____________________________________________ 4 IICC Perspectives A patriarchal, class-based society In Iran the family is sacred, and what is permitted and forbidden is deeply ingrained. The family name determines the attitude taken toward the person bearing it. If you ask an Iranian about some one he will first tell you about the man’s family background and origins, but he will not forget to add that his own family is much more important and noble than that of the other person. It is still a class-based society, even decades after the nationalization of state lands and the supposed elimination of the feudalism that prevailed until the White Revolution of Shah Reza Pahlavi in 1963. It operates according to the foundations of its master and servant – arbab and nokar, even if it lost its wealth long ago. Control over women and strengthening the patriarchal family are worshipped by fundamentalist Islam. According to Khomeini’s doctrine, the feminist movement is a Western deviation which leads to adultery and the breakdown of the family unit. He deeply believed in the inferiority of women, physical, mental, moral and intellectual, and so do his successors. The father is the absolute ruler of the household, and the woman is on the bottom rung of the ladder, bound to it by the shackles of tradition. Despite the fact that women in Iran currently make up about 60% of university students, they are unable to translate the advantage of their education into concrete achievement. They do not find suitable employment and return home to serve, without assistance from husband or children. Islamic laws regarding sexual relations in married life have worsened women’s situation and obliterated the few achievements gained during the time of Shah. A rapist who murdered his victim cannot be prosecuted, but a woman who committed adultery or in self-defense murdered her abusive husband can and will be prosecuted. Women must comply with the Islamic dress code and conceal and cover their hair, arms, legs and feet. In Hope, 1974 (Courtesy of the painter Itzik Barzilai)
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