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Iran
Impact of Western Ideas on the Role of Women
Among the ideas imported into Iran from the West was the notion
that women should participate in the public sphere. The Pahlavi
government encouraged women to get as much education as possible
and to participate in the labor force at all levels. After 1936,
when Reza Shah banned the chador, veiling came to be
perceived among the minority of elite and secular middle-class
women as a symbol of oppression. Before the Revolution, Iranian
society was already polarized between the traditionally minded
majority and a minority of involved women who were dedicated to
improving the status of women. As early as 1932, Iranian women
held a meeting of the Oriental Feminine Congress in Tehran at
which they called for the right of women to vote, compulsory education
for both boys and girls, equal salaries for men and women, and
an end to polygyny. In 1963 women were given the right to vote
and to hold public office.
Data as of December 1987
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