Feminist Looking Glass

Iranian President Ahmadinejad has nominated 3 women, out of 21 nominees, to his cabinet.  Iran’s Parliament has opposed Ahmadinejad’s cabinet appointees in the past and hints that it may fail to confirm at least 7 of the 21 nominees.  But, if any of the 3 women are confirmed, this will be the first time that Iran has any female cabinet members since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Unfortunately, no members of defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi’s faction were on the list and one human rights advocate has said that “From the history of at least two of the three women nominees, they are not advocates for women’s rights.”  Other women’s rights activists said that they doubted the nominees would work to give Iranian women the same rights as men:

“These women are just like him, only female,” said activist Parvin Ardalan, referring to Ahmadinejad.  “This is just an act to gain legitimacy among women.”

“The damage that such women can do to women’s rights issues is much more than any man can inflict,” said Nargess Mohammadi, deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, which is led by Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi. “These female candidates have a traditional mind-set. They will increase bias against women, since they believe the role of women is limited to families.”

In addition, clerics are opposed to any woman being in the cabinet because it is”counter to Islamic beliefs”:

“If a woman becomes minister, then she must constantly stay in contact with men and deputies, so she could not carry out her religious duties to the full,” Ayatollah Yousef Tabatabaeinejad said during Friday prayers, according to the Khabaronline Web site. “We expect that the parliamentarians should keep their wits and prevent this heresy.”

I wrote in a previous blog about the role played by women in the Iranian election protests and, in particular, the role played by Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.  I said:

Let’s hope that the results of the current turmoil in Iran include continued visibility of women in politics such that women’s rights can continue to grow. If they do, Zahra Rahnavard will have had much to do with it.

Even though it appears that the three women nominated by Ahmadinejad may not be of any help in having the government increase women’s rights, I wonder if they would have been nominated at all were it not for the role Iranian women had in the protests.

Filed under: International, Politics Tagged: | Ahmadinejad, Cabinet, Iran, Politics