Women in Iran: Difference between revisions

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	==History==		==History==
	===Pre-Islamic Iran===		===Pre-Islamic Iran===
			Archeological excavations at ] "Burnt City," a prehistoric settlement that is today in the ] province of southeastern Iran, has revealed that the women of that 4th-3rd millennium BCE community held high socio-economic status. Of the seals discovered in graves there, 90% were in the possession of women,<ref name="CHN_2_4402">{{cite web\|author=CHN Press\|url=http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=4402\|title=Women Held Power In Burnt City\|accessdate=2007-04-11}}</ref> who in turn made up over 60% of the population.<ref name="CHN_2_5068">{{cite web\|author=CHN Press\|title=Female population predominant in 5000-year-old Burnt City\|url=http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=5068\|accessdate=2007-04-11}}</ref> The distribution of the seals, which as instruments of trade and government represented economic and administrative control, reveals that these women were the more powerful group in their prehistoric society.<ref name="CHN_2_4402" />
	]
	In ancient Iranian societies the role of women has been from the lady paramount of society to a mere chattel at home. Their history can be traced back to the Avestan Period (ca. 1800 BCE) of Iranian history. Women in ] hold an especial and even a venerated place.
	{{cquote\|- We venerate the righteous woman who is good in thoughts, words, and deeds, who is well-educated, is an authority on religious affairs, is progressively serene, and is like the women who belong to the Wise God. (''']''' - ''Aiwisruthrem'' Gah 9)

			"The position of woman in ancient Iran was apparently in nowise inferior to her standing in the ] times of early India. As among other oriental nations, however, submission to her lord and master is taken for granted, and the woman who is 'obedient to her husband' comes in for a special meed of praise in the ] and elsewhere; but it is perfectly evident, as a rule, there was not that subjection which results in loss of personality and individuality."<ref name="Jackson">{{cite journal\|title=The Moral and Ethical Teachings
	- It is these people who, with their actions, promote the world though righteousness. ('''Visparad''' 3.4)\|cquote}}
			of the Ancient Zoroastrian Religion\|author=Williams Jackson, A. V.\|journal=International Journal of Ethics\|volume=7\|issue=1\|year=<!--Oct.-->1896\|pages=55-62}} p. 59.</ref>

			The early ]-era ] fortification and treasury tablets "reveal three different terms of reference for women, ''mutu'', ''irti'' and ''duksis''."<ref name="Price">{{cite web\|author=Price, Massoume\|url=http://www.parstimes.com/women/women_ancient_persia.html\|title=Women's Lives in Ancient Persia\|accessed=2007-16-01}}</ref> The first refers to ordinary (non-royal) women; the second to unmarried members of the royal family; and the last to married women of the royalty. Such differentiated terminology shows the sigificance of marital status and of a woman's relationship to the king. The tablets also reveal that women of the royal household traveled extensively and often personally administered their own estates.<ref name="Price" /> The queen and her ladies-in-waiting are known to have played ] against the emperor and his courtiers.<ref>{{cite web\|author=Harrison, Frances\|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4272210.stm\|title=Polo comes back home to Iran\|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> The only limits on the extent of the authority exercised by the king's mother were set by the monarch himself.<ref>{{cite book\|author=Cotterell, Arthur\|title=From Aristotle to Zoroaster\|year=1998\|id=ISBN 0-684-85596-8}}</ref>{{Request quote\|date=March 2007}}
	] considered total equality between men and women.<ref>Jahanian D., ''Iranian Women in the Avestan Period'' (); accessed Jan 16, 2007</ref> The name of Zoroastrian god, '''Ahuramazad''', demonstrates that equality. The name is a compound of ''Ahura-'' meaning lord (masculine) and -Mazda from Avestan stem of ''Mas-'' wisdom (feminine). Also the three ] (the divine attributes of God), ''Aramaity'' (] اسفند = serenity), ''Haurvatat'' (] خرداد = wholeness), and ''Ameretat'' (] امرداد = immortality) are of feminine.

			In the tablets, "non-royals and the ordinary workers are mentioned by their rank in the specific work group or workshops they were employed. The rations they received are based on skill and the level of responsibility they assumed in the workplace. The professions are divided by gender and listed according to the amount of ration. Records indicate that some professions were undertaken by both sexes while others were restricted to either male or female workers. There are male and female supervisors at the mixed workshops as evident by the higher rations they have received with little difference in the amount of rations between the two sexes. There are also occasions where women listed in the same category as men received less rations and vice versa. Female managers have different titles presumably reflecting their level of skill and rank. The highest-ranking female workers in the texts are called ''arashshara'' (great chief). They appear repeatedly in the texts, were employed at different locations and managed large groups of women children and sometimes men working in their units. They usually receive high rations of wine and grains exceeding all the other workers in the unit including the males."<ref name="Price">{{cite web\|author=Price, Massoume\|url=http://www.parstimes.com/women/women_ancient_persia.html\|title=Women's Lives in Ancient Persia\|accessed=2007-16-01}}</ref> In addition, pregnant women also received higher rations than others. Women with new-born children also received extra rations for a period of one month.
	In that unique Avestan pastoralist ] warrior society, women fought alongside their men; not only they were held in an equal status with men, but also periodically they actually ruled them; this so called upside-down society both fascinated and horrified the male dominated Greek culture;<ref>Barirov, O., ''The Origin of the Pre-Imperial Iranian Peoples '', (]); accessed Jan 19, 2007.</ref> later, the Romans expressed the same horror, when they encountered the Sasanian female warriors. Greek writers called the fighting Iranian women they met in the steppes, the ]; later Greek sources placed them further east, in northeastern parts of Iran. This incredible social equality, at such an early age, is irrefutably attested, not only by a host of classical writers, but also by a wealth of archaeological evidence; in many mound- burials in the former Soviet Union, it is by no means unusual to find remains of women warriors dressed in full armour, lying on a war chariot, surrounded by their weaponry, and significantly, accompanied by a host of male subordinates specially sacrificed in their honour; nonetheless, these young Iranian warriors, as evidenced by the archaeological remains of their costumes and jewellery, do not seem to have lost their femininity; they remained "feminine as well as female" as a great contemporary German scholar puts it.<ref>Rolle R., ''The world of the Scythians'', London NY (1989).</ref>

		⚫	Some classicists{{who}} argue that it was ] who twelve centuries before ], established the custom of covering women to protect their chastity.{{Request quote\|date=March 2007}} According to their theory,{{Request quote\|date=March 2007}} the veil passed from the ]s to the Hellenistic ]s. They, in turn, handed it to the ], from whom the Arab conquerors inherited it,{{Request quote\|date=March 2007}} transmitting it over the vast reaches of the Arab world.<ref>{{cite book\|title=The Iranians: Persia, Islam and the Soul of a Nation\|author=Mackey, Sandra & Harrop, Scott\|publisher=Penguin\|year=1996}}</ref>
	Iranian women therefore, have respected the sanctity of women and their role in the society as evident from their role in future Iranian societies, and before coming of Islam in 7th century.

		⚫	The ] princess ], daughter of ], ruled the Persian empire for almost two years before resigning. Also, during the Sassanian dynasty many of the Iranian soldiers captured by Romans were women who were fighting along with the men.<ref>{{cite book\|author==Dodgeon M. H. and Lieu, S. N. C.\|title=The Roman Eastern Frontiers and the Persian Wars (AD 226-363); A Documentary History\|location=London\|publisher=Routledge\|year=1991\|id=ISBN 0-415-10317-7}} pp. 24, 67, 184, 197 and 307.</ref>
	Women played an important role in everyday life in ]. High-born women even exercised an influence on affairs of state. Female members of the ] royal family possessed their own estates, and documents survive showing their active involvement in management: letters relate to the shipment of grain, wine, and animals to palaces from distant land-holdings. The only limits on the extent of the authority exercised by the King's mother, for instance were set by the monarch himself. <ref>Arthur Cotterell, ''From Aristotle to Zoroaster'', 1998, ISBN 0-684-85596-8.</ref> The ] cuneiform tablets discovered in 1930s, have revealed that women during the Achaemenid dynastic rule were employed, and rations they received are based on skill and the level of responsibility they assumed in the workplace, rather than their gender - the new mothers and pregnant women received higher rations than everone else. Many women emplyed as the head-workers and sometimes their wages were double of their male counterparts.<ref>Dandamayev M., ''Persepolis Elamite Tablets'', ); accessed Jan 16, 2007</ref>
	Fortification texts also revealed that royal women traveled extensively visited their estates and administered their wealth individually and at times with help from their husbands. Travel rations identify their travel partners, guards servants cooks etc
	<ref>Price M., ''Women in Ancient Iran'', (); accessed Jan 16, 2007</ref>

		⚫	Persian women are depicted in numerous masterpieces of Persian paintings and ]. Drawing a Persian girl dressed in colors with ] at hand has been a classic style for portraying love. However nudity can not be seen in these works in contrast to Western paintings with religious themes or ancient ] style.
⚫	Some ~~Classiests however~~ argue that it was ] who ~~twleve~~ centuries before ], established the custom of covering women to protect their chastity. According to their theory, the veil passed from the ]s to the ] ]s. They, in turn, handed it to the ], from whom the Arab conquerors inherited it, transmitting it over the vast reaches of the Arab world.<ref>''The Iranians: Persia, Islam and the Soul of a Nation'', by Sandra ~~Mackey.~~ ~~(Penguin Group~~, 1996).</ref> Nonetheless, the ides is being disputed, since ''veiling'' has a long history in ancient ] and ] cultures. In the first known reference to veiling, an ] legal text of the 13th century BCE, it is restricted to respectable women and prohibited for the prostitutes and lower class women.<ref>Price M., ''Women in Ancient Iran'', (); accessed Jan 16, 2007</ref>

⚫	~~Such traditions continued into~~ ] ~~times, however with less extent.~~ ], ~~who were~~ daughter of ~~king~~ ] ruled Persian empire for almost two years before resigning~~, and women can be seen on some Sassanid reliefs as well~~. Also, during the ~~Sasanian~~ dynasty many of the Iranian soldiers captured by Romans were women ~~which~~ were fighting ~~shoulder~~ to ~~shoulders of their~~ ~~countrymen~~.<ref>Dodgeon M. H., and Lieu S. N. C.~~, ''~~The Roman Eastern Frontiers and the Persian Wars (AD 226-363); A ~~Documentry~~ History, London (1991), pp. 24, 67, 184, 197 and 307~~; ISBN: 0-415-10317-7''~~</ref>
	], Isfahan, 17th century Iran.]]

	<center>
	<gallery>
	Image:Soraya shah wife.jpg\|] on the cover of an Italian magazine.
	Image:Bishapur zan.jpg\|A ] era mosaic excavated at ]. Some mosaics were denuded during the Islamic period. This one is kept at The ].
	Image:Qalyoon.jpg\|A Qajari Persian woman, seen here smoking the traditional ].
	Image:Atomic women Iran.JPG\|Iranian newspaper clip from 1968 depicting female Iranian Nuclear Engineering PhDs posing in front of Tehran's Nuclear reactor.
	</gallery>
	</center>

	In ], the greatest Persian epic-poet and Iranologist, ], tried to offer a picture of persian women. More than twenty women appear in Shahnameh, all of them are wise, intelligent and respectable women. Two women, Homai and Gardieh, become kings of Iran in these stories. Ferdowsi himself married an educated and kind woman.

⚫	~~The beauty of~~ Persian ~~girl~~ ~~and~~ ~~Persian mentality can be seen~~ in numerous masterpieces of ~~persian~~ paintings and ]. Drawing a Persian girl dressed in colors with ] at hand has been a classic style for portraying love. However nudity can not be seen in these works in contrast to ~~western~~ paintings with religious themes or ancient ] style.

	Women were an integral part of the sport in ancient Persia. ] originated in the royal courts of ancient ] 2,500 years ago. The queen and her ladies-in-waiting would play against the emperor and his courtiers. Indeed the main square in the historic city of ] was a royal polo ground whose dimensions were copied for all other polo grounds around the world.<ref></ref>

	Gender equality has been one of the basic principles of ] for centuries. Lack of gender prejudice is one of the fundamental tenets of ].

	===After the ]===		===After the ]===
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	{{section-stub}}		{{section-stub}}
	{{seealso\|Human rights in Iran#Gender Issues}}		{{seealso\|Human rights in Iran#Gender Issues}}

	==Mother goddess in Persian culture==
	] (by Farhad Laleh Dashti)]]
	] confirms the theory suggesting that the mother goddess was the first divinity to be worshiped. The earliest relics showing signs of religious beliefs among primitive tribes are statuettes of mother, depicting her in large buttocks and breasts, signifying feminine characteristics, or girls arrived at puberty and ripe for marriage.

	In ], south of Iran, mother goddess was worshiped at least since early 4th millennium BC, with numerous statuettes of her found in the area. The tradition of worshiping the mother goddess spilled over to Mesopotamia, where it continued for thousands of years to come.<ref></ref>

	On ] objects found in ], dating back to the first millennium BC, figures of mother goddesses are seen. These objects are usually ] or bronze clips, bearing a circular plate at the end, with the imprint of the head of the mother goddess. Also in the southern and western parts of Iran several examples of such objects with the figure of the mother goddess have been found. The most fascinating example is a clay statuette 18.13-cm high, decked with emerald earrings, bracelet and necklace. This goddess is fully comparable to the Anahita of later periods. The statuette is kept at the Philadelphia museum. In ], the oldest such relics have been found, dating back to 5,000 years ago. On Achaemenian coins, the head of ] is seen in a halo of light. Also in Achaemenian scripture, mention is made of Anahita, alongside with two other gods, namely ] and Mehr (Mithra), and perhaps they could be regarded as parent and child, just as in Christianity, the trinity is made up of God and Jesus (son) Christ (as well as Holy Spirit). The fact that the words Mehr and sun both mean the sunlight reflects the connection between the two religions. Worship of ] continued in the Arsacid and Sassanid dynastic eras. In one of the tablets in ], near Persepolis, the Sassanid king is depicted receiving he kingdom ring from Nahid. On metal vessels of the Sassanid era too, hundred of Nahid figures can be seen. <ref></ref>

	== Iranian women's movement ==		== Iranian women's movement ==
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	'''Iranian women's movement''' involves the Iranian women's experience of modernism, through which the concept of "Modern Iranian woman" and its associated art, science, literature, poetry, and political structures have been evolving since the 19th century. Iranian women account for a remarkable fraction of ] in Iran and consequently played roles in forming Iranian identity in modern time.		'''Iranian women's movement''' involves the Iranian women's experience of modernism, through which the concept of "Modern Iranian woman" and its associated art, science, literature, poetry, and political structures have been evolving since the 19th century. Iranian women account for a remarkable fraction of ] in Iran and consequently played roles in forming Iranian identity in modern time.

	During ~~the~~ last few decades, Iranian women ~~have~~ had a significant presence in ], ], ] and ~~the~~ new wave of ]. According to the research ministry of Iran, about 6% of full professors, 8% of associate professors, and 14% of assistant professors were women in the 1998-99 academic year. However, women accounted for 56% of all students in the natural sciences, including one in five Ph.D. students.		During last few decades Iranian women had significant presence in ], ], ] and new wave of ]. According to the research ministry of Iran, about 6% of full professors, 8% of associate professors, and 14% of assistant professors were women in the 1998-99 academic year. However, women accounted for 56% of all students in the natural sciences, including one in five Ph.D. students.

	==Persian women's day==		==Persian women's day==
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	==See also==		==See also==
	] ]. Seen here is '''"Farangis"''', the high priestess of ], in the ] series ].]]
	*]		*]
	*], Goddess
	*]		*]
	*]		*]

	==External links==		==External links==
	*		* (in Persian)
			* (in Persian)
	*
	*
	*
	*


	{{FA link\|fr}}		{{FA link\|fr}}
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	]		]
	]		]

			Ms. magazine article

Revision as of 02:12, 14 April 2007

A Persian woman depicted during the Safavi period, from a wall painting in Chehel Sotoon Palace, Isfahan.

Iranian women (or Persian women) are women of or from traditional Persian or modern Iranian culture. Although Persian women (women of Persia) are often viewed as Iranian, they are not necessarily from modern-day Iran and can be from a variety of different countries. On the other hand, Iranian women are not necessarily of any specific nationality or ethnicity. The term refers to women who practice Iranian culture, speak Iranian languages and live mainly throughout the Iranian cultural continent.

History

Pre-Islamic Iran

Archeological excavations at Shahr-i Sokhta "Burnt City," a prehistoric settlement that is today in the Sistan-Baluchistan province of southeastern Iran, has revealed that the women of that 4th-3rd millennium BCE community held high socio-economic status. Of the seals discovered in graves there, 90% were in the possession of women, who in turn made up over 60% of the population. The distribution of the seals, which as instruments of trade and government represented economic and administrative control, reveals that these women were the more powerful group in their prehistoric society.

"The position of woman in ancient Iran was apparently in nowise inferior to her standing in the Vedic times of early India. As among other oriental nations, however, submission to her lord and master is taken for granted, and the woman who is 'obedient to her husband' comes in for a special meed of praise in the Avesta and elsewhere; but it is perfectly evident, as a rule, there was not that subjection which results in loss of personality and individuality."

The early Achaemenid-era Persepolis fortification and treasury tablets "reveal three different terms of reference for women, mutu, irti and duksis." The first refers to ordinary (non-royal) women; the second to unmarried members of the royal family; and the last to married women of the royalty. Such differentiated terminology shows the sigificance of marital status and of a woman's relationship to the king. The tablets also reveal that women of the royal household traveled extensively and often personally administered their own estates. The queen and her ladies-in-waiting are known to have played polo against the emperor and his courtiers. The only limits on the extent of the authority exercised by the king's mother were set by the monarch himself.

In the tablets, "non-royals and the ordinary workers are mentioned by their rank in the specific work group or workshops they were employed. The rations they received are based on skill and the level of responsibility they assumed in the workplace. The professions are divided by gender and listed according to the amount of ration. Records indicate that some professions were undertaken by both sexes while others were restricted to either male or female workers. There are male and female supervisors at the mixed workshops as evident by the higher rations they have received with little difference in the amount of rations between the two sexes. There are also occasions where women listed in the same category as men received less rations and vice versa. Female managers have different titles presumably reflecting their level of skill and rank. The highest-ranking female workers in the texts are called arashshara (great chief). They appear repeatedly in the texts, were employed at different locations and managed large groups of women children and sometimes men working in their units. They usually receive high rations of wine and grains exceeding all the other workers in the unit including the males." In addition, pregnant women also received higher rations than others. Women with new-born children also received extra rations for a period of one month.

Some classicists argue that it was Cyrus the Great who twelve centuries before Islam, established the custom of covering women to protect their chastity. According to their theory, the veil passed from the Achaemenids to the Hellenistic Seleucids. They, in turn, handed it to the Byzantines, from whom the Arab conquerors inherited it, transmitting it over the vast reaches of the Arab world.

The Sassanid princess Purandokht, daughter of Khosrau II, ruled the Persian empire for almost two years before resigning. Also, during the Sassanian dynasty many of the Iranian soldiers captured by Romans were women who were fighting along with the men.

Persian women are depicted in numerous masterpieces of Persian paintings and miniatures. Drawing a Persian girl dressed in colors with Persian wine at hand has been a classic style for portraying love. However nudity can not be seen in these works in contrast to Western paintings with religious themes or ancient Greek style.