Saturday 26 May, 2001
Life Under The Chador
Veiled in their chadors, many women in Iran maintain a traditional appearance. However beneath their head-to-toe dress these are women of the 21st century, in many cases educated, articulate Muslims who are determined to play their role in Iranian society.
Ahead of next month's presidential election, Everywoman travels to Iran to investigate just how empowered the women of Iran feel and how they see their future roles developing.
The Islamic Revolution of 1979, which overthrew the Shah, had a huge impact on women's lives: for some it brought restrictions, such as a new dress code; but for others it meant opportunities, like the chance to get an education on a par with men.
There've been many more changes in the last few years as the Reform process, under the moderate President Mohammed Khatami, has taken hold. It is a process which, for both its supporters and its opponents, will come into sharp focus in the forthcoming presidential elections.
Dress Codes and Restrictions
Since the revolution, the Iranian clergy has emphasised the traditional family role of women and enforced restrictions on how they dress and behave. In public all females are expected to cover their hair and wear a dress that covers the body. Only the face, toes and hands are allowed to be seen.
There are restrictions on women renting apartments on their own and travelling overseas often requires prior consent.
In public at least, the genders are encouraged to keep a polite distance away from each other. In some areas males and females have their own areas on public transport and there are women only zones on ski-slopes, beaches and other sport facilities.
The constraints that women have been required to live under have taken their toll. Women have a higher suicide rate than men in Iran and this is particularly pronounced in the holy Muslim Shi'ite city of Qom, Iran's centre of religious learning.
In recent years though some of the restrictions have become more relaxed. Skirts are getting shorter, women are wearing brighter colours and even make-up.
Even the separation of the sexes is becoming less rigid.
| 'Mountain climbing with your lover can cost you your liberty in Iran, but fewer and fewer modern Iranians are buying into the idea that such activities go against Islam and at the Tehran ski resorts, male and females are sharing the slopes.' | |
Women in Politics
In the area of politics women are becoming increasingly powerful. Eligible to vote since 1962, women are now allowed to stand in elections.
In the 1999 council elections women won the highest number of votes in 109 cities. With 30 million women in Iran they are a significant political force.
In a recent study of female employment in Iran author Maryam Poya suggests that the political importance of women is:
'Much greater at the end of the 1990s, under the Islamic state, than it was at the height of socio-economic transformation and westernisation in the '60s and '70s.'
When reformist, Mohammed Khatami, stood for election in 1997 he won the support of millions of women with his declaration that according to Islam men and women are equal. It is possible that gaining the female vote is what won him the election.
In Iran life for women has improved, and they are having increasing representation in society, being allowed to join the police force, attend and play football and even become advisory judges.
The social rules that have bound them in the past are becoming less stringent allowing more expression in their dress and behaviour. And in a country where the youth under 21 make up around half of the population, the future can only bring further changes.
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| Women on Film |
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The government was so concerned about the representation of Iranian women on film that they actually produced guidelines on how men and women could be portrayed.
The 1996 guidelines from the ministry of culture prohibit the showing of any part of a woman's body except the face and hands, tight feminine clothes, physical contact between men and women, and foreign or joyous music. |
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| Covering Up |
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| The chador is worn by a large number of women in Iran. It is like a large black sheet that a woman places over her head, wearing it low on her forehead. She then holds it from the inside with a hand below her chin and and a hand around waist level. |
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