Grassroots from Above

Masoumeh Jazayeri on Public Hygiene, Activism, and the State

Tirdad Zolghadr

Prelude: Iran's first neighborhood Women's Council

In mid-January 2001, a ceremony was held to mark the 5th anniversary of Iran's first neighborhood Women's Council. The Council was affiliated with the local mosque of Shahrak-e Mehraj, a poor, neglected neighborhood to the south of Tehran, in the Shahr-e Rey district. Since its founding, the Council was responsible for coordinating neighborhood development projects, including gas and water lines, parks, roads, and a local library.

The ceremony was held in the mosque itself. In a gesture so typical it's almost endearing, the honoring of the local women was done by a long line of male speakers from various government bodies, announced one by one by a bouncy young woman. Only at the end of the event did four representatives of the Council explain things from their own point of view.

The highlight of the occasion, to be very honest, was an appearance by a comedy duo. It might come as a shock that comedy stints are being held in mosques on officious occasions, but no one seemed surprised as the duo acted out a sketch about an artful thief posing as a doctor, and his patient, a vulgar old man with an Azeri accent.

After the ceremony, we were approached by several women who worked in the field of promoting and supervising women's associations from within the local government. One was Masoumeh Jazayeri, a cheerful, middle-aged woman in a chador, who insisted we contact her and conduct an interview for Bad Jens.

Jazayeri is a consultant of the Regional Administrator of Shahr-e Rey, a large suburb to the south of Tehran, and is head of the General Committee for Women's Affairs.

Tirdad Zolghadr  How long have you been working in this field?

Masoumeh Jazayeri  In 1988, I started working in the Shahr-e Rey branch of the Education Ministry. I worked there for eleven years, and became head of the Association for the Culture and Education of Youth, where I'm still active today.

For a year and a half, I've been working here, for the Regional Administrator of Shahr-e Rey. I've founded a number of Committees for Women's Affairs [Komite-ye Omur-e Banovan] in various ministries, starting with the Ministry of Interior. The committees are responsible for conducting research, developing proposals, and preparing the ground for women's active participation in society.

Efforts such as mine have shown results in Iran. You can see that for yourself. Because of the unsound environment in our cities, before the revolution, women would mainly stay at home, especially women in poorer areas such as Shahr-e Rey. Once their housework was finished, in the afternoon, none of them would pursue any studies or anything of the sort. They'd just sit on their doorsteps, clean the sabzi [traditional batch of fresh herbs], and gossip.

After the revolution, thank God, Imam Khomeini paid lots of attention to women's issues. When women went to listen to him speak, and the men would try and send them back home, the Imam interfered. He insisted that our revolution was successful thanks to the women's movement. I think this would be of interest to the readers of your internet magazine.

He managed to spark some self-confidence in women, he helped them believe in themselves, and made them realize that if they wished to work outside the home, it was their right to do so. And women did realize that, simply by doing all that housework, they had long proven they could administer many different matters, particularly economic ones. And very slowly, this developed into what we have today. We now have a woman vice-President, women mayors, women governors, etc. Things are getting better.

Take the example of the women's libraries like the one in Shahrak-e Mehraj. It used to be a hairdresser's salon. But seeing as there was a real need to promote education among women, the lady who owned the salon decided to devote herself to cultural matters. Or take the example of public health. During the Shahr-e Salem [Healthy City] campaign in Shahr-e Rey, many women got up and volunteered.

Thanks to the recent changes in Iran, many of the development projects in our neighborhoods are run by women. Actually, even in private households, when it comes to administrative work outside the home, it's usually women who go out and get it done. They're simply better at it. Women have become articulate, and they know their rights.

TZ  Have you noticed this in your own work, is there progress on a governmental level?

MJ  In our women's commission, yes, we do have more weight than we used to. Even if it's still the Regional Administrator who has the last word. Our commission ratifies a given project, then the executive accords the funds, which he usually does.

Over in parliament, women MPs have managed to pass a number of laws, such as early retirement for women, legislation on part-time jobs, free time for nursing, alimony being linked to the rate of inflation, etc.

And if you look at the statistics on educational institutions, you'll see that the sisters have been far more successful than the men. They're better teachers. And this means the future is in their hands. From the outside, on a superficial level, it may look like women haven't made much progress in Iran. But from within, you notice women have been evolving much quicker than men. Whenever women enter spaces which used to be exclusively male, men get frightened. They sense the danger of losing their privileges. Now women can even replace general directors.

That said, most men are very understanding when it comes to women's rights. But men rely on mechanical reflexes. They consider a job and a salary as their duty, and little else. They don't have the interest and the passion that women do. Nor are they as interested in entering new fields. But not only do women get all sorts of jobs done, when they come home at night, they don't use their exhaustion as an excuse to lie around. They take responsibility for all the housework.

In recent times, I don't think there's any country in the world where women's lives have changed as drastically as in Iran. Many countries claim their women enjoy "true freedom". But take France, and the way they treat women from religious minorities. Many aren't even allowed to wear headscarves at work. But in Iran, women from religious minorities can have all the freedom they like, just as long as they remain within the framework of the law.

TZ  You mean Islamic law.

MJ  Since we live in an Islamic Republic, usually, any Islamic edict becomes law. But then again, every law is not a religious edict. When it comes to religious minorities, it depends. If, say, Christians drink alcohol in the privacy of their own homes, Islam does not allow us to go and interfere, and chastise them. Only if they drink in public.

TZ  In what ways is the Shahrak-e Mehraj Women's Council linked to your Women's Commission?

MJ  Generally, we help establish women's organizations on a neighborhood level, which then function independently, although we do hold regular meetings, and fund and supervise them. So the government founds these associations, and then lets the women run them themselves. This has been very influential, particularly as a cultural policy in urban areas. Instead of offering that ugly spectacle of sitting around gossiping in the streets, women are doing something useful. Things are much better now.

Recently, the Women's Commission has been focussing on places outside the different urban centers of Tehran, neighborhoods which are far away from the city's cultural and educational institutions. Shahrak-e Mehraj is one of those places. It barely had infrastructure of any kind, not even a hospital.

[Smiles]  You grew up abroad, didn't you.

TZ  Yes, mostly in Switzerland.

MJ  A neutral country.

TZ  Supposedly.

MJ  And yet you've moved back. You have less possibilities here, but the people make up for that. People aren't as cold and indifferent as in the West. If someone's crying in the street, people will come up and ask what's wrong. Not so in Europe.

People have an appalling picture of Iran. In the US, there are many Iranians in influential positions. There are even three Iranians working for the CIA in Langley. But if some Iranian steals from a supermarket, everyone will say "that's what Iran is about". Or take those Iranians who killed a swan in a park in Germany, and ate it. It's a horrendous thing to do, and it makes Iran look absolutely awful. But there's no reason to generalize, and ignore the people who have been trying so hard. I always make this point when there are foreign visitors around.

Anyway, these things take time. We particularly need to sort out some domestic problems first.

TZ  Have you had the possibility of working with women's groups abroad?

MJ  We've had that possibility, but we didn't use it. The Shahr-e Rey Women's Commission is currently being reorganized, and transferred to the provincial level, where it will be under the auspices of the Governor. From there, it will be much easier to work with women's groups abroad.

The problem is, we aren't very well informed. I personally just happened to learn a thing or two at the UNESCO seminars, which were very interesting. Particularly one seminar on women's universal rights, which was fascinating. It addressed the problem of women's oppression all over the world, especially among refugees. In Iran, we have the problem of local women marrying Afghanis who are extradited back to their home country. Legally, it means extraditing the women, too. But imagine sending our women to the land of the Taleban. It's unthinkable.

TZ  What's your educational background?

MJ  I have an MA in theology. I was interested in literature, but I had to choose a faculty that was near enough to my workplace. I also took some courses in psychology, and I've worked as a psychological counselor in different schools, but my education was cut short when I went to prison.

I was in university before the revolution, when there was strong resistance against the Shah. That's how I got involved in politics. I was in the underground resistance for two years. I didn't even see my family during that time. I would only call them from time to time, from a phone booth. At some point, they arrested two of my associates – they had met in Behesht-e Zahra cemetery, in order to exchange a big bag full of Imam Khomeini's speeches. They were caught because an officer in plain clothing had noticed them, and thought it was a drug transaction. Nine months later, I heard they arrested my sister. I was calling home to see what was going on, when the police surrounded the phone booth and arrested me, too.

At that time, the Red Cross and other human rights associations were inspecting the prisons, and they managed to liberate most of the political prisoners. We were among the last ones left, and the government would take us from one prison to the next, hiding us from the international commissions.

I was in Evin for a year. My son was born in prison, and I figured out that, by the time I was to be released, he'd be a fifteen year-old in secondary school. But then the revolution happened, and the people stormed Evin prison and freed the prisoners. I was caught unawares. I wasn't expecting a revolution, not in the slightest.

TZ  I was in Evin for a few days. Things must have changed since your time.

MJ  What's it like now?

TZ  We were in a ward they call "National Security". I suspect it's the one they show international inspection teams nowadays. It was very clean, and we were served fessen joon [chicken with walnut and pomegranate sauce].

MJ  [mockingly] You lucky thing. When I was there, it was absolutely filthy. The food was full of worms and maggots. The first time I got the soup, I thought there were blobs of grease swimming on the surface, but then I looked closer and saw they were all maggots. There was also a long roll of meat they would serve. When you unrolled it, you always found worms on the inside.

Were they very hard on you?

TZ  Not really.

MJ  They wouldn't be. They know what an impression it would make outside the country.

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