Emancipation under the Veils

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Despite the islamic revolution, women have never stopped standing up for their rights. In head-scarves or chadors, they are at the heart of the struggle to modernize society

I'11 go to parliament dressed as I was during my campaign, in an overcoat and a head-scarf. No way will I put on the chador." Elaheh Koula[ddot{i}], a university professor elected to parliament as a representative of Tehran in the February 18, 2000 legislative elections, unleashed a political storm when she made this quasi-revolutionary proclamation. Since the advent of the Islamic Republic in 1979, all women holding official positions have worn the chador, the long, black fabric covering that conceals the entire body from head to toe.

Marzieh Dabagh, an outgoing member of parliament who was not re-elected, reacted to Koula[ddot{i}]'s statements by threatening to "box the ears" of any woman who would dare come to the Majlis (the Iranian parliament) without the traditional chador. The brother of the Guide of the Islamic Republic, Hadi Khamenei, a leading member of the reformist camp, …