|
Iran
Female Participation in the Work Force
Prior to the Revolution, three patterns of work existed among
women. Among the upper classes, women either worked as professionals
or undertook voluntary projects of various kinds. Whereas secular
middle- class women aspired to emulate such women, traditional
middle-class women worked outside the home only from dire necessity.
Lower class women frequently worked outside the home, especially
in major cities, because their incomes were needed to support
their households.
Women were active participants in the Revolution that toppled
the shah. Most activists were professional women of the secular
middle classes, from among whom political antagonists to the regime
had long been recruited. Like their male counterparts, such women
had nationalist aspirations and felt that the shah's regime was
a puppet of the United States. Some women also participated in
the guerrilla groups, especially the Mojahedin and the Fadayan
(see Antiregime Opposition Groups , ch. 5). More significant,
however, were the large numbers of lower class women in the cities
who participated in street demonstrations during the latter half
of 1978 and early 1979. They responded to the call of Khomeini
that it was necessary for all Muslims to demonstrate their opposition
to tyranny.
Following the Revolution, the status of women changed. The main
social group to inherit political power--the traditional middle
class--valued most highly the traditional role of women in a segregated
society. Accordingly, laws were enacted to restrict the role of
women in public life; these laws affected primarily women of the
secularized middle and upper classes. Hejab, or properly
modest attire for women, became a major issue. Although it was
not mandated that women who had never worn a chador would
have to wear this garment, it was required that whenever women
appeared in public they had to have their hair and skin covered,
except for the face and hands. The law has been controversial
among secularized women, although for the majority of women, who
had worn the chador even before the Revolution, the law
probably has had only negligible impact.
Data as of December 1987
|
