Women. Life. Liberty. 

This chant has become the slogan of the current protests in Iran, which started with the murder of Ms. Mahsa Amini by the so-called 'morality police'. And to be sure, this time in Iran is all about women's rights. 

My guest is an expert in the history of hijab and women's rights in Iran. In this episode, Dr. Janet Afary talks about the plight of Iranian women in the context of Iran's rigid class hierarchy, going back all to the pre-Islamic Persian Empire.  We talk about love, love poems and marriage, and polygamy. She talks about the Shah's White Revolution, the liberations it brought for women and the enemies he made amongst the clergy because of it. From there, she explains Iran's progressive family planning laws (e.g., abortion up to 4 months), all of which were abrogated recently, causing more frustration among Iranians. 

Dr. Afary is the author of many books on the history of Iran, women's rights there, and modern romance and sexual politics. Click here to learn more about her books.  

In addition, below are links to other episodes about Iran:

S2E33: Iranians of the 1979 Revolution, Dr. Naghmeh Sohrabi

S2E25: Iran-U.S. Diplomacy, Dr. Vali Nasr

S1E25: Iran's Leadership, Government Structure & Religion, Dr. Vali Nasr 

And here is the link to Ms. Amanpour's interview with Ms. Ebadi:

I hope you enjoy these episodes.

Adel

Host of the History Behind News podcast

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