Women's rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran: the contribution of secular-oriented feminism

A cornerstone of the conservative gender ideology of Iran’s clerical eliteis the conviction that biological differences between men and women arecause for them to have different roles and functions in society. Differentroles and functions translate to different (read unequal) legal rights.Notwithstanding the discriminatory gender policies of the state, Iranianwomen have refused to renege on their claims to equal rights. In the faceof intense political pressure to withdraw from the public arena, women inthe Islamic Republic have maintained a foothold in the political, socialand legal realms.