The Roots of Feminist Invocations in Post-Revolutionary Iran
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THE ROOTS OF FEMINIST INVOCATIONS IN POST-REVOLUTIONARY IRAN Nina Ansary Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2013 Nina Ansary All rights reserved ABSTRACT The Roots of Feminist Invocations in Post-Revolutionary Iran Nina Ansary Studies of the transformation of Iranian society after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and its impact on the position of the Iranian woman have revealed that three and a half decades of efforts by the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) to institutionalize an archaic image of the ideal Muslim woman have produced results contrary to what was intended. The expansion of women’s education in post-revolutionary Iran identified as an unintended consequence of the revolution has been empowering women against the IRI’s misogynistic ideology. A feminist movement based on the evolution of female consciousness and an unprecedented solidarity among previously divided secular and religious women has emerged as another medium of resistance. This study augments the research in this field by examining modifications in the education system following the revolution. A critical content analysis of elementary school textbooks issued by the Pahlavi and the IRI assesses the way in which each regime sought to impart its gender ideology to young girls. The eradication of coeducation and institution of single-sex schooling at the pre- university level is investigated as a factor in combating the constraints imposed by patriarchal laws on the female population. The conclusion is offered that the IRI may have unwittingly undermined its own agenda for women in promulgating such seemingly outdated decrees. Finally, this dissertation examines women’s publications of the Pahlavi and IRI periods, emphasizing the pioneering role of one particular feminist publication in presenting a universal feminist ideology. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1! CHAPTER ONE The Origins of Women’s Awakening in Iran..................................................... 4! CHAPTER TWO Women and Education: Paradoxical Trends and Emerging Voices............... 48! Elementary Textbooks of the Islamic Republic...................................................................... 67! Elementary Textbooks of the Pahlavi Monarchy.................................................................... 73! Analysis of Pre- and Post-Revolutionary Elementary Textbooks: ......................................... 74! Education and the Veil............................................................................................................ 78! CHAPTER THREE Single-Sex Schools and Women’s Empowerment ...................................... 87! CHAPTER FOUR Islamic Feminism and the Path for Reform ................................................. 125! CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................... 215! BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................................... 226! i 1 INTRODUCTION The historical processes surrounding the intricate labyrinth of the “woman question” in Iran have delineated the paradoxical contours and opaque resolutions of a fallacy defrauding the female gender of its right to humanity. Over a century ago, an enlightened avant garde boldly disseminated the seeds of a feminist itinerary by protesting a deplorable status entrenched in archaic mores. In the aftermath of this era, the Pahlavi monarchy momentarily impeded the trajectory of an egregious misdiagnosis only to have it dismantled by Ayatollah Khomeini in an enigmatic tour de force reinforcing patriarchal norms in Iranian society. The abolition of the Monarchy in the late 20th century precipitated the regression of a nation perched on the threshold of modernization, extinguishing a multitude of initiatives of which a fundamental component entailed the emancipation of the Iranian woman. The legacy of a calamitous disruption has been a theocracy based on Ayatollah Khomeini’s “Islamic Government,” and a misogynistic regimen embedded in a constitution reinforcing the primacy of the shari‘a (Islamic law) over civil law and the absolute leadership of a Shi‘ite jurist over popular sovereignty. Nevertheless, three and a half decades of a concerted effort to indoctrinate the Iranian population with an antiquated portraiture of the quintessential Muslim woman, has generated results antithetical to the envisioned objective. The transformation of Iranian society in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and its enormous impact on the overall status of women has been the focus of much scholarly assessment, exposing the conflicting undulations fueling the incessant discord among forces of tradition and modernity. The myriad of analytical literature discloses an unprecedented surge in female literacy and a burgeoning feminist movement in opposition to the established order. 2 The following dissertation goes beyond the current discourse by distinguishing separate components adversely impacting the socialization of young women against the dominant order. Its underlying premise maintains that the aggregate of ostensibly gender biased policies initiated during the first revolutionary phase (1979-1989) collided both with the idealistic conceptions of the preceding dynastic order (1941-1979) and with the substantive amendments of the reformist period (1997-2005), to produce the foundational principles of a unique covenant nourishing an era of monumental regeneration among the disempowered female segment of the population. Implicit to this hypothesis are modifications in the educational arena and the role of the women’s press, which will be extensively evaluated as part of the concealed components seemingly complicit in the propagation of “norms” against the boundaries of traditionalist religious prescription. Integral to this is the enigma of a revolution that was explicitly antagonistic to the modernizing initiatives of the previous order, yet had the capacity to engender a society distinguished by greater female education, the extension of powerful female voices, and at least in limited instances enhanced opportunities for the protection of women. While the overall premise of this argument may be counterintuitive from the predominant theoretical standpoint distinguishing Islamic assertion as fundamentally retrogressive, its implications nonetheless require additional research in order to discern the extent to which the spirit of the Pahlavis may have infiltrated popular class women, even as numerous laws and institutions originating with the Monarchy were eradicated by the Republic. Given that historians have exhaustively deliberated on this fascinating yet anomalous passage, empirical evidence may in fact reveal that “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” (the more things change, the more they are the same), an expression aptly coined by Jean Baptiste Alphonse Karr in 1848, suggesting the “curious paradox of historical consciousness, whereby structuralism invokes 3 actions of the past — privileging the determination of the pre-existing order, rather than the modifications ensuing from practice….”1 1 Sahlins, M. Cultural and Practical Reasons. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976, 21 4 CHAPTER ONE THE ORIGINS OF WOMEN’S AWAKENING IN IRAN This chapter provides comprehensive historical coverage of the social and political transactions impacting the ebb and flow of contradictory currents revelatory of the web of interdependence disseminating the artifacts of a “paradigm shift,” culminating in the feminist reformist movement in post-revolutionary Iran.2 In 1912, Morgan Shuster, the American Treasurer General of Persia observed: All honor to the veiled women of Persia with the constraining traditions of the past around them; with the idea of absolute dependence upon the fancy and caprice of men ever before them; deprived of all opportunity to educate themselves along modern ideals; watched, guarded and rebuffed, they drank deep from the cup of freedoms desire and offered up their daily contribution to their country’s cause.3 Despite the paucity of historical narratives documenting the position of women prior to the advent of Islam in 7th century AD, some chronicles suggest an often prestigious and revered status for them in ancient and medieval Persia.4 Achaemenid (550-331 BC) and Sassanid (224- 650 AD) sources showcase the service of high-ranking commanders Pantea Arteshbod (559 BC) and Apranik (632 AD), and the brief reign of Queens Pourandokht and Azarmidokht over the vast Persian Empire.5 In this milieu, the intrinsic ideology of the predominant Zoroastrian faith 2 The term “paradigm shift” is used by Thomas Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions in order to indicate change from one way of thinking to another. According to the author, transformations do not simply occur, but are rather induced and driven by agents of social change. Kuhn, T. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970 (1962) 10 3 Shuster, M.W. The Strangling of Persia. New York: The Century Co., 1912, 198-199 4 Brosius, M. Women in Ancient Persia (559-331 BC). Oxford: Clarendon Press 1996 5 Afshar, H. “Competing Interests: Democracy, Islamization, and Women Politicians in Iran,” in