foucault-and-the-iranian-revolution-janet-afary

112 Foucault's Writings on the Iranian Revolution
cause. Where Foucault had stressed the totally unified character of the revolutionary
movement, Millett focused on the multiplicity of forces involved.
Millett's Iran was more varied than Foucault's. It was secular and religious,
female and male, gay and straight, non-Islamic and Islamic. Where Foucault
saw an undifferentiated totality united behind Khomeini, Millett saw deep
contradictions within the movement that had overthrown the shah. Where
Foucault had supported the anti-shah movement only to become silent when
these contradictions emerged, Millett, who had been even more active than
Foucault in the anti-shah movement, plunged into those contradictions, seeking
to deepen them in a way that meant supporting the rights of women, of
gay men, of workers, of religious and ethnic minorities.
In the days leading up to March 8, women activists attempting to organize
a celebration of International Women's Day had been attacked in the
press. The Iranian newspaper Women ' s Re-Awakening responded forcefully to
clerical allegations that feminism was a Western conspiracy:
The words "woman" and "international" resurrect nightmares of blasphemy
in their tiny brains and they naturally conclude that "this is an international
conspiracy by corrupt and promiscuous women." But such thoughts are far
from our conscious and freedom-loving women. Our militant and suffering
women have borne the weight of such slanders and bullying from their homes
to their farms, factories, offices and schools. Today, when the greatest source
of bullying and dictatorship in the past fifty years of our country has been
overthrown by the determined and brave struggle of these women and their
menfolk. they will not tolerate any more exploitation and coercion. (cited in
Azari 1983, 194)
The Komiteh, a shadowy political and police force that was controlled by
Khomeini and other mullahs dose to him, had also harassed and occasionally
detained women activists. Despite these difficulties, feminists had continued
with their plans for a March 8 demonstration. Millett mentioned summary
trials and executions of real or perceived regime opponents, as well as
floggings for drinking alcohol. But as a lesbian activist, she was particularly
shocked by the anti-gay killings already taking place: "As for the homosexuals,
they were shot right in the road, judgment took seconds" (Millett 1982,
109).
On the morning of March 8, when Khomeini gave his infamous order
compelling women to wear the chador, hundreds of feminists had already
begun to gather in the courtyard of Tehran University for their Inter-