A seminar, said to be the first of its type focusing on Iranian women and industrial development, took place in the city of Urumiyyeh on last month. Organized jointly by the Directorate General of the Ministry of Industries in the West Azarbaijan Province and Women's Industrial Association of West Azarbaijan, the picture that emerged was sometimes contradictory.
In arranging the event, the organizers were certainly well intentioned. Speaking to the Persian-language monthly, Zanan, Naser Zargar, the director general of the Industries Directorate General of West Azarbaijan, noted that in the past talk about the contribution of women to industrial output would conjure up images of handicrafts and items such as embroidery.
"But now I believe we have to change our attitude to women's contribution to industrial output. We must consider capabilities of women, their talent and their propensity to learn new vocations. So, we must take the issue of women's place in industrial and other modern fields of economy much more seriously than ever before," he said.
But the address of the keynote speaker at the event, the minister of industries, Mohamad Reza Shafe'i, was considered to be condescending. "I want to tell the ladies they can better serve their society if they stopped competing with one another in following fashion and things like that," he said. "Instead of buying luxuries which would do you no good either in this life or hereafter you are advised to save your money," the minister said.
According to Shafe'i, because of physical restraints, women lack the ability to work in certain sectors, including labor-intensive industries “such as cement mills.” But he tempered his comments by stating that not all industries are unsuitable for women. These include electronics, biotechnology, optical works and telecommunications, he said.
Shahrbanu Amani Anganeh, a woman representative of Urumiyyeh in the Iranian Majlis, took particular offense when the minister quoted the Persian poet Sa'adi who had written: "an obedient and devout wife can help a carpetbagger to become a king." She was politely brushed off by the minister, who commented that one party must have the last say and the other party must acquiesce."
One of the speakers at the seminar was Golnar. Nasrollahi, a woman employee at the Ministry of Industries who has attained the position of a director general. She noted that, while in1993, only 2 percent of the director general posts in the civil service were filled by women, that figure has doubled to 4 percent in the recent years.
She also confirmed a comment made by the industries minister that 60 percent of all successful candidates in the university entrance examinations were women. But she warned: “If in future you fail to provide gainful and suitable employment opportunities for these girls then you will have wasted a worthy and enormous capital resource. So, such an eventuality gives no cause for being happy."
A Ms. Bashiri, who is member of the Urumiyyeh City Council, sarcastically commented that if so high a percentage of girls having succeeded in the university entrance exams, it was a calamity. "Everyday scores of graduate girls call on us looking for jobs, which seldom materialize," she said, noting that they often complain of discrimination."
Addressing top government officials, the city council member said: " If you do not want us to work outdoors, then tell us so and we will return to our housework chores like the past ages. But then you constantly brag about having introduced progressive laws for the Iranian women. What has been the result? You be the judge. You are all slogans and no action. We have had enough slogans." — (Albawaba-MEBG)
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
