Women of Iran

What gives today’s women and their allies such courage to risk life and liberty protesting on the streets of Iran? It is many things, including a universal sense of injustice and increasing desperation, but in this case it is also their suppressed history of equal rights and traditions that honor women in all walks of life. Hardly universal, these unique traditions of equality were quite remarkable in a region where women were usually seen as lesser beings. But the culture of the Persian kingdoms (Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, Sassanian) held that women could rule, own property, marry who they pleased, run businesses, and serve in the military. Learn of the fighting spirit of Youtab in the Battle of the Persian Gate, or the fierce rebellions led by Apranik and Banu Khorramdin! Hear of the medical advances advocated by Azadokht Shahbanu and the business empire ruled by Irdabama! The women of Iran have spent millennia in positions of honor and power. Today they demand a return to the old w