In Spite of Restrictions: The Women of Iran

"Women Like Us" - a film by Persheng Sadegh-Vaziri, 2002, 60 minutes, color video, Iran, subtitled

By Laila Kazmi

If you ask ordinary Americans what they know of the women of Iran, the likely answer will be either of the following two: “Women of Iran are forced to wear veils” or “An Iranian woman, Shirin Ebadi, won the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2003.”

Separately the above two statements may seem simplistic but together they hint at the complexities of the lives that women of Iran live. Even with the social and cultural restrictions forced upon them, they are active participants in their society.

Persheng Sadegh-Vaziri’s film "Women Like Us" provides an insight into the lives of ordinary Iranian women. The independent filmmaker returns to her native Iran after having lived in the United States for some twenty years. A lot has happened during that time, including the Revolution of 1979, the Iran-Iraq war of the Eighties, and the enforcement of the veil. To learn how these events have affected the lives of women, Persheng decides to interview five ordinary women of varying backgrounds.

We meet Sudabeh, a journalist, who is extremely passionate about her work. She lives in Tehran with her husband and child. Another woman, Kobra, is a rice farmer and a carpet weaver from a town in the Caspian Sea region. In her forties now, Kobra married young and became a widow at the age of 23 after her husband died fighting in the war with Iraq. Alone she raises her children and supports her family. We also meet Maryam who works as a nurse in Tehran. Though her mother continues to be a strong influence in her life, Maryam left her family home in Kermanshah to live on her own in protest of the restrictions she faced living with her parents. Another young woman interviewed in the film is Mahsa, also from Tehran. She is a piano player and teaches music and English at a local school. Lastly, we meet the 23-year-old Rahele, probably the youngest but the most religious of all three women. She has just finished college and works as a volunteer in Khorramshahr, a city at the border with Iraq. Khorramshahr was invaded during the Iran-Iraq war. Rahele teaches physics to young girls.

It is clear through the interviews that these are women of strong convictions. Each works very hard and wants to be able to completely support herself and not be dependent on family members.

Though the questions asked by the interviewer are not always thought provoking and sometimes fail to focus on key issues, we do learn a lot about the women from the glimpses of their daily routine as Persheng travels with them from their homes to places of work. In the process, we also get catch glimpses of life on the streets of Tehran, Kermanshah, and Khorramshahr. Unlike some other Islamic societies, women appear to be present everywhere.

The differences in women’s appearances as we go from a large city to small towns are also apparent. In Tehran, the women seem to have a degree of freedom in their dressing: loosely worn hijabs cover their heads, revealing some hair and hinting at hairstyles. Many do not wear chadors or robes to cover up their attire. In the two smaller towns, however, women seem much less secure and are completely covered in full head and body veil. Only their faces are revealed and even that is sometimes only partially.

When the women are asked about their opinion on the veil, we hear varying but cautiously stated answers. For those who perceive veiling as a restriction of women’s freedom, this caution may be disappointing. But perhaps it is easier for those of us who are not living under such restrictions to expect these women to speak out without inhibitions because we do not have to suffer the consequences.

Though “Women Like Us” has its shortfalls, mostly in the questions asked by the interviewer, the shots of the streets of Iranian cities and a look at how some ordinary Iranian women cope with their restrictive society make it a film worth watching. It has been shown in the Montreal International Festival of New Cinema & New Media, Tiburon International Film Festival, the Festival of the Iranian Diaspora, and the Gene Siskel Film Center.

"Women Like Us"
Director: Persheng Sadegh-Vaziri
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
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Laila Kazmi is a freelance writer and editor of ‘Jazbah.org – Women of Pakistan’. Her articles have been published in Dawn, Pakistan Link, & openDemocracy.com.