Reza Shah Dbq

In 1939, Reza Shah’s unveiling declaration sparked a worldwide debate as to what the veil actually symbolizes. Ever since the beginning of Islam, women throughout the Islamic world have had to adopt the hijab as part of their cultural and religious attire due to various interpretations of the Islamic dress code. In addition, the Koran emphasizes purity in the name of Islam by asking both men and women to be modest when it comes to the way they dress. Furthermore, in his efforts to modernize Iran, Reza Shah failed to satisfy the needs of his people, as he gave women no say in what they could and could not wear in public. This eventually resulted in the division of Iranian women, as there were those who favored the Islamic tradition, and those who supported the regime and its adoption of Western values.

Although the 1936 decree impressed the West, it shocked all of Iran by stripping them of their Islamic ways. In other words, there were many Iranian women who could not accept the absence of the veil, because they viewed it as their identity as Muslim women. Furthermore, through his reform, Reza Shah was able to get Iranian women to expose their face and let their hair loose so that they could resemble the women of the West. In addition, after the 1936 proclamation, the only hair covering that was permitted was by Iranian men who wore European style hats. Last but not least, Reza Shah stressed the concept of a Western appearance to the point that he utilized both the military and police forces in order to forcibly remove a woman’s veil if she wore one in

To begin with, the majority of Iranian families could not afford to replace both the veil and the chador with the European sense of style. It is also fair to say that Reza Shah’s method of modernization overlooked centuries of Iranian culture when it came to wearing the veil, and the meaning it had to conservative Iranians. Furthermore, it would have made more sense if the Shah took a more gradual path to modernizing Iran. In other words, Reza Shah should have granted women the privilege of deciding the clothing they wore, instead of trying to completely erase the veils existence. This would have probably resulted in the low class women sticking with their cultural attire, while the wealthier women seek beauty from European clothing. In addition, the unveiling method led to the division among Iranian women. This meant that the women who continued to wear the veil favored the Islamic tradition, where as the women that unveiled supported the regime and favored their Western