Then came the Islamic revolution -- and the hejab is brought full circle: What was once banned is now compulsory. Post-1979, the hejab is intended to express not just religious commitment, but the triumph of Islamic populism over the worldly culture of the Westernized elite. In this it was a near-perfect symbol of the revolution. And what happens when all of Iran's women dress according to the hejab? The consequences were swiftly apparent: tens of thousands of Iranian families suddenly decide that it is acceptable to let daughters and spouses out of the house. Literacy among women rises from less than 30 percent just before the revolution to 75 percent. The university population changes shape: from about 25 percent women under the last shah, it grows to more than 50 percent women. Within a few years, women are a new presence in the workforce and the press, in the arts, and in politics. Tehran now has two women serving on its fifteen-member city council; Qom, the seat of Islamic learning 90 miles south of the capital, has one -- who triumphed over several male rivals. Women were a decisive force in the 1996 elections to the majlis, the national assembly -- and proved themselves a permanent feature of national politics in the majlis elections held in February this year.
