‘Women, Life, Freedom’

The Politicization of the Hijab in Iran

Abstract

Following mass protests of Mahsa Amini’s killing by the Iranian Morality Police, global news coverage shifted to Iran. This paper looks at the current mass movement from a socio-historical perspective, specifically focusing on the role of veiling. It distinguishes between the politicization and the institutionalization of the veil, arguing that veiling in Iran is inherently political and has been used as a form of protest. Recently, however, the Iranian state has transformed it into a tool for social control of women, thus institutionalizing it. The paper traces the evolving role of veiling. It begins prior to the Iranian Revolution, when veiling was banned and perceived as a tool
of empowerment, then moves on to the Iranian Revolution of 1979, where it became mandatory, and laws oppressing women’s freedoms became increasingly apparent. During the 2009 Green Movement, the image of women in society was profoundly altered and showed an attempted reconciliation between Islam and democracy. The current movement in Iran is a result of decades of
policing women’s wear and violent repression by the government, and its goal is to transform the scope of religious influence by limiting it to the private sphere.