The Making Of The Modern Iranian Woman: Gender,... WORK

Amin's utilization of the conceptual framework of male guardianship allows him to refigure the usual historical periodization of modern Iranian history by regime: Qajar; Pahlavi; Islamist. Instead, he is able to trace continuities across dynasties, and despite radical changes in policies. In particular, he focuses on the "Women's Awakening," the period from 1936-41 when Reza Shah Pahlavi instituted a project of state-sponsored feminism that attempted to create the modern Iranian woman: educated, professionally employed, unveiled. Arguments over the "Women's Awakening" have usually revolved around the question of whether it emancipated women from the bonds of social and religious tradition, or dictated women's behavior under the justification of a superficial modernization. Amin effectively argues that both interpretations are valid. The key is his recognition that the "Women's Awakening" was not attempting to create an equal or independent modern Iranian woman, but rather a woman who could be an appropriate complement to her modern Iranian husband (and a good modern mother to his children), both of whom were fulfilling their national roles in the modernizing Pahlavi state.

The Making of the Modern Iranian Woman: Gender,...

HE: Islam leaves a lot of room for a modern interpretation. Recently women in Iran have become counselors to judges in family courts. There are female Islamists and modern Islamic scholars working on modern interpretations of Islam. In Iran in particular, there are many women familiar with Islamic law and who are introducing a modern interpretation of Islam to the rest of the Islamic world. So the answer to your question is, yes, there is a place--of women's own making--for women in Islam and even in fundamentalism. 041b061a72