WOMEN AS A POLITICAL SYMBOL IN IRAN: A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE BETWEEN PAHLAVI REGIME AND ISLAMIC REVOLUTION

Abstract

Iranian women have been one of the most important topics of the socio-political discussions after the Iranian Islamic revolution. This article adopts a comparative perspective through focusing on the Shah regime and the post-revolution era in order to figure out what has been changed in Iranian women rights after the Islamic Revolution. It is argued that in both periods, women were used as a political symbol by the regimes; a symbol of modernity during the Pahlavi regime and a symbol of Islam after the Revolution. It is considered that women's rights discussions, which focus only on the outward appearance of women, lead to the neglect of many important issues. It is also demonstrated in the study that the leaders who have ruled the country since the Iranian revolution have different attitudes towards women's rights. After the Islamic revolution of Iran, women's rights have gone back and forth depending on the visions of the presidents on women issues.