This is the democratic map of Muslim countries:
It's true that there’s a lot of diversity on this map, and some cultures do restrict women bc of mixing their negative traditions w/ religion or using unreliable historic sources to interpret Quran.
But the story is different in Iran. You probably have seen how ppl are attacked or called Anti Semite or even fired from their job in the western countries if they are Anti Israel vocally. Now it's not hard to imagine how the western media's policy would be about Iran as a country who has been against Israel in practice for more than 4 decades when it continuously funds and trains and arms resistance groups in the middle east(West of Asia). Since Iran is pro-Palestine and against Zionists, many lies are spread about it in western media to caricaturize it to show its flaws bigger or worse than how it actually is. Or question any of its achievements.
Before the Islamic revolution 45 years ago, a monarch was ruling here who gained the power thanks to the UK & US & remained their puppet. After traveling to the West & seeing their development, he got impressed and with his uneducated, self-hating, colonized mindset, concluded that "our religion is holding us back from development."
He banned hijab in schools in our religious society and focused more on encouraging women to be models, singers, and adult movie actresses to "free" us this way by force, thinking that this was the key to the West’s development. As a result, many girls lost the chance to go to school because they or their families disagreed with that policy.
After about 80 years of Westernizing us superficially, in practice, women had no significant achievements in scientific, sports, or other fields after 55 years.
The sexualization of girls was his biggest interest.
The Pahlavi Shahs not only disregarded the dignity of women in practice, but they even saw women as merely existing to satisfy the sexual needs of men & had no BELIEF in women’s ability to succeed in various fields & even shamelessly defended their views!
In a video interview with a famous feminist journalist, he said: "In a man’s life, women count only if they’re beautiful, graceful, and know how to stay feminine. You’ve never produced a Michelangelo or a Bach. You have produced nothing great. Nothing!
...You’re evil. Every single one of you."
Source
The Pahlavi's view of women was largely sexual and demeaning, treating them more like slaves.
His GOVT was filled with political, moral, and financial corruption, as is common with every monarchy. Meanwhile, ordinary people were very poor, and the upper class was very wealthy.
Imam Khomeini, as the architect of the Islamic Revolution, described women as human beings and "great educators." He said, “A woman is a human, and not just any human, but a great one. A woman is the educator of society. From the lap of a woman, humans are brought forth.”
He also emphasized the prominent role of women in Islamic history, stating, “Islamic history bears witness to the boundless respect that the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) showed to this noble being, to demonstrate that a woman has a unique greatness in society. If she is not superior to men, she is certainly no less.”
In stark contrast to the Shah, Imam Khomeini viewed women as educators and managers of the family, saying, “The mother’s lap is the greatest school where a child is raised.”
Regarding the virtue of motherhood, he said, “The rights of mothers cannot be counted, nor can they be fully fulfilled. One night of a mother’s care for her child is worth more than years of the father’s dedicated life.
The manifestation of affection and mercy in a mother’s eyes is a reflection of the mercy and compassion of the Lord of the Worlds. [...] That which is mentioned in the hadith, ‘Heaven is under the feet of mothers,’ is a reality.”
Imam Khomeini regarded women as equals to men, and thus, he assigned them the responsibility of striving powerfully in various fields of science, culture, politics, etc. He obligated women to pursue education and work to elevate their intellectual and scientific status in order to properly raise and nurture the next generation. For example, he described women’s roles in different dimensions—scientific, social, political, and cultural—as follows:
“In terms of education: Strive to acquire knowledge, to be equipped with moral virtues and good deeds. You are to raise strong young people for the future of our country.
In social matters: You must participate in all the arenas and fields allowed by Islam.
In political matters: Just as men must engage in political affairs and protect their society, so too must women engage and protect society.
In cultural matters: This culture must be revived, and you, women, should be as active as the men, just as they are engaged in scientific and cultural fronts, so too must you be engaged.”
The religious activists fought to inform people that "the colonization and Western puppets are holding us back." In Shia Islam, we have reliable sources that since 1400 years ago, Prophet Mohammad always encouraged that it is not only every Muslim’s right to get educated, but it's mandatory for both men & women.
After seeing the Shahs' corruption and anti woman's agenda, the women took the lead in the revolution, and the men followed. The revolution succeeded as the 1st woman-led revolution in the world.
Right after the revolution, while the new parliament made the dress code far more conservative as an extreme reaction to how revealing it had been before, in other fields, women achieved many things.
Over the past 40 years, the Supreme Leader has often spoken about the personality and virtue of women in various meetings with different segments of society, particularly with women. One example of his statements is as follows:
“Women are, in the sight of God, like men. In the journey of spiritual and divine ascent, there is no difference between the two genders. In this path of growth and perfection, the traveler is the human being. In terms of social rights, there is no difference between men and women. In personal individual rights, there is no difference between men and women. In a few specific personal matters, some privileges have been granted to women, and in a few other matters, some privileges have been granted to men, all based on the natural differences between men and women. This is Islam—the most solid, logical, and practical set of laws and boundaries that one could imagine regarding the issue of gender.”
Women here are taxi drivers, pilots, college professors (Iran’s Leader's wife is a college professor), scientists, physicians, athletes, artists, actresses, etc.
60-66% of our college graduates & students are women each year on average. I mean, for every boy, there are 2 girls 🤣.
Here, we're going to highlight some of Iran's achievements in the field of women's rights, such as women's health, sports, women's education and specialized education etc:
Reduction in illiteracy among women over the age of 15:
Comparison of the literacy growth rate of women aged 15-64 in Iran with the region and the world
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), Iran ranks First globally in educational equity at the primary and secondary level:
Increase in the ratio of girls to boys in elementary and secondary education in Iran from 1971 to 2015: 47.6%
Increase in the ratio of girls to boys in university education: 👇
Increase in the percentage of female university professors/faculty members
b) The percentage of female specialists has increased from 15% to 40%
c) The percentage of female sub-specialists has increased from 9% to 30%
d) The percentage of female specialists in obstetrics and gynecology has increased from 16% to 98%
[Source]
A 90% reduction in maternal mortality during childbirth:
The increase in women's life expectancy in Iran from 57.6 to 77.8 years (higher than the global average, with faster growth compared to the world:
Iranian women, the Asian Futsal champions in 2018 for the 2nd time in the row:
Iran Women’s Ice Hockey Championship in 2024: An Unbeaten and Unscored Masterpiece by the Girls, Without Conceding Any Goals:
After the revolution, the country’s sports scene, particularly for women, underwent significant transformations. There has been an increase in sports infrastructure and facilities, even in the most remote areas of the country.
For instance, in 1979, there were only five sports halls in rural areas, but now more than 400 villages have sports halls.
The number of women’s sports disciplines increased from 7 in 1979 to 38 by 2004.
The number of female sports coaches saw a tremendous growth, from 9 to 35,000, while the number of female referees rose from 7 to 16,000—a 2,000-fold increase. Additionally, the number of sports stadiums exclusively for women grew 30 times after the revolution.
(Women and Family Studies Department, Effectiveness of the Islamic Republic in Women’s Issues, p. 344).
The women's sports committee evolved into the Women’s Sports Management, which later became the Women’s Sports Directorate in the Sports Organization. In 2018, with the restructuring of the Ministry of Sports, it was transformed into the "Women’s Sports Development Office."
(Source: "Women’s Sports Status Report," Women's Sports Development Office, October 2018, Women's and Family Studies Department, Effectiveness of the Islamic Republic in Women’s Issues; Nayyereh Ghaffari, A Study on the Effectiveness of the Islamic Republic in Women's Affairs, p. 243)
After the revolution, women became actively engaged in all areas of the arts, while adhering to Islamic norms, including writing, acting, and more. (Except some types of singing)
Activities of NGOs and Charitable Organizations
The Shah aimed to control independent women’s activities, which were gradually gaining momentum through convergence, in order to suppress any independent political organizations and genuine movements for women's rights.
However, after the Islamic Revolution, women established numerous organizations focused on cultural and educational activities, entrepreneurial charity work, and even research initiatives. There are now thousands of these organizations.
Women’s presence in charitable and non-governmental institutions is considered a highly influential aspect of their social involvement.
According to the Women's and Family Affairs Office of the Presidency, by 2018, more than 2,700 NGOs related to women's affairs were active across different provinces of the country.
The most important indicators of political participation are voting rights and holding political office, both of which saw growth after the revolution. Women participated in parliament, demonstrations, elections, and referendums.
In many developed and developing countries, various organizations have been formed to secure and turn basic women’s rights into law, such as support for women against violence, assault, and mandatory military service.
However, the Islamic Republic has legislated and implemented laws in accordance with Islamic principles, taking into account the nature and characteristics of women.
The "Charter of Women's Rights and Responsibilities" serves as the basis for defining and clarifying the status of women in the Islamic Republic. This charter acts as a reference for policymaking in cultural and social affairs, both individually and collectively. Furthermore, the 2025 vision document of the Islamic Republic also addresses issues related to women and family.
Tho there are many wealthy countries in Asia w/o our strict dress code & sanctions, like China, India, Japan, Australia, South Korea, etc, despite sanctions, Iranian women are progressive in science & champions in nearly every sport I can think of in Asia: futsal, taekwondo, hockey, chess, skating, handball, wheelchair basketball, shooting, archery. We're proud of them. They make up 40% of the government. Tho they aren’t still in decision-making positions enough, Iran’s Leader and we are fighting to empower them more.
