Do Muslim Women Need Saving? A Case Study of Iran’s Veiling Policies

Presenter: Tanzila Malik
Mentor: Nehal Elmeligy, Gender, Women’s, + Sexuality Studies

Location:  12:15-12:30pm | RAC 230

Using Iran as a case study, this project shows how Western narratives about “saving” Muslim women often obscure struggles over power, identity, and state control rather than reflect women’s lived realities. Focusing on the period between the unveiling policies of Reza Shah Pahlavi’s modernization campaign and the mandatory veiling as a symbol of resistance to Westernization following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, this study investigates how both secular modernization efforts and Islamist movements used women’s dress as a political tool to promote competing political and ideological agendas. Using historical and content analysis of state policies, political rhetoric, and protest movements, this project explores how the hijab in Iran shifted from being prohibited to mandated. Early findings suggest that across these changes, the hijab was less of a purely religious practice and more of a flexible political symbol used to legitimize authority and regulate women’s roles in society. This historical case study is shockingly relevant as public debates about Muslim women’s freedom continue to influence global policy and media narratives, making it important to understand how these narratives are historically constructed.

URCAD is Wednesday, April 22 in the RAC:

URCAD.umbc.edu