International Women’s Day Protests in Tehran, 1979

Veiling had been abolished in the Kashf-e hijab of 1936, and for a period of five years, veiling had been banned. From 1941 onward, under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, women had been free to dress as they wished. However, under his regime, the chador was considered a badge of backwardness and an indicator of being a member of the lower class. Veiled women were assumed to be from conservative religious families with limited education, while unveiled women were assumed to be from the educated and professional upper- or middle class.