Rouhani Hails Women’s Role Weeks before Elections
In a speech given during the second national conference on “Moderation, Women and Development”, President Hassan Rouhani hailed women’s role in Iranian society, expressing hope for their further participation in various spheres.
Speaking three weeks before the highly anticipated twin polls of the Parliament and the Assembly of Experts slated for February 26, Rouhani said taking part in elections is as much a mission for women as it is to men. Referring to the Iranian women’s active and effective role during the Revolution, the Sacred Defense and 22nd of Bahman demonstrations, he expressed hope that the same will happen on February 26.
Speaking of extremism in the society, he gave his own account of radical beliefs against women even before the Revolution ousted the Shah’s regime. “At the beginning of the Islamic movement, some believed that people had to participate everywhere and in every manner while others considered the involvement of women in street protests, getting their voices heard while chanting slogans, against the Sharia”.
In a now quite fashionable instance of recollections of the things past, he said during Imam Khomeini’s last weeks of exile in Paris, a prominent scholar said women in Tehran took part in the demonstrations and chanted slogans while some scholar’s Fatwa is that they should avoid either taking part in the demonstrations altogether or at least chanting slogans. “Imam Khomeini said women could take to the streets and chant slogans”. He also noted that in congregational prayers with Imam Khomeini as the leader, men and women stood beside each other in lines and some found it wrong but Imam’s Fatwa was that women could stand ahead of men to say their prayers.
“After the Revolution, some found fault in a couple of opposite-sex news anchors sitting behind the same desk. Some asked if women could vote and considered women’s suffrage as their role in the society’s guardianship, custodianship and administration. Some even found it against Sharia for girls to go to high schools, let alone admission to universities. However, Imam Khomeini opened the way,” he added.
Admitting such issues may sound funny today, Rouhani named them as “parts of the developmental history of our women’s movement, proving that women have trodden a difficult path so far”.
Referring to the fact that British universities did not allow female students a few centuries ago, he said women had not gained their suffrage in some European countries until recently.
“We have always seen women’s participation in economic spheres but in many cases as second-hand workforce and subordinate to men. In the economic sector, income was in men’s control so that they could pay women just as much as they wanted,” he said.
He also admired the very effective role women play in education in today’s world, almost eliminating gender gaps. “In scientific spheres, many advancements have occurred on the part of women and their number exceeds that of men in some majors. Also in the economic sector, their role is increasingly vital, even though there are still inequalities that can be resolved.”
Saying developments in modern technologies make women’s role more and more important, he called on women not to just publish articles and critiques but to participate in various scenes, speak, and flaunt their own role in the face of the society.
He said women should prove themselves to avoid being turned a blind eye to, adding that men are skeptics in certain issues including women’s abilities. “Men in our society should see our women’s capabilities with their own eyes. My personal experience after university and the parliament is that women have worked no less than men have, to avoid saying they have been better without exaggeration. We should believe their presence.”
Elsewhere in his remarks, he called for a more active role for women in the country’s development. “Growth and development are not possible when only 50 percent of the population are participating. Women should have the same prominent role as men, so that their capabilities, strengths and talents could be utilized for the country’s development and progress.”
In what seemed to be a reactionary comment, he underlined fathers’ role in the upbringing of children, drawing an analogy to conclude that women should be allowed to work outside their homes. “We do not accept neither feminist thoughts nor retrogression”, he said, slamming those who believe a woman should remain constrained in the house. He hailed Fatimah al-Zahra’s (PBUH) life as an example that shows women deserve every position in Islam, saying it would be a great injustice if Iran fails to let women use the opportunities bestowed on them by God and the society.
Though Rouhani’s remarks are probably among the most outspoken defenses of women coming from a top Iranian official in recent years, its bad timing is prone to prompt doubts that his intentions are merely electoral.