A woman is not permitted to be in the company of a man who is not her husband or a male relative. Public activities are segregated. Although these laws were implemented with great brutality, women have always resisted. Recently in Iran there have been signs that women are increasingly rejecting subordinate lives ruled by the mullahs. Women have campaigned for inheritance rights equal to men s, and for more rights to custody of their children.
Women keep modifying or enhancing their public dress in ways that press the limits of the hejab.
More publications by or about women are appearing. Women are demanding they be allowed to participate in and view sports events. Many Iranian women want change. Some analysts have said that the election of Mohammed Khatami to the position of President was due to the votes of women. Khatami s strongest distinction seems to be that he was not the hard-line government s favorite candidate.