by J Robbins

Created on: May 11, 2008   Last Updated: November 27, 2010

For women in Iran today the stakes could not be higher, nor the message more mixed. So while Parvin Ardalan received a 2 year suspended sentence on May 5, 2008 for her civil disobedience - Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, a 43 year old mother, narrowly escaped being stoned to death several weeks earlier when her court imposed sentence was reversed.

And while the musical group Rozaneh (comprised of five 25 to 31 year old Iranian women) regularly tour Europe - it's still against the law for married Iranian women to leave their country without their husbands' written consent.

Iran is a nation of extremes with a history of great kings, artists and poets, and a present day of swirling opposing forces. The people of Iran may be caught up in the currents of today's struggle, but it's the Iranian woman, with her rights to vote and work still in tact, who has consistently shown courage, determination and leadership in the march towards civil rights.

In growing numbers Iranian women are raising their voices to be heard. There are people like Shirwin Ebadi, an author, attorney, and the first Iranian and first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. In sports this year Iranian women got to compete for the AFC Women's Asia Cup.

But today's activists didn't spring up from nowhere. Following the thread back to their origin would bring us to Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi who ruled Iran from 1941 to 1979. He ordered women to remove their veils and he, along with his wife Farah, worked to bring Iranian women into the modern world. Though overthrown and replaced by those insisting on a return to old traditions, the seeds sown by the Pahlavis are sprouting in today's Iran.

Shortly after Pahlavi was exiled Shirwin Edadi was demoted to a clerk's position in the courthouse where she used to preside as judge. Today, she writes and practices law. Despite having the protection of body guards provided by the state, her freedoms are still nowhere complete or guaranteed. She, like other journalists in Iran don't enjoy freedom of speech.

And although the women's football (soccer to Americans) team last February hosted their first multinational game in Tehran, they played wearing head-scarves, long-sleeved shirts and ankle-length trousers listening to the all female crowd chanting "We woman only have half our rights." With actions like these it's no wonder Ebadi insists the feminist movement is so strongly entrenched in her country there's no going back again.

If Iranian women fighting for civil liberties prevail, they will show the world that being modern and being Muslim are not contradictory in the 21st century. The impact of having equality between men and women in Muslim communities can't be minimized or underestimated.

For Ebadi's view to succeed, old traditionalist values must bend to modern times and the current government must either fail completely or change dramatically. In this sense Ebadi and her feminist counterparts are fighting for the very soul of Iran and the future rights for Muslim women everywhere.

Learn more about this author, J Robbins.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.