Chowra Makaremi on Iranian Women's Resistance and the Feminist Movement

State of the Feminist Movement in Iran

• 💡 The feminist movement in Iran is described as the strongest movement in civil society, with roots spanning over 25 years.
• ⚠️ Despite facing targeted repression, the movement has learned to reconfigure and reshape its fight by operating below the threshold of direct state intervention.
• 🚀 The legacy of the Woman Life Freedom Movement has fundamentally changed the place of women within families, communities, and workplaces, initiating a quiet revolution.

Feminism as a Language of Revolt

• 🎯 Feminist struggles are deeply organic and linked to Iranian society due to the theocratic state's foundation on gender segregation and unequal citizenship rights.
• 💬 These struggles have become a language of revolt, resonating with ethnic and national minorities, and young men, advocating for radical equality for all citizens.
• 📈 The high level of education among women in Iran, with women comprising over half of higher education students, contrasts sharply with their legal and political status, demonstrating their de facto equality in social and cultural life.

Diversity of Feminist Struggles

• 🌍 Feminist struggles in Iran are not monolithic, varying significantly across regions like Baluchistan, where women face layered domination from traditional community pressures and state repression.
• 🤝 Different feminisms are learning to dialogue and converse, with urban, educated, middle-class feminists in Tehran engaging with those in more repressed regions.
• 🧩 The feminist movement's adapted strategies have provided a language of revolt for ethnic minorities and environmental causes, highlighting the intersectionality of these struggles.

Global Feminist Connections

• ✊ The Woman Life Freedom slogan originated from Ravak Kurdistan and was inspired by Kurdish women's struggles, demonstrating a network of resistance across borders.
• 🌎 Iranian feminists are inspired by global feminist movements in the Americas and elsewhere, particularly their organized resistance and intersectional approaches.
• ⏳ The current wave of uprisings is informed by both contemporary global feminist movements and the historical roots of Iranian feminism, dating back to the March 8, 1979 demonstration against the imposition of the veil.