For generations Iranian women have fought against their government and social system to gain freedom and their rights. Iran is constantly been pointed as one of the worst places to be born a female, however, the truth is that women in Iran are way stronger than we might think and they actually have had to fight to gained many achievements throughout  the years, that have allowed them to accomplish their target.The women’s rights movement during the Pahlavi is what I believe to be one major key point that can actually help us see and guide us to a more fair,stable and free society for women. I am a firm believer that by acknowledging and taking point of the Pahlavi dynasty women movement we can help answer and find solution to many of the injustices that are currently taking place in Iran today. We will explore how Iranian women stood up for themselves with the danger they could face for opposing by their own government ? What victories did women obtain during the Pahlavi dynasty ruling? If and what consequences were brought upon these ladies and how was it handled? How has it affected Iran society? Who were big major key leader of the movement? What strategies did women use during this period this time period that can be used today ? 

Let’s talk about the background and all the fluctuation women were forced to go through regarding their government changes. The early Iranian government was controlled by the Qajar dynasty from 1800 to the early 20ths, which was a very strict period of time for women close to what we currently have now, were women had little to no say in politic, economic and where to be dedicated to their home. However this took a big turn with the ruling of the Pahlavi dynasty started in 1925-1979. During this period the leader wanted to modernize and westernize the country of Iran, which brought many problems to the government by its citizens and eventually lead to the Iranian revolution, where the Shah was overthrown and the Iranian government became more consevative similar to the Qajar dynasty.

 Iranian women have been deprived from their basic rights and live under a social system ruled by male ideologies and male dominance. Women played a big role in the 1979 Iranian revolution where the Shah was overthrown. Their participation in politics and job were higher than ever seen before and they gained many accomplishments. Such as the right to vote, compulsory education, equal salary for men and women, the right to hold public office, and many more. During the Pahlavi dynasty women experienced a slight advantage within their political, economical and social civil rights, since the Shah intentions were to modernize and westernize Iran. Although there were amazing outcome to the pahlavi dynasty, citizens felt like the shah attempts to westernize iran was making them a puppet in the hands of western nation.Woman had many successes during the Pahlavi dynasty but they were still  under the control of the government, leading towards their participation in the Iranian revolution. During this time, women were forced to unveil without having a say. The Shah would even send officer to citizens household to make sure women were unveiled including the male who worked with the government, would have to show that a female from their household is unveil or he would lose his job immediately. This reveals how women were not giving up and wanted more and more of their civil rights to be put into actions. It’s important to know that even after all of their participation during the Pahlavi dynasty, after the Iranian revolution woman slowly started to lose some of the accomplishment they had gained and were forced to veil once again.

You might be wondering why I mentioned the history of the country of Iran to answer such a yet short but critical question, why is the women’s right movement important and can it can be a possible solution to women in Iran currently? Well because without this knowledge, it would be extremely hard to put yourself in their shoes and try to comprehend why women in Iran currently live under a strict government, what they when through, and how their accomplishments are still alive today ? Let’s start with women’s right to vote in 1939.It started with women organization of Iran, also known as the WOI, a non profit organization that works to encourage women’s education for change and  independent economic for women, the main victory of the WOI was the family protection law that gave women and men the same rights in marriage and divorce, gave a better chance for women to stay with their kid and increase the minimum age for females to get married at age 18.This is a major accomplishment for women in Iran that help protect them legally since it was a law.

  During the Pahlavi dynasty,  women were faced with many struggles and ongoing feud with the government but they still fought for their rights, one of them being women’s education. In 1918 after year of private and irregular school was finally accomplished to make the government give them funds for 10 primary school for girls and a training teacher program in college but we saw a dramatic change in 1928 when when women were given financial support to study abroad and in 1944 when education became compulsory. This was a major key event because although the Shah wanted to westernize iran it wasn’t just completely given to them it was something that there were fighting for and wanted to obtain and actually did with their efforts.

Now is important to know that these accomplishments did not come without a fight. Iranian women were strong enough to go against the government and succeeded, while the lastility varies from law to law we know that women are still allowed to vote as well as have the right to greater education. Iranian women have continued to fight for their right after the Pahlavi dynasty this include  in the 90s when women attempted to form organization/societies.It came as no surprise that it was refused by the parliament, however this did not stop Iranian woman from forming multiple organizations such as the society of women freedom. Women met secretly and discuss ways to fight for their rights: matches, not doing their house chores, going against man words regardless if they were their husband or son but it was later found and attacked by their own government. In 1922 Mohtaram Eskandari started the patriotic women’s organization where matches,reading and such more were handed out to the public, this brought attention to women’s rights and raise awareness to the women  effort of obtaining civil rights,she was later on arrested and her home was burned with all her belongings. 

This just goes to show how some of the strategies that were used during the pahlavi dynasty can still be used today and are still used recently to support women’s right movement and obtain law that support them. I who have studied about women in Iran believe that the strategies used in the Pahlavi dynasty is honestly such a useful way to go and help women in Iran who are currently fighting for what they believe in. Disregarding some law provided by the pahlavi dynasty that allowed women to gain some right thought the effort of westernization , women still had to fight for them and in a way even help overthrow  the system because everything they accomplished was force such as unveiling and they wanted to have the right not be used as object to westernize iran. During this period they went on strikes, they organize matches, they had a secret meeting and when again the government law to obtain such thing as education and right to vote, etc. Iranian woman can be viewed by many as stay at home individuals, but the truth is that they are strong independent women that constantly continue to fight for their rights. I believe that while the current government is strict and does not allow much space for human right/freedom is it not impossible, they have done it once and they are able to do it again, they went against the government and organized marches to make their point across, they created organization/society that help women with their education and help them understand the importance of being independent. I think bringing back some of the techniques they used in the Pahlavi such as raising awareness for women’s education abroad and many others and with the help of other fellow citizens, the government and its people can come up with a solution where both sides feel comfortable with one another. I completely understand the religious aspect of the government but I also understand that many of that law are done by the interpretation of their religious book which varies from person to person. So if all women help spread awareness and stand up for what they believe in like in the Pahlavi dynasty time I believe the government would be forced to listen to them and come up with an agreement for women.