A Leader's Perspective

Iran's Female Vice President: Breaking the Mold

by MAURA CASEY

Maasoomeh Ebtekar

President Mohammed Khatami, a moderate who was the surprise victor in last year's election, appointed Mrs. Ebtekar after an overwhelming majority of women voted for him. She is an immunologist by training, although everyone in Iran refers to her as "Mrs. Ebtekar," not "Dr. Ebtekar," as would be customary in the U.S. She is the mother of two sons; her husband is an engineer.

I interviewed her late one afternoon. Her aides apologized that the interview would be delayed a few minutes because Mrs. Ebtekar was at prayer. We spoke in her office, at a long table near her desk, which held a small Iranian flag. Mrs. Ebtekar's clothing followed hejab, the Islamic dress code for women; a black garment covered all but her face and hands. Because she spent several years in the U.S., her English is flawless.

I first asked her about Islam and the role of women in government. She paused, then said: "In the name of God, the powerful, the merciful... It is very clear that Islam is not an obstacle to the participation of women in government, but invites men and women to make decisions in the political process. Men and women together must build a democratic society.

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"More and more women are entering politics here," she said. "Despite the cultural attitudes that still exist - and they don't change overnight - more women are running for office. You still see some misogynistic attitudes but the fact that women are coming from provinces [to run for office] shows there is a genuine change."

Mrs. Ebtekar said that the most important steps Iran has made to empower women are reflected in the rising literacy rate of females. In 1978, only 57 percent of females in Iran could read. In 1997, 80 percent could read, she said, a rate that is 9 percent less than that for males, but still a large improvement.

After the Islamic revolution of 1979, she said, the government encouraged women to get university degrees by imposing a quota on universities. Mrs. Ebtekar said that in certain medical fields, 50 percent of the students are women. About 40 percent of the students in humanities and basic sciences at universities are women. Part of the reason for this is because Iranian society is so rigidly segregated. The separation necessitates that more women gain university degrees. For example, the government decreed that women could not be examined by male doctors, so more women had to become doctors.

But more involvement in careers, Mrs. Ebtekar said, is also motivating more women to campaign for political office. Some change, she implied, isn't obvious from the numbers of women in government. There are 14 women in parliament out of 270, and two women out of 22 cabinet ministers. "But of 22 ministers, almost every one has a woman adviser. The only adviser to the president who sits in the cabinet is his adviser on women's affairs. She spoke out very effectively on the budget recently," Mrs. Ebtekar said.

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She got passionate when the subject of conversation turned to one that American women grapple with - balancing family life and a career. Few women, she said, have such huge responsibilities at work that it is impossible to maintain a good family life and have a rewarding career at the same time. "I always tried to keep a balance with regard to my children," she said. She explained that when she is in the office she keeps a cellular phone with her for the sole purpose of talking with her sons.

"They call me often," she said. "My 10-year-old son is here with me today. We have lunch together and he is here with me between meetings. Being a mother is just as important as being vice president," Mrs. Ebtekar said. The necessity for mothers to spend more time with children is broken up into stages, she said. Small children most need a mother to be with them. Teenagers also need a lot of attention. "You need to spend more time with children when they enter adolescence," she said. "I have a teen-age son. As a mother of a teenager, you need to talk to him, he needs to talk to you. You need to understand where he is coming from. He needs not only your affection, but your sincerity as a mother," she said.

Mrs. Ebtekar made clear that women in Iran will not travel down what she considered to be the mistaken path of western feminism. "Western values are not a model for Iran," she said. "Contrary to the stereotype of the rights of women in Iran, we have a balance of rights here." She explained that Iranian men are legally bound to support their wives and families. Women work only if they desire to hold jobs, she said. They have no legal responsibility to go to work. "We try to make sure the gender balance does not fall into confrontation with men, which is what happened to feminists in the West," Mrs. Ebtekar said. "This led to a power struggle, with women trying to make their voices heard and men feeling that their power was being challenged. We try to avoid such confrontation. I'd rather we have a healthy competition, not confrontation."

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She agreed that one of the strengths of America is the fact that many people in the U.S. attend church regularly. Yet, she said, that wasn't enough for a healthy society. "American society might have religious tendencies, but the culture of Hollywood, of MTV, American television and movies - this is not a religious culture. We see signs of moral degradation with every [movie] Hollywood makes. It is becoming a world culture through satellites. We see families being shattered, and drug addiction becoming a solution. This is very dangerous." At one point, in her discussion of Hollywood and its poor influence upon America and the rest of the world, Mrs. Ebtekar said that Hollywood even tells women what to wear. I found her comment highly ironic in light of the veil and robes I was compelled to wear by law in Iran.

Mrs. Ebtekar emphasized the need for values. "I know the legal basis of the freedom provided in the First Amendment to the Constitution, but the law should be supported by ethics and moral values. For example, you don't see the image of a woman used as an object for ads in Iran; it's not allowed. Woman has dignity, her body has dignity, it should not be used to sell. "But they - Hollywood - are using that freedom for their own profit. They think about how to make more money. They don't care about the younger generation. They don't care that the crime rate is soaring. They care only about selling more," she said. If Western freedom is exemplified by the values of Hollywood, I asked, is that the reason why so many in Iran are so threatened by President Khatami's call for more civil liberties? "It is a source of concern that with greater freedom we will get like the West," Mrs. Ebtekar said. "We have seen foreign influences - and we have paid a heavy price to keep the dignity of our nation."

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"The Day" Associate Editorial Page Editor Maura Casey traveled to Iran in June 1998 to help establish a journalists' exchange program between our two countries through the New England Society of Newspaper Editors.

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