Iranian's Encounter with Feminism: from Iranian Feminism to Islamic Feminism

The important outcome of Iranian's encounter with modernity is a conflict between religious traditions and modernity. The area of the issues about women and family is part of this conflict. Using a historical- sociological approach and documentary- library method, the present paper seeks to answer to the following questions: when did feministic thought enter the ideological atmosphere of the Iranian society? Under what circumstances did this kind of thought prevail? And what stages did it pass through wherein? The research findings indicate that the events preceding and following the Constitutional Revolution prepared the ground for the familiarity of some Iranian women with the women's movement in the West. In the meantime, a semi-movement which took form in Iran emphasized on women's a better quality of life and on recognizing their rights. When the Pahlavi regime come to power this movement took a governmental form and turned into a soothed wave. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the third wave of this movement whose principles were convergent with those of western feminism came to existence. This wave consists of various and sometimes contradictory groups and, in spite of the many differences between them, they all agree that the explanation of modern issues should not be based on religion. These approaches lack a scientific outlook on the one hand and they are only concerned with the very issues of western women, taking no regard to the cultural and national capacities in solving women's problem, on the other. Furthermore, these approaches are, more or less political, and can serve the enemy's purposes and be serious menace to our national security.