ABSTRACT
This chapter is largely based on personal interviews. It argues that the implementation of the shariʿa in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution has paradoxically triggered the autonomization and individualization of women. Through their mobilization against the Islamization of laws and institutions, women have attempted to establish their authority in the family, as well as in political, religious, judiciary and other institutions. To this end, religious and secular female social activists have initiated the reinterpretation of Islamic laws and traditions. Women's social struggle against gender segregation has also led to a radical change in their self-perception. They no longer allow themselves to be considered only as mothers and wives. Women's new demographic, social and economic behaviour has consolidated their autonomization and individualization: they are increasingly better-educated and active in the job market; their average age of marriage is higher than before; and their fertility rate has sharply declined.
