The Journal of Undergraduate International Studies
Emma LaVopa
Philosophy of Gender and Sexuality in Iran
To whom is may concern,
In hopes to be published in your Journal of Undergraduate International Studies I have submitted a piece that covers the philosophy of gender and sexuality in Iran. The way women are treated in Iran is extraordinarily different than how they are treated here. Although my manuscript is not a comparison piece, it is able to show awareness and get the word out to possibly aid the women of Iran in their fight for their rights. The international study of Iran has played a huge part in helping define feminism and showing a basis on how to peacefully fight for what you deserve. A female shouldn’t have to hide in order to let their husband rise, a partnership mean equality, a marriage takes two and that’s only recently being learned in Iran. My manuscript takes about that and how to help those women.
Signature: Emma LaVopa Date: 11/19/19
Philosophy of Gender and Sexuality in Iran
Have you ever felt constricted, like something is holding you back from what you have always wanted to do? Having someone say, ‘people like you shouldn’t do that’, is an inferior feeling of which people want to escape from. The women of Iran have felt this way too many times. Instead of the perpetrator being a schoolyard kid, it’s the government and it’s the law. Throughout Iran’s history, women’s appearances were constantly challenged. They were told what to look like and what not to look like, without choice and without a say. Their opinions were tossed to the side and the men declared power over those bodies. During the 1930’s Iran was under the rule of Reza Shah, a man who forced women to unveil.
The hijab was a custom and women didn’t know much else therefor having this taken away from them by the people who are supposed to protect and serve them was extremely difficult to comprehend. Shah instructed policeman to tear off women’s hijab if caught in public. This was a vigorous, cruel and all together humiliating action. There was a time where if a female had an insufficient headscarf or unproper attire they would be whipped 74 times. A group called the ‘morality police’ would stop individuals who are improperly dressed, these people can be anywhere from publicly scorned, arrested and fined. Shah took this to another wrongful level by forcing men to bring unveiled women, typically apart of their family, into their place of work in order to receive their pay. What was his reasoning, why did he suddenly assemble this action? He wanted to westernize, he thought that by disregarding the years old hijab, women, and essentially Iran, would transform into a western civilization. Is that how you would westernize an area? So, I thought, how could Iran have become westernized? For starters, they could’ve simply made the hijab a choice, having free will is a big component of western civilizations as is the type of government they have. They could have also expunged the thought that in changing the appearance of women, the country would westernize. Reza Shah was rightfully bombarded by the British and his place was taken by his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Where do the rights of Iranian women go from here? After Pahlavi became ruler, he reinforced the wearing of headscarves during the Islamic Revolution. This was an interesting time because although some women were grateful that they could put their hijabs back on, many didn’t enjoy the fact that they had to. People deserve options not ultimatums, and the women of Iran knew this wasn’t fair. On the other hand, during this time more and more women began getting an education and seeing a female in the workplace was not uncommon. The integration of women outside the household was coming alive and the drive these women had was relentless.
Women started experimenting and expanding on their personal interests and what made them happy. As a result of this, a big beauty community developed in Iran, many jobs held by women are that of the makeup industry. Although, even today, the fun art of makeup is prohibited in many places in Iran. A female wearing makeup is frowned upon and punishable. During Shahs rule, post unveiling, many hairdressers opened up and stayed opened even after women were told to reveil. Once women found something that was enjoyable for themselves, they knew not to give it up. Feminism is a big part of society in Iran now, but it isn’t just about women standing up for themselves, but about females being equal to men and vice versa. I can’t even imagine if a boy were to wear makeup in Iran. Men are seen as superior to females therefore it’s extremely rare so find a woman in high positions of power in Iran unless they were born into it. Iran’s civil code has a lot of fine print that could be easily overlooked and disregarded. As stated in article 1117, “The husband can prevent his wife from occupations or technical work which is incompatible with the family interests or the dignity of himself or his wife.” This is stating that yes, women can work but only if given permission from their spouse. A man can deny the right their wife has to a job simply because they feel less dignified because of it. There was not much gender equality at all in Iran and most of that discrimination comes from their doctrine of law. Although there are people that disagree with it, a difference won’t be made until the government changes its aged ways. Even in an initial marriage in Iran, there is a contract that states extreme specifics of what the women can and cannot do. Such as “Married women […] need permission to travel abroad unless their marriage contract makes clear that the husband has already relinquished such power.” Although women can deny these limitations, they shouldn’t be available for action in the first place. Many women that file for divorce are denied and told to get over it by fixing themselves. What kind of message does that send to young girls? Women needed a safe place to explore things they wanted to do, one of which is to attend University. A rise in women attending University has been documented and compared with results from the Iranian Revolutions, over half of all Iranian women have sought out a higher education. The restrictions I mentioned before would make it extremely difficult for a female student to study abroad if given the opportunity. Amongst this want for intellect, more restrictions were imposed on women. The ban of females taking courses such as ‘science and engineering’ was conducted and this did not receive the best responses. An interesting aspect of this was that the ban came after “statistics showing that women were graduating in far higher numbers than men from Iranian universities and were scoring overall better than men, especially in the sciences.” Was the halt on certain higher educations for women imposed because men felt lower in status of intelligence compared to that of women? They can’t take some competition, why do they always need to feel like they have all the power? Maybe it’s their custom and they know nothing else, but maybe it’s time they learn something new.
The restrictions on women are nothing new to Iran in fact it’s been a part of their culture for centuries. In modern day Iran the rights of women are still struggled with. A big scene that had much attention was when about 40 women signed up to run for president but were denied. Iran does not want a female leader with so much power because the men want that title. But times are changing, and the women are gaining the support they’ve been needing. There was a big upcoming involving the allowance of women to enter stadiums, in recent events, to attend a soccer game. Although this was a step in the right direction for giving the women in Iran more freedom, there are still various restrictions that aren’t necessarily known by the public. After various protests from society on the ban of women entering stadiums and a tragic story of a women who passed away after lighting herself on fire for facing a six-month sentence due to entering a stadium disguised as a man, the government became slightly lenient. In a stadium able to hold 78,000 only 4,000 women were granted entrance. Various media videos depicted an empty stadium and a small yet loaded region set aside for the females. Many women lined up outside hoping to get a ticket but were denied at the door. Indeed, it was a monumental moment for those inside and out, but what was the reason for the female limit? The entirety of that stadium could’ve been overflowing with female fans of whom they could’ve made money off, yet they were turned down. The Iranian government in the past has always denied women’s access to sporting events such as this one as well as participating in the sport itself. Women can be athletes too but in the eyes of Iranian officials its improper and morally wrong. Trying to understand the logic of the government and stadium owners is absurdly troubling.
Various reforms and protests have been conducted in order to aid in the growth of acceptance for women in Iran. Movements such as the One Million Signature campaign and The Women’s Organization of Iran have made huge impacts on society and have given females the confidence, they need to make a difference in their everyday lives. Papers similar to mine, as well as novels and films have been made to spread awareness for the struggle that the women of Iran have to go through. More and more freedoms are being granted and women have learned how to handle certain situations. Even though the women of Iran still face scrutiny in their day to day lives, things have taken a turn for the better.
Citation Page
Glavin, Chris. “History of Education for Women in Iran.” History of Education for Women in Iran | K12 Academics, 6 Feb. 2017, https://www.k12academics.com/Education Worldwide/Education in Iran/Women’s Education in Iran/history-education-women-iran.
“Iran: Exit Procedures for Married Women .” Refworld, ACCORD, 12 June 2017, https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/5943a4e54.pdf.
“THE CIVIL CODE OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN .” WIPO, https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/ir/ir009en.pdf.
Panja, Tariq. “Iranian Women Allowed to Attend Soccer Game for First Time Since 1981.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Oct. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/10/sports/soccer/iran-women.html.
Sedghi, Hamideh. Women and Politics in Iran. Cambridge .
