Abstract

This article considers women’s struggle as a part of the social movement emphasizing classical and modern perspectives. It also attempts to examine the factors which are inhibiting women, forcing them to call for change of their conditions. In the 90s, social movement thinkers emphasized the interaction process in social movements and social structures. In this view, instead of emphasizing strategies, they examined rehabilitation and changes of social identities of group members. Based on the feminist definition of the women’s movement, the need for change is common among all women and emphasis could be made on the demand for change in a framework that creates social sensitivity about women’s issues and their hidden needs. The activist groups of women can be categorized under four groups: 1. Women who are on the fringes of power. 2. Women in mass media. 3. Women at the universities. 4. Women in general. The author considers the basic challenges of Iranian women’s social movement to be: A pretentious backing of women, misconception about feminism, irrelevant support of women, lack of common language and interaction among activists in modern NGOs and traditional groups.

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