Iranian Women’s Fight for Freedom: From the 1979 Revolution to ‘Women, Life, Freedom’
Originally written on April 13, 2024, for History 112: "World Civilizations Post-1500 CE" at Northern Virginia Community College. Reformatted for digital accessibility.
For the full paper (7 pages), please email: sahraahmada@gmail.com
Introduction
Iran has been at the center of global news for decades, but in recent years, headlines have been dominated by the Zan, Zindagi, Azadi (Women, Life, Freedom) movement. This uprising has captured international attention due to its calls for gender equality, secular governance, and human rights.
While modern protests target Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime, the fight for women’s rights in Iran is not new. The roots of today’s movement trace back to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, when women played a pivotal role in overthrowing the Shah—only to see their own rights systematically stripped away under the Islamic Republic.
This paper explores Iranian women's involvement in the 1979 Revolution, their subsequent loss of rights, and their continued resistance, drawing parallels between past and present struggles.
Women in the Iranian Revolution
By January 1978, protests against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had erupted across Iran. Women, driven by economic hardship, censorship, and political repression, played a crucial role in mobilizing demonstrations, organizing networks, and influencing national politics (Esfandiari, 1997).
Women led nightly protests, particularly after violent crackdowns by the Shah’s forces (Hegland, 1990, 183-92).
Many women opposed the rapid Westernization policies imposed by the Shah.
Some women protested by wearing the chador (headscarf) as a symbol of resistance against forced secularism (Motlagh, 2022).
Although women fought for a voice in politics, they soon found that their revolutionary efforts would not lead to greater rights, but rather to deeper oppression.
The Islamic Republic and Women’s Lost Rights
After the Shah's exile in January 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned from his exile and quickly assumed supreme control over Iran. This led to:
The Islamic Republic’s formation, merging religion and state (Maloney, 2019).
The Assembly of Experts, an Islamically backed governing body, drafting a new fundamentalist constitution (Assembly of Experts, 1979).
Severe legal restrictions on women, including:
Mandatory veiling (hijab laws).
Stronger male guardianship laws (women needing a male chaperone in public).
Men favored in divorce and child custody cases.
Women, once essential to the revolution, now found themselves pushed into restrictive roles. In March 1979, just months after Khomeini’s rise, Iranian women took to the streets protesting mandatory hijab laws, echoing their earlier fight against the Shah (Maloney, 2019).
Women’s Resistance and the "Women, Life, Freedom" Movement
Iranian women have never stopped resisting. Their core demands remain:
Equal education and job opportunities (Nashat, 2021).
Freedom of dress and personal choice.
Social and legal equality with men (Esfandiari, 2024).
Women have used veiling itself as a form of protest—pushing hairlines higher, shortening robes, and ultimately removing the hijab entirely. This mirrors their pre-1979 resistance, when veiling was a protest against Westernization (Esfandiari, 2024).
Now, women fight against forced Islamization, turning the hijab into a symbol of defiance once again, but in a different way.
Mahsa Amini and the Global Uprising
In September 2022, protests erupted worldwide after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, died in the custody of Iran’s morality police after being arrested for wearing her hijab improperly (Esfandiari, 2024).
This sparked the largest women's rights movement in Iran’s history, with millions protesting both inside and outside of Iran (Sparks & Mohammed, 2023).
Women have used:
Public unveiling as a form of protest.
Social media campaigns to amplify voices globally.
Artistic demonstrations, such as hanging nooses on college campuses to critique executions of protestors (Sparks & Mohammed, 2023).
Despite severe crackdowns, torture, and executions, Iranian women continue to resist, proving that the fight for freedom is far from over.
Conclusion
Iranian women’s history is one of endless struggle and defiance.
In 1979, they fought against the Shah for the right to choose—but found themselves oppressed by the Ayatollahs instead.
In 2022, they reignited the fight, demanding an end to religious oppression and the right to self-determination.
Both governments—the Shah’s and the Ayatollah’s—pushed extreme ideologies, failing to consider the voices of women. Iranian women, marginalized by both secularism and fundamentalism, remain at the forefront of resistance, fighting for what they have always wanted—basic rights, freedom, and equality.
The Women, Life, Freedom movement is not just about dress codes—it is about reclaiming dignity, justice, and self-determination for all Iranian women.
Bibliography
Assembly of Experts for Constitution. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. 1979. Link.
Esfandiari, Haleh. “Iranian Women: From Enthusiasm to Rebellion.” Wilson Center, 2024. Link.
Esfandiari, Haleh. Reconstructed Lives: Women and Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Wilson Center, 1997. Link.
Hegland, Mary Elaine. “Women and the Iranian Revolution: A Village Case Study.” Dialectical Anthropology, 1990. JSTOR.
Letcher, Michelle M. “Women, Change, and Iran.” Defense Technical Information Center, 2008. DTIC.
Maloney, Suzanne. “The Iranian Revolution—a Timeline of Events.” Brookings, 2019. Link.
Motlagh, Amy. “The Veil in Iran: A Changing Symbol.” UC Davis, 2022. Link.
Nashat, Guity. Women and Revolution in Iran. Routledge, 2021. DOI.
Sparks, John, and Michael Drummond. “The Revolution Is Still Alive.” Sky News, 2023. Link.
