Women in Pre-Revolutionary Iran: A Historical Overview

Abstract

In the twentieth century, the old traditions governing the lives of women in Iran gradually began to be transformed as women's perceptions of themselves and men's attitudes toward women changed. The male dominance of women was symbolized by the seclusion of women. Seclusion was enforced outside the house by the wearing of the veil, which insured and perpetuated the separation of the worlds of men and women. The teachings of Islam improved women's condition. Women were granted economic, religious, and civil rights, although in economic and civil areas their rights were not equal to men's. Men's work began to be valued more than women's work, and men began to be viewed as more intelligent than women. Certain developments within Islamic society accelerated trends which encouraged the further seclusion of women and offset the impact of the egalitarian teachings of Islam.