The suffragettes were a group of American feminists who joined together in the 19th century protesting against the unequal political rights of women and asking for women’s suffrage in the United States. The importance of suffrage for these women lay in the fact that it was an introduction to any kind of political participation or right for them. This group was formed in 1848, which was 60 years after the American Revolution.[1] After 70 years of resistance and fighting, they finally managed to gain the right for all American women to vote in 1920. At the same time, Thomas Paine believed the reason for the American Revolution was the fight to protect America as a haven for freedom and the resistance of human wisdom against the threats of tyrants.[2] But it seems this haven had no place for women.
The French Revolution also followed a similar path. The great French Revolution was formed over a ten-year period between the years 1789 and 1799 by chanting the slogan of freedom. It came to an end after a war and much bloodshed. Politicians and historians are in agreement that this revolution was the mother of revolutions and was able to change the existing monarchy into a democratic republic and lead to secularism in France.[3] This revolution too was motivated by the wish for freedom and the establishment of a republic, and it was under the influence of the changes that took place during the period of enlightenment.[4] But despite these slogans, suffrage was not granted to women after the revolution until Charles de Gaulle recognized women’s right to vote for the first time one and a half centuries after the French Revolution in 1944.
The revolution in 1688 in England has a similar story. This peaceful revolution was based on chanting the slogan of fighting dictatorship, asking for a constitutional monarchy and using the slogan of freedom. But it too did not give a fair treatment to women at all. More than one and a half centuries after this revolution in the year 1866, a petition was presented to the British parliament in which British women asked for changing the rules of elections in order to recognize their right to vote. But this petition encountered violent protests by those opposing the petition, those who considered women’s suffrage to be a great threat to England. The British parliament believed that women’s interference in state policy would spoil political life and destroy family stability. Therefore, they did not act on the petition. From 1867, suffragettes became active in England too. Finally, with mutual support between the English and American suffragettes and after years of protests, chaos, and strikes, the right to vote was granted to women in 1918.
In contrast to these narrations about the movements demanding women’s right to political participation in post-revolution and post-reformist countries, Iran is one of the few countries with no such history after its revolution. From the very beginning after the formation of the Islamic Republic, women’s right to vote was recognized.
Women’s share in the slogan of freedom
An examination of the history of suffrage in the countries that have experienced freedom-seeking revolutions leads us to the question of why discrimination against women and depriving them of liberty continued and even increased after more than one century after these revolutions? Studying and comparing the basic principles of these revolutions can help to reveal the answer to this question.
Among the aforementioned revolutions, few are known to have been in the pursuit of freedom as much as the French Revolution. But this slogan of freedom yielded nothing for women. In his book entitled “Women in Western Political Thought” Muller Akin, the feminist, political theoretician, focused on the marginal role women played in the history of western policy and examined this paradox in the French Revolution in Rousseau’s thought. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a French philosopher at the time of the European Enlightenment and a source of inspiration for the Great Revolution. He pursued the ideas of equality and freedom in his thoughts, but he considered these two valuable features to be essential for men. He believed women were on an unequal status with men, because men are masters by nature and women are obedient and subordinate by nature.[5] And nature is not something that can be affected by upbringing or a human being’s will. Therefore, there is no path to changing women’s status. Based on this view, he expressly stated that men and women should be separate from each other except for in some certain cases when necessary so that men can live freely and away from women’s chattering.[6] It is obvious that any political thought coming out of this belief cannot yield anything of use for women.
The Islamic Revolution and women’s political life
After the victory of the Constitutional Revolution in Iran, Iranian people were granted the right to political participation for the first time. However, this right did not include women. But with regards to the Islamic Revolution, women were actively involved both in its formation on the streets and in demonstrations. This was to the extent that leaders of the revolution called women the pioneers of this movement. After the victory of this revolution, women participated in the very first elections with an equal right to vote. They also contributed to the selection of the political system of Iran after the revolution based on a direct order and with the approval of Imam Khomeini as the Leader and theoretician behind the revolution.
But after the initial formation of the Islamic Revolution and the movement of Islamists, many accused these groups of reactionism and backwardness due to their strong connection with religion and the fact that they did not change their outlook even after the Revolution. The censurers regarded Imam Khomeini’s movement to be political and utilitarian, which would have been something in conflict with his inherent tendencies. According to them, after the approval of the State and Provincial Associations Bill in 1963 the Shah granted suffrage to women. But Imam Khomeini had been opposed to this bill and had announced his opposition in public. This opposition caused this right to be nullified. Then when it came to his own government, he changed his view because he needed women’s support. Isn’t this a contradiction? A close scrutiny reveals that not only was there no change in his political outlook, but Imam Khomeini actually insisted on his previous position on this matter. In the early years of his opposition to the Shah, he announced that he was never opposed to the basic idea of women’s right to vote. Rather, he was against Reza Shah’s policies that led women to corruption. In contrast, the Shah had a utilitarian view of women and wanted to use them as puppets. Religion is against such (human) disasters and sufferings, but it is not against freedom.[7] Islam has been never opposed to freedom. On the contrary, it is opposed to the idea of using a woman as an object and has returned her dignity and honor to her. Women are equal to men. They are free like men to decide their fate and to decide what they will do.
From these statements, it is clear that Imam Khomeini believed in women’s freedom and rights, but did not consider what had been included in the State and Provincial Associations Bill to be something that was ensuring their freedom. On the other hand, he believed that the Islamic Revolution had provided the ground for women’s freedom to freely participate in building the foundation of the Islamic society.[8] Based on the intellectual thought behind the Islamic system, a woman has the same rights as a man. She has the right to education, work, ownership, voting and being voted for. A woman has the same rights as a man in all these areas. Islam wishes to preserve men's and women’s dignity. Islam wants women to not be a plaything for men.[9]
An examination of these views shows that not only voting and political participation but also all civil and social rights are both permissible and essential in the thought of Imam Khomeini. The Islamic (ruling) system is a humanistic system the formation of which is beyond gender with the equal participation of men and women. Its survival is dependent on this cooperation. This outlook will yield tangible achievements and great results for women if it serves as the foundation of a revolution.
[1] There are conflicting views on the history of this revolution. Some believe it took place during the period between 1765 and1783. Others consider 1757 to be the starting date and consider 1789 and the presidency of George Washington to be its end.
[2] Ferguson, Robert A. (2000 AD). “The Commonalities of Common Sense.” The William and Mary Quarterly, no. 3, vol. 57, pp. 465–504. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2674263. Accessed: Feb. 3, 2021.
[3] Bachrach, Bernard S. (Jan. 20, 2021). "France." Encyclopedia Britannica.
[4] Abbott, John. S. C. (1887 AD). “The French Revolution of 1789, as Viewed in the Light of Republican Institutions.” Rarebooksclub.com.
[5] Okin, Susan Moller. (2013). “Women in Western Political Thought.” p. 193. Princeton University Press.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Khomeini, Ruhollah Mousavi. (2008). “An Anthology of Imam Khomeini's Speeches, Messages, Interviews, Decrees, Religious Permissions, and Letters (Sahifa).” vol. 3. The Institute for the Compilation and Publication of Imam Khomeini's Works.
[8] Imam Khomeini. (Nov. 4, 1979) Taken from an interview with the weekly magazine Nieuwe Revu about the Islamic government.
[9] Khomeini, Ruhollah Mousavi. (2008). “An Anthology of Imam Khomeini's Speeches, Messages, Interviews, Decrees, Religious Permissions, and Letters (Sahifa).” vol. 5. The Institute for the Compilation and Publication of Imam Khomeini's Works.