were silenced and accused of being divisive.

Ayatollah Khomeini, upon his return to Iran from exile, barred women from becoming judges. Three days later, he declared women should wear the hijab at work. Beaches and sporting events were segregated.

Spontaneous demonstrations occurred for several weeks to follow, including a March 8th International Women’s Day gathering that mushroomed into a protest rally with thousands demonstrating. There were several sit-ins at the Ministry of Justice. A March 11th protest drew 20,000 women.



Counter-protestors—religious zealots, paramilitary forces, and even some women—threw broken glass, bricks and stones and injured those protesting the new regulations. The government backpedaled, saying that Khomeini had been misunderstood and there was no plan to impose hijab. 15 months later, in June 1980, the hijab became compulsory.




Interpretations

Women’s groups in Iran offer similar arguments to Malaysia’s Sisters in Islam (which I’ve written about before, including here). “Through distortion and manipulation, and by exaggerating some aspects of Qur'anic verses and downplaying others, Muslim societies have oppressed women for centuries and denied them their genuine Islamic rights and dignity…Islamist women, many of whom were well versed in religious matters, continued to present a new gender vision based on a woman-centred interpretation of Islamic text. They pointed out that much of what is being presented to women as Islamic and ‘authentic Islamic ways’ is nothing but ‘patriarchy in Islamic costume.’”

E.g.: women had been denied political rights and prevented from parliamentary political processes prior to the Shah on the grounds that it was against the text of the Qu’ran, “despite the lack of a single reference to elections in the contemporary sense in the Quran. Ayatolah Mudress…claimed that God had not given women the capacity to engage in politics. God, he claimed, had said in the Quran that women are in the custody of men and may not have the right to vote.”

Unconventional

A great bit of logic pushed forward by Iranian women created the ojrat ol-mesal (wages for housework) law: Islamic tradition obliges women nothing more than to be faithful to their husbands; they are not required to work in the home, to the extent that women are not even obliged to breastfeed their children without payment from their husbands. However, women do work in their husbands’ homes and so are therefore entitled to proper compensation to avoid exploitation.

“The argument, though novel and unconventional, was based on Islamic texts supported by Qur'anic verses. The bill was initially resisted by the Islamic parliament and conservative religious leaders because it was an unconventional interpretation of ‘Islamic law.’ However, as the conservatives could not prove that it was un-Islamic, it gathered considerable popular support, and the law was eventually passed in December 1992. Presently, a man who intends to divorce his wife without proving fault on her part must first pay housework wages for the duration of the marriage.”


Resistance

Today, women have been pushing the limits of the law requiring them to cover. For some, it’s fashion. For others, it’s protest in the form of “letting a little hair out.”

My friend Bridget’s friend’s sister is currently in Iran, working on her PhD from the U of Chicago. She emails:

“I…haven't managed to get arrested (although since I've been here there have been a bunch of arrests of women wearing "slutty hejab" ie bright colors, tight, small head scarfs. Not much chance I'd get detained—during which they lecture you on being a better Muslim and make you sign a paper saying you will dress better—since I'm a foreigner and the rules are different for us, but that would TOTALLY make my CV: "summer 2004, arrested in Tehran for slutty hejab"! I'm still obsessed with slutty hejab as form of resistance and am trying to meet with this clothing designer in Iran who is very political, but the [Institute] doesn't understand why...everytime I bring it up they are like, do you want us to take you shopping? Or do you want to go to a clothing museum?”

Iranian media is reporting that the Interior Ministry is drafting guidelines as to what is deemed appropriate hijab and what is not. Read here and here for more about "slutty hijab" in Iran. (I tried, but couldn't find any pictures!)

For a discussion of resistance to the French law that bans hijab and other religious symbols from schools, visit Andi's second blog, Ditch the Raft, in a September 1st post, near the bottom of the page.

(Random note: I love the names Iran uses for political offices! The Council of Guardians, Assembly of Experts, the Supreme Spiritual Leader, the Revolutionary Guard, the Supreme Council of Defense. Perhaps a bit scary, but fun!)