2008/06/01 by Charles Kurzman
paper · doi:10.1080/00210860801981260
crossref issued 2008/06/01 · crossref published 2008/06/01 · crossref published-print 2008/06/01 · crossref created 2008/06/21 · crossref published-online 2022/01/01 · crossref deposited 2023/05/18 · crossref indexed 2026/07/24
Numerous observers have noted that a feminist generation of educated young women appears to be emerging in Iran, despite the anti-feminist discourse of the Iranian government. Evidence from three surveys conducted in 2000–2003 confirms and complicates these observations. Educated young women are significantly more likely to espouse feminist attitudes of various sorts than other Iranians, including educated young men. In addition, educated young women are significantly more likely to work outside the home, marry later, give birth later, have fewer children, and have more egalitarian marriages than other Iranian women. However, surprising proportions of older Iranians also espouse feminist attitudes, and a majority of respondents in one nationally representative sample of urban Iranians identify themselves as proponents of women's rights.