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The Politics of Women's Clothing in Iran Article OPEN ACCESS Good Hijabi, Bad Hijabi: The Politics of Women’s Clothing in Iran Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, Education Tehreem Junaid Asghar City, Doha, Qatar Email: [email protected] Abstract This paper seeks to examine the revolution in women’s clothing in Iran under different systems of governance, starting from the time immediately before the Pahlavi dynasty to modern day Iran. This is to show how the ever-changing systems of governance of the country coerced Iranian women into dressing in accordance with the political agenda at the time. This paper showcases women taking a stand against the system of governance before, during, and after the Iranian Revolution (18th to 21st century) by developing a subculture that does not confine them to certain kind of clothing. Instead, they mixed their personality with what they chose to wear, often identifying themselves as ‘bad hijabis’ for defying the status quo to make their own political statement. http://dx.doi.org/10.5339/ messa.2015.10 Accepted: 1 March 2015 © 2015, Asghar, licensee Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Cite this article as: Asghar TJ . Good Hijabi, Bad Hijabi: The Politics of Women’s Clothing in Iran, Journal of Georgetown University-Qatar Middle Eastern Studies Student Association 2015:10 http://dx.doi.org/10.5339/messa.2015.10 2 of 11 pages Asghar, Journal of Georgetown University-Qatar Middle Eastern Studies Student Association 2015:10 Introduction Clothing can be used to examine a country, its people and its culture by non-verbal means. It enables the exchange of ideas, whether religious, cultural or political. It can also be used as a form of resistance, which was the case in Iran. Transformations in clothing started to embody the political sentiments of Iranian people, especially Iranian women, who wanted to have control of their outer appearance.1 Naturally, men and women were both affected. However, women’s ability to dress in the way they wanted was much more repressed under the regimes, which coerced them into literally wearing the politics of Iran. This repression enabled them to stand up to the regime and fight for free expression. This is what turned fashion in Iran into something more than just a random piece of clothing; it became a means of defiance. By wearing different colors of hijabs rather than traditional dark colors and by showing some parts of their hair, women were able to non-verbally communicate to the rulers that they dictate their own fate in Iran, not the people in power.2 This is what led to a clothing evolution. This paper seeks to examine this clothing revolution in Iran under different systems of governance, starting from the time right before the Pahlavi dynasty to modern day Iran. This is to show how the various systems of governance coerced Iranian women into dressing in accordance with the political agenda at the time and the way women resisted it through their attire. Clothing before the Pahlavi Dynasty: Changing of Attitudes towards Traditional Clothing Before discussing the time of Shah Pahlavi’s reign, it is noteworthy to analyze Iran in the context of the 18th century Pre-Pahlavi Dynasty, also known as the Qajar Dynasty, because it helped shape the outcomes of the Pahlavi regime.3 Before Shah Reza was in power, the common form of dress for women was the veil, which is referred to as a hijab, and a long black cloak called the chador. Men usually wore traditional clothing as well, which consisted of a loose trouser called salvars, unstarched shirts called pirahans (or gowns called qabas), and headgear either in the form of skullcaps or turbans.4 Traditional Iranian clothing started being viewed differently when many Iranian men and women started taking trips to “modern” Europe during the 19th century and were influenced by the women there who were often adorned in more fitting, revealing and “liberating” clothing in comparison to Iranian women.5 Many tried to emulate the style of the Europeans back in Iran, which symbolized modernization in Iran.6 Iranian men quickly adapted the suit and tie clothing culture that was largely prevalent in Europe, while some women started viewing the hijab as a sign of backwardness because it was not prevalent in Europe and because women not wearing it seemed more liberated in society than women who wore it.7 Soon after these increasingly frequent visits to Europe, Iranians were more vocal about the hijab and chador when they returned to Iran. However, this was more prevalent amongst the aristocratic class where women had more resources and connections to voice their views.8 Additionally, these women were the ones who had the financial capabilities to travel to Europe in the first place, something that most lower and middle class women could not afford to do at the time. The Constitutional Revolution, which was a revolution that greatly advanced social, political and legal rights, helped start a political upheaval for 1Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Women and Politics in post-Khomeini Iran. (London: Routledge, 1996), 145-155. 2Nesta Ramazani, “Women in Iran: The Revolutionary Ebb and Flow.” The Middle East Journal (1993): 421-423. 3Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, “Qajar Dress from Iran.” National Museum of Ethnology (2001): 4. 4Ibid, 8-12. 5Houchang E Chehabi, “Staging the Emperor’s New Clothes: Dress Code and Nation-Building under Reza Shah.” International Society for Iranian Studies (1993): 209. 6Ibid. 7Ibid, 210. 8Ibid, 210-211. 3 of 11 pages Asghar, Journal of Georgetown University-Qatar Middle Eastern Studies Student Association 2015:10 women as they were able to develop a platform for speaking about the veil: they published their work in newspapers and periodicals, and some expressed their discontent about the veil in their poetry.9 However, it should be noted that this was not the attitude of everyone at the time; there were many traditionalists who had not been influenced by Europe and were vehemently opposed to unveiling of the hijab, viewing it as providing a means of safety rather than oppression. Clothing during the Pahlavi Dynasty: Modernity as an Obstruction to Hijab Wearing Women’s clothing was also heavily affected under the Shah’s regime. He came to power after deposing the Qajar Dynasty, creating the Pahlavi Dynasty, which lasted from 1935 to 1979.10 Although he was crucial player in the modernization of Iran, he was influenced to a great extent by the West which propelled him into making his country emulate the West.11 In 1928, the Shah started allowing women to start appear unveiled in certain public spheres of Iran.12 This allowed women who were reluctant at the idea of hijab to liberate themselves from its influence, while hindering women who wanted to veil. However, the state kept trying to get women to abandon the hijab, such as by creating a Ladies’ Center that emphasized the importance of “liberation” and unveiling.13 Teachers and girls in public schools, however, were prohibited from unveiling. What was an imposition on a certain group of females quickly became an imposition on all Iranian women in 1936.14 On 8th January, during his attendance at the opening ceremony of the Teacher Training College in Tehran, in which he had called women to come without their veils, Reza Shah overtly outlawed the hijab.15 Here are extracts from his speech: I am exceedingly pleased to see that as a result of knowledge and learning, women have come alive to their conditions, rights and privileges. Being outside of society, the women of this country could not develop their native talents. They could not repay their debt to their dear country, nor serve it or sacrifice for it as they should … We should not forget that [up to this time] one-half of the population of the country was not taken into account … I expect you learned women who are now becoming aware of your rights, privileges and duties to serve your homeland, to be content and economical, and to become accustomed to saving and to avoid luxuries and extravagance.”16 These words allude to unveiling as a sign of modernity and veiling as backwardness because they attach the act of unveiling to greater rights, economic success and prosperity for Iranian women, which perhaps is another reason beside Westernization that propelled Reza Shah into banning the hijab. The banning of the hijab was by far one of the most controversial laws under Reza Shah because it granted some women liberation from the hijab while undermining the views of women who wanted to wear it.17Additionally, the elite class was much better off under this law because the majority of the women had already been inspired to dress like Europeans.18 Pictures of elite families wearing European-inspired 9Ibid. 10Patricia J Higgins. “Women in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Legal, Social, and Ideological Changes.” Chicago Journals (1985): 485. 11Ibid, 486. 12Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Women and Politics in post-Khomeini Iran. (London: Routledge, 1996), 155. 13Ibid. 14Ibid. 15Ibid, 218. 16Stephanie Cronin, The Making of Modern Iran: State and Society Under Riza Shah, 1921-1941. ( New York: Routledge, 2003), 201. 17Nesta Ramazani, “Women in Iran: The Revolutionary Ebb and Flow.” The Middle East Journal (1993): 421. 18Ibid. 4 of 11 pages Asghar, Journal of Georgetown University-Qatar Middle Eastern Studies Student Association 2015:10 clothing are depicted in Figures 1 and 2. Traditional women who had been supporting chadors, however, were less than pleased.
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