ABSTRACT
It is undeniable that, over the course of the twentieth century and in many parts of the world, women and issues ʿconnected with them have steadily moved centre stage much more publicly than had been the case in earlier times. Gender, of course, has always been crucial in the shaping of social, economic and political relations, but now any pretence that this has ever been otherwise has been stripped away to allow a much clearer view of the ways in which gender and society interact. Misperceptions persist, however, particularly concerning women living in Muslim societies. As often as not, the dominant image of a ‘typical’ Muslim woman combines powerlessness and passivity on an individual level with what seems like a fierce and active loyalty to her community and its shared values, especially religion and culture. That certain groups of Muslim women have always had access to power by virtue of kinship or marriage connections confounds ‘traditional’, often western, ideas about divisions separating the so-called ‘public’ and ‘private’ spheres in Muslim societies and the distribution of effective influence between them. 1 Revealing the range of realities involved in the lives of Muslim women past and present, in effect deconstructing the notion of ‘Muslim woman’ as a homogeneous category, has become a priority for historians and others concerned to challenge the kinds of myths and misconceptions that endure. At the same time, there is a need to recognize that commentators, fired by the excitement of these new insights, can sometimes err too far in the opposite direction, putting a kind of retrospective pressure on women of earlier times to prove themselves in ways acceptable to or expected by people of today. The challenge for anyone writing on issues concerning women, therefore, is to reflect and analyse developments accurately but realistically, whilst recognizing that the years since the nineteenth century have arguably represented a distinct period when it comes to the changing status of women in societies such as Iran.
