On 8 January 1936, pro-western ruler Reza Shah Pahlavi of Iran issued a decree known as Kashf-e hijab banning all Islamic veils, an edict that was swiftly and forcefully implemented. The government also banned many types of male traditional clothing. Since then, the Hijab issue has become a deep wound in the Iranian politics. One of the enduring legacies of Reza Shah has been turning dress into an integral problem of Iranian politics.
Impact
In 1936, as part of a Westernizing crusade, Reza Shah banned the veil. This move was welcome by the Westernized upper class. To enforce this decree, the police were ordered to physically remove the veil from any woman who wore it in public. Women were beaten, their headscarves and chadors torn off, and their homes forcibly searched. Until Reza Shah's abdication in 1941, many women simply chose not leave their houses in order to avoid such embarrassing confrontations, and a few even committed suicide to avoid removing their hijabs due to the decree. A far larger escalation of violence occurred in the summer of 1935, when Reza Shah ordered all men to wear European-style bowler hats, which was Western par excellence. This provoked massive non-violent demonstrations in July in the city ofMashhad, which were brutally suppressed by the Imperial Iranian army, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 100 to 500 people.
Criticism
Western historians often state that this would have been a progressive step if women had indeed chosen to do it themselves, but instead, this ban humiliated and alienated many Iranian women, since its effect was comparable to a hypothetical situation in which European women were suddenly ordered to go outtopless into the street. Historians often point that Reza Shah's ban on veiling and his policies are unseen even in Atatürk's Turkey, and some scholars state that it is very difficult to imagine that even Hitler's or Stalin's regime would do something similar. The arbitrary decree by Reza Shah was criticized even by British consul in Tehran: According to Iran's current Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the policy was aimed at "eradicating the tremendous power of faith" in Muslim societies that was enabled by decency of women, as hijab prevented Muslim women from suffering from "malicious abuse" that affects women in the West and causing people to be preoccupied with sexual desires.
Aftermath
One of the enduring legacies of Reza Shah has been turning dress into an integral problem of Iranian politics. Under next ruler Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, official measures relaxed slightly, and wearing of the veil or chador was no longer an offence, but under his regime, the chador became a significant hindrance to climbing the social ladder, as it was considered a badge of backwardness and an indicator of being a member of the lower class. Discrimination against the women wearing the headscarf or chador was still widespread with public institutions actively discouraging their use, with even some restaurants refusing to admit women who wore them. This period is characterized by the dichotomy between a minority who considered wearing the veil as a sign of backwardness and the majority who did not. Despite all legal pressures and obstacles, the largest proportion of Iranian women continued to wear veils or chadors, contrary to widespread opposing claims. Earlier in the mid-1930s, only four thousand out of 6.5 million Iranian women ventured into public places without veils, almost all in Tehran and consisting mainly of Western-educated daughters of the upper class, foreign wives of recent returnees from Europe, and middle-class women from the minorities.
Revolutionary backlash
During the 1970s, hijab was considered a sign of virtue, and was considered by Pahlavis as a rejection of their rule, with many middle-class working women starting to use it voluntarily. It came to be a women's way of expressing the revolutionary demand for respect and dignity, rather than a sign of backwardness. Unveiled women came to be seen as victims of Westoxication, "a super-consumer" of products of Imperialism, a propagator of corrupt Western culture, undermining the morals of society. The revolutionary advocacy for the poor and the tradition brought chador back to popularity, and women from different classes wore hijab for different reasons, including to protest treatment of women as sex objects. It was no longer considered a hindrance, but empowerment enabling access to public spheres without facing sexual harassment. Unlike in the past, thousands of veiled women participated in religious processions alongside men when they also expressed their anti-Shah protests.
