Contemporary Womens Movement in Iran

Women's movement in Iran started in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries under the influence of modernism imported from Europe. This movement has two main trends in Qajar and Pahlavi periods: (a) western oriented and (b) Islamic stream. During Qajar rule both trends were not well formed. They acted under the influence of main socio-political social movement flows of the society. In Pahlavi era western oriented movement was promoted by the state and the Islamic stream marginalized. In the first and second decades of Islamic Republic time the Islamists were baked by the government. In the third decade of the revolutionary government, open atmosphere of the society causes four groups to be recognized: (a) a western oriented group, (b) amodernized Islamic group, (c) a traditional Islamic group, and 9d) a progressive Islamist group. This paper will review the historical path of the movement in brief and will introduce the four competing trends of the day.