Women of Deh Koh: Lives in an Iranian Village, Term Paper Example

Westerners’ may view t the overall predicament of females in Iran as questionable because there are certain laws implemented to protect women’s rights yet there are other laws that put restrictions on these protections. They do not understand that Islam makes the law and the government dictates the law of Iran. It is illegal for females above the age of 9 to appear in public with out their heads veiled and bodies entirely covered. Women cannot serve in certain occupations, such as the military or in high office of government, only lower seats of government.  It is difficult for a married woman to divorce her spouse, yet for men the right to divorce is unquestioned and done with simplicity. Married women in Iran who wish to leave the country for reasons including work and travel must first obtain the permission of their husbands.

Despite their many restrictions, females in Iran are anything but delicate. Iranian women are proud, strong, and work at changing the society they live in. In Erika Friedl’s book, Women of Deh Koh, Lives In An Iranian Village, she shows the reader what it is like to be a woman in Iran through personal observations of what women in Iran have to encounter daily. The sources that Friedl uses are primary sources because she actually lived in the villages of Iran and writes about her experiences from those passages of time. All information presented in the book are facts and do not reflect fiction writing. She wrote the book with the hopes of educating women both in the academic and social world of the struggles women have to endure to survive and accomplish civil rights, even more damming than the environment encountered in the United States because these women are in constant repression by the government and their husband as well as the entire culture and are unaware of who they can trust for support through their journey.

Friedl explains how life and the laws are constantly changing in Iran and women have no real security in the government and laws.  The men are really the caretakers and the “bosses.” In the story of Maryam and Kosrshid, it says that she is illiterate and had to do all of her book keeping in her head. She was successful at doing this. She really was taking control in many situations. She wanted the school administration to buy one vineyard that was located in a convenient spot. She was successful at this as well.”

Friedl offers many examples of victories and sour endings for the women of Iran. Obviously everyone in life has many hardships but these women go through so more than the ordinary person.  Friedl lets you hear the woman’s voice not just her own observations. This is shown through her style of writing.  She shows how women can be strong, humble and struggling all within the same breath.  Each chapter focuses on a different woman in the village she lived.

In Islamic world the future of women was linked to the Islamic religion with relevance that dictates the word of God to the order of nature. This Islamic religion order further dictates the position of men and women in the Islamic household. It is quite evident that there lie inequities of gender discrimination even in the Civil Codes of Islam. An example of gender discrimination is portrayed in the Islamic Penal Code where there is obvious penalty for lesbianism of 100 lashes under Article 129 but there is no existent penal code for the act of homosexuality. The Islamic religion put women in the position as mother and wife but infringement was ever present when women were put into higher political offices in Iran and their rights were suppressed at this order of social hierarchy.

Young boys and girls were only allowed to socialize in supervised situations where both families were present and the woman must be fully clothed. As a child matured into young adulthood boy/girl relationships were not encouraged.  I am speaking only of friendships. In the book Friedl speaks about if a young woman becomes pregnant without marriage, she will have dishonoured the family, whether she was raped or not. Only the outcome which is pre-marital sex was important, not whether it occurred by consent or criminal activity. Conviction of disloyalty to the family will be cast upon the young lady and she will be vanished from the family through death. She has set her fate as an old maid and the crime will become known thus she has to be killed.

Men preserved the role as the dominant role in the family acting as the provider and women were the submissive mother and wife. Women simply are not treated legally under the constitution. Legal code must adhere to Sharia law and the Islamic moral code based on the Koran. Further all Islamic laws must be based on Islamic criteria. Women of Iran are afforded more equalities than that of sister Arabic country Saudi Arabia. Iranian women are amongst 65% of university students in the country and are allowed to drive vehicles as well as hold public office. Iranian women can show their faces and must only cover their hair and other body parts with the hijab. That is much progress as compared to the other Arabic countries. Iran is a Persian country.

In the justice system, a male Iranian can divorce his wife without any cause and can marry up to four women as long as he can support all four of them. A woman Iranian can only marry within the Islamic world and cannot divorce unless extreme circumstances have been proven to the court. Divorce carries a heavy cost for women in Iran because the courts give custody to men after a son has reached the age of three or a daughter has reached the age of seven. Women only have the financial protection of their ‘mahri-eh’ after the divorce which can be readily depleted unless a favourable mahri-eh is negotiated prior to the marriage. There is also cultural disgrace associated with marriage.  Further to add to the dilemma, in making awards in court, the judge will always award the male twice as much as the female and it will take two women to equal one man’s testimony in court. After the Islamic Revolution, the Special Court enacted some family law rules which enabled a woman to set some pre-contractual rules advocating ‘justiciable’ reasons for divorce rendering a man must meet those conditions to be worthy of obtaining a divorce rather than the traditional way of making a public announcement to one or two friends the mere utterance, ‘I Want a Divorce’.  Women certainly do not have equality with men in the county of Iran but the county is slowing towards that common goal with Islamic student movements and other government reformations in the making.

In the rural areas tradition is followed to have marriages arranged by intermediate family members. The use of drums and music was used to announce the marriage to the village with great display and honour. The colour of white is worn by the bride and bridegroom as a symbol of purity with a garland of flowers around the necks of the bride and bridegroom. In today’s modern society, the bride and groom usually choose each other of course with the approval of the family members. After this step the bride groom and his parents go to the home of the bride’s family and request the honour of their daughter in marriage. If it is accepted then there is a large celebration to announce the engagement. The family will be lavished with flowers and the bride will be lavished with lovely gems. Mirrors and candelabras depict a traditional expression of the marriage ceremony. After the wedding the new couple usually lives with the bridegroom’s family but in the rare occasion they cannot afford the couple then they will reside with the bride’s parents. One long lasting tradition as common in many Arabic, Persian and Indian cultures is the exchange of ‘dowry’ from the bride’s parents to the bridegroom. The rubbing of the two pieces of sugar cones symbolizes the sweetness of the couple’s life together.

A woman’s value is defined by her ability to bear healthy and numerous children to her husband. Daughters are treated very differently than sons. Sons are expected to be the carrier of the family heritage to the next generation and if the family is prominent the leader of the family business. Daughters are often seen as ‘pawns’ to marry off into influential families but have no other value in prominent families. Mothers do not show prejudice amongst her children whether daughters or sons yet she teaches her daughters to be strong internally but humble in order to adapt to the discriminate society. Mothers teach their daughters to be submissive to their father’s wishes. Husbands treat their wives as less than by the fact they feel superior to women in education, emotional, occupation, financial and all other matters.

Normally men of Iran are allowed to take on up to four wives as long as they can afford to keep them all. The first wife has to consent to the addition of the further three wives. Though polygamy is a rare instance in Iran because most people do not like the concept. Though there is a proposed polygamy bill that intends to make Iran just like other polygamy supported countries that will alienate women’s rights by denying the first wife consent to future wives. The government and women of Iran are outraged. This is a sly attempt to push Islamic law into legislation.

Traditionally Iranian women stated at home whilst taking care of the home and the children especially in the rural areas. This was common with the Islamic religion.

However today, Islamic women work as well as take care of their husband, home and children. They are given the opportunity to be educated, choice to work and have families which leans towards a more westernized culture—far from it—but focus is on that idea!

Iranian women did not want to destroy their natural heritage they simply wanted the Western culture and political freedom to be afforded them because it is their right as human beings. Further it is reported that being feminine doesn’t necessarily make you secular or Western it only makes you a person that wants to have the same rights as men. Human Rights are not compatible with Islamic law or is it the other way around?  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is principled on antecedents in Western law but not necessarily endorsements of Western law. Requiring flogging, stoning, prevention of working outside the home with restriction is all abusive to natural rights. Coming to grips with the fact that religious presence or gender should make no distinction of the law or by how the law is applied.

Gender and cultural society places much emphasis on the male domination and the intrinsic traditions of the Iranian culture into their Islamic religion and laws. With regards to these practises, the women are considered the lower or weaker class are vehemently discriminated against with no justification. The government makes overt as well as covert actions to suppress any large repressions to their rule to keep the women in line. We only hear of what goes on in the news or behind the scenes by what a strong journalist or writer choose to publish if we are very lucky.