Re: Ahmadinejad, an Islamic Feminist (was Reflections on Iran)

[Yoshie Furuhashi <critical.montages@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 7/21/06, Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Yoshie:
> >Hey, better late than never!  Between the two revolutions that
> >overthrew neocolonial regimes at the same time, which one survived to
> >modernize society?
>
> Modernize society? We haven't been dipping into the Rostows, have we?
>
> >Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at a ceremony on Monday to mark
> >the aupicious birth anniversary of the blessed daughter of Prophet
> >Mohammad (PBUH), praised exemplary women of the country. Speaking at a
> >ceremoney organized by the Center for Women and Family Affairs,
> >President Ahmadinejad said women in the Islamic Republic are pioneers
> >in all sectors and are active participants in various social affairs.
> >President Ahmadinejad stressed the role of women in breeding the next
> >generation of exemplary Iranians.
>
> I never dreamed that the Yoshie I met online 10 years ago would forward
> something about Iranian women "breeding".

You can find that sort of rhetoric that casts women as bearers of the
next generation of revolutionary citizens everywhere, from bourgeois
to socialist revolutions, from France in the 18th century to Cuba in
the 20th century.  Even today, many male leftists are pro-natalist in
rhetoric (and sometimes in policy, too).  I object to that, but I also
look at how the government actually implements such things as birth
control and family planning, which counts far more than rhetoric.

Iran's family planning has been better than many others in the
developing world, as I explained at
<http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/furuhashi130706.html>.  The fertility
rate in Iran has declined from 5 in 1989 to 2 in 2002.  Women who have
just two children have more time for their own development than women
who have five or more.

That's the sort of social modernization that makes a difference for women.
--
Yoshie
<http://montages.blogspot.com/>
<http://mrzine.org>
<http://monthlyreview.org/>