{"id":830,"date":"2019-12-04T10:01:03","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T14:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/?p=830"},"modified":"2019-12-04T10:01:03","modified_gmt":"2019-12-04T14:01:03","slug":"reza-shah-pahlavis-anti-veiling-initiative-feminist-overture-or-authoritarian-imperialism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/2019\/12\/04\/reza-shah-pahlavis-anti-veiling-initiative-feminist-overture-or-authoritarian-imperialism\/","title":{"rendered":"Reza Shah Pahlavi&#8217;s Anti-Veiling Initiative: Feminist Overture or Authoritarian Imperialism?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"470\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/files\/2019\/12\/Iranian_Women_Parliamentarians_1970s.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"831\" data-link=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/?attachment_id=831\" class=\"wp-image-831\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/files\/2019\/12\/Iranian_Women_Parliamentarians_1970s.jpg 470w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/files\/2019\/12\/Iranian_Women_Parliamentarians_1970s-257x300.jpg 257w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 470px) 100vw, 470px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>At various points between 1925 and 1941,&nbsp; Iran\u2019s authoritarian leader <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Reza-Shah-Pahlavi#ref6142\">Reza Shah Pahlavi <\/a>utilized state force in an attempt to transform Iran into a nation that was palatable to the West(Eastwood, 308-312).&nbsp; To achieve this he enacted a series of reforms, including gendered social initiatives aimed towards \u2018liberating\u2019 Iranians, namely women. In reality, these reforms, which affected individuals in deeply personal and sometimes violent ways, were a reflection of Reza Shah\u2019s vulnerability to orientalist stereotypes regarding Iran as well as his authoritarianism.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Shah\u2019s hearty embrace of western modernity was a direct reaction to the damaged state he had received from his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Iran\/The-Qajar-dynasty-1796-1925#ref32182\">Qajar predecessors<\/a> who had transformed Iran into a \u201csemi-colonial\u201d state through a series of mortifying military excursions (Seghi, 40).&nbsp; As a result, Persian elites absorbed ideologies dictating that a healthy and therefore \u2018modern\u2019 Iran could be achieved only through emphasising Western political ideals.&nbsp; Iran\u2019s socio-economic fragility combined with <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Modernism\">modernist <\/a>values popular among societal elites like the Pahlavis provided the root of the Shah\u2019s insecurities regarding Iran\u2019s status in relation to the Western world. Because of his insecurity, he pursued a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/nationalism\">nationalist<\/a>, authoritarian political policy rooted in mimicking \u201cthe material advances of the West [through] a breakdown of the traditional power of religion and a growing tendency towards <a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/secularism\">secularism<\/a>\u201d (Seghi, 61).With westernized social and economic policies, he built a state whose power rested on \u201ca strong army and repression\u201d ,but not <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Democracy\">democratic political values<\/a> (ibid).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reza Shah\u2019s state feminism project, which Camron Michel Amin referred to as the&nbsp; \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/j.ctt32bph2\">Women\u2019s Awakening\u201d <\/a>relied on westernized notions that a \u2018modern\u2019 woman was \u201ceducated, unveiled and secured in monogamous matrimony\u201d (Amin, 351). As part of these reforms, the Shah criminalized wearing <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oxfordislamicstudies.com\/article\/opr\/t125\/e417\"><em>chador<\/em><\/a> in 1936.&nbsp; In addition, women were coerced into wearing European style clothing to aid their \u2018emancipation\u2019 (Eastwood, 308-312).The <em>chador <\/em>prohibition<em>,<\/em> evolving as a slow process, was a poignant aspect of the Pahlavi regime\u2019s authoritarian legislation which sanctioned citizen\u2019s personal practices for the sake of progress and weaponized euro-centric notions of modernity for political gain. According to the Shah\u2019s Minister of Education, by abandoning Persian clothing, which was \u201ca refuge for traditionalism\u201d and conforming to European sartorial norms, Iranians \u201cwould definitely capitulate to the advance of Western civilization\u201d and&nbsp; better participate in \u201c[their] march towards modern progress\u201d (Chehabi, 225).  Additionally, these reforms served to weaken the nation\u2019s powerful <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ulama\"><em>ulama<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em>who aligned itself with \u201cradical\u201d anti-monarchical elements and&nbsp; encouraged women to wear the <em>chador <\/em>(Seghi, 41-3)<em>.&nbsp; <\/em>As a result, women \u201cbecame the battlefield and booty of the harsh and sometimes bloody struggle between the secularists&#8230;and the religious authorities\u201d(Hoodfar, 8). \u201cThe Women\u2019s Awakening\u201d offered&nbsp; some overture towards equality but it\u2019s patriarchal authoritarian roots were obvious. Tellingly, the Shah prohibited independent feminist organization forcing all advocacy for women\u2019s rights to take place within the government controlled Women\u2019s center, supporting the idea that Reza Shah\u2019s state \u2018feminism\u2019 was merely a male head of state\u2019s attempt to force Western understandings of gender on Persian women&nbsp; (Seghi, 57) (Amin, 354).  Mirroring European ideals of femininity, the Pahlavi regime attempted to create a perfect Iranian woman who could \u201center society alongside men through \u201cteaching, nursing and office work\u201d,labor deemed appropropriate by Western gender norms (Amin, 359-60). The Shah\u2019s belief that veiling was oppressive demonstrated his embrace of \u201cthe static colonial image of the oppressed veiled Muslim woman\u201d&nbsp; based in his notion that Iranian culture was inferior to European culture (Hoodfar, 3). According to Reza Shah\u2019s Minister of Education, by abandoning Persian clothing, which \u201cseemed to serve as a refuge for traditionalism\u201d and conforming to the state\u2019s ideals by donning European styles, Iranians would better participate in \u201c[their] march towards modern progress\u201d (Chehabi, 225).&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The sartorial aspect of Reza Shah\u2019s reforms meant modernization efforts centered on women\u2019s bodies. The government provided it\u2019s male employees with loans to purchase new clothing for their wives. Men who declined to bring their unveiled wives to official events were placed on unpaid leaves of absence (Chehabi, 219). Sometimes, wives who refused were often replaced by \u201ctemporary wives\u201d who accompanied officials to public functions in \u2018proper\u2019 attire, literally serving as political props for the state (Eastwood, 308-312).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the Shah portrayed his veiling prohibition as a way to liberate women, many were horrified by the legislation, with one primary account noting: \u201cWhen my mother learned that she was to lose the modesty of her veil, she was beside herself. She and all traditional people regarded Reza\u2019s order as the worst thing he had yet done\u201d (Chehabi, 220).<em> <\/em>The state\u2019s <em>chador <\/em>ban affected individuals in intimate ways, acutely disrupting the lives of lower class, pious women as opposed to more elite women for whom \u201cthe veil became a marker of backwardness\u201d (Chehabi,211).&nbsp; Oftentimes, elite women gained more societal privilege for their loyalty to the regime(Amin, 351-2).   \u201cWomen of the lower classes [raised] with the notion that to lift a woman\u2019s veil is a woman\u2019s worst sin and disgrace\u201d who did not conform to the regime\u2019s demands were punished (Chehabi, 220).&nbsp; Police forces charged with enforcing the Shah\u2019s rules \u201cfrequently assaulted women physically and tore off their scarves or <em>chadors\u201d <\/em>(Chehabi,220).&nbsp; Men who advocated against the regime\u2019s anti-veiling directives became the object of the state\u2019s crackdown on dissent.&nbsp; On Friday, July 13th 1935 military forces stormed a meeting of Gowharshard mosque to disrupt a meeting of pro-veiling activists, shooting some demonstrators (Chehabi,217). When people from the surrounding town came to protest the next day, government troops attacked the mosque \u201cend[ing] the whole affair amidst much bloodshed\u201d&nbsp; (ibid).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the professed feminist ideals of the \u201cWomen\u2019s Awakening\u201d, Reza Shah Pahlavi\u2019s modernizing reforms consisted of placing Euro-centric values regarding gender upon Iranians through a distinctly dictatorial framework. Instead of \u2018liberating\u2019 Iranian women, the state destroyed fledgling feminist groups while forcing them to comply with a male head of states\u2019s ideals surrounding surrounding womanhood at the threat of violence, waging a war of ideology against those who refused to comply with the regime\u2019s imported, self hating notions of modernity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\t<\/strong><strong>Bibliography&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amin, Camron Michael. &#8220;Propaganda and Remembrance: Gender, Education, and &#8220;The Women&#8217;s Awakening&#8221; of 1936.&#8221;\u00a0 In <em>Iranian Studies<\/em> 32, no. 3 (1999): 351-86.\u00a0<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chehabi, Houchang E. &#8220;Staging the Emperor&#8217;s New Clothes: Dress Codes and Nation-Building under Reza Shah.&#8221; <em>Iranian Studies<\/em> 26, no. 3\/4 (1993): 209-29. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/4310854\">www.jstor.org\/stable\/4310854<\/a>.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hoodfar, Homa. \u201cThe veil in their minds and on their heads: the persistance of colonial images of Muslim women\u201d. In<em> Resources for Feminist Research<\/em>;Toronto 22 (1992): 5-18<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sedghi, Hamideh. <em>Women and Politics in Iran: Veiling, Unveiling and Reveiling.&nbsp; <\/em>Cambridge:&nbsp; Cambridge University Press. 2007<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unknown (photographer). (mid 1970s). <em>Untitled<\/em>[Women Parliamentarians of Iran in front of the gate of the Iranian Parliament, Photograph]. Retrieved October 3<sup>rd<\/sup>, 2019 from <a href=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/6\/6b\/Iranian_Women_Parliamentarians_1970s.jpg\"><strong>https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/6\/6b\/Iranian_Women_Parliamentarians_1970s.jpg<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vogelsang-Eastwood, Gillian. &#8220;Reza Shah\u2019s Dress Reforms in Iran.&#8221; In Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion: Central and Southwest Asia, edited by Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, 308\u2013312. Oxford: Berg Publishers, 2010. Accessed October 03, 2019.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At various points between 1925 and 1941,&nbsp; Iran\u2019s authoritarian leader Reza Shah Pahlavi utilized state force in an attempt to transform Iran into a nation that was palatable to the West(Eastwood, 308-312).&nbsp; To achieve this he enacted a series of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/2019\/12\/04\/reza-shah-pahlavis-anti-veiling-initiative-feminist-overture-or-authoritarian-imperialism\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5913,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[274396],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-student-post"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6AttX-do","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5913"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=830"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":832,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830\/revisions\/832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}