Whisper Tapes: Kate Millett in Iran

By Negar Mottahedeh

“Lyrical, intelligent, and passionately written, Whisper Tapes reignites a long dormant conversation about the urgency of global feminism.” —Shilyh Warren, University of Texas at Dallas

Kate Millett was already an icon of American feminism when she went to Iran in 1979. She arrived just weeks after the Iranian Revolution, to join Iranian women in marking International Women's Day. Intended as a day of celebration, the event turned into a week of protests. Millett, armed with film equipment and a cassette deck to record everything around her, found herself in the middle of demonstrations for women’s rights and against the mandatory veil. Listening to the revolutionary soundscape of Millett's audio tapes, Negar Mottahedeh offers a new interpretive guide to Revolutionary Iran, its slogans, habits, and women’s movement—a movement that, many claim, Millett never came to understand. Published with the fortieth anniversary of the Iranian Revolution and the women's protests that followed on its heels, Whisper Tapes re-introduces Millett's historic visit to Iran and lays out the nature of her encounter with the Iranian women's movement.

“In offering a deeply contingent history, Negar Mottahedeh beautifully shows Kate Millett's simultaneous closeness to and distance from the events surrounding her.” —Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi, Princeton University

“Lyrical in style and poetic in meaning, Whisper Tapes challenges readers to adopt an intersectional view of Iranian feminist movements while adding layers and dimensionality to Millett’s preexisting literature.” ––Aisha Jitan, The Middle East Journal

“Mottahedeh's illuminating study complements Millett's work and offers a more nuanced reading of a historic moment.” —Lucy Popescu, Times Literary Supplement

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Feb 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781503610156

Book preview

WHISPER TAPES

Kate Millett in Iran

NEGAR MOTTAHEDEH

stanford briefs

An Imprint of Stanford University Press

Stanford, California

Stanford University Press

Stanford, California

© 2019 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.

Material from the Kate Millett Papers at the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University. © 1979 by Kate Millett. Used by permission of the Kate Millett Estate. Going to Iran, by Kate Millett with photographs by Sophie Keir. © 1982 by Kate Millett and Sophie Keir. Used by permission of the Kate Millett Estate.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press.

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper

Cover design: Rob Ehle

Cover photos: (background) crowd protesting in Iran circa 1978, Kamal al-Din, via Wikimedia Commons; (strip) Frames from a contact sheet of Kate Millett portraits taken by the feminist photographer Ann Pollon. Courtesy of the Kate Millett Estate and the Kate Millett Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Text design: Rob Ehle

Typeset by Rob Ehle in 10/13 Adobe Garamond.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Names: Mottahedeh, Negar, author.

Title: Whisper tapes : Kate Millett in Iran / Negar Mottahedeh.

Description: Stanford, California : Stanford Briefs, an imprint of Stanford University Press, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018047093 (print) | LCCN 2018052665 (ebook) | ISBN 9781503609860 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781503610156 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Millett, Kate—Travel—Iran—History—Sources. | Americans—Travel—Iran—History—Sources. | Feminism—Iran—History—Sources. | Protest movements—Iran—History—Sources. | International Women’s Day—Iran—History—Sources. | Iran—History—Revolution, 1979—Women—Sources.

Classification: LCC HQ1735.2 (ebook) | LCC HQ1735.2.M68 2019 (print) | DDC 305.420955—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018047093

DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MY BROTHER, SRINIVAS, WHOSE CHEEKY SPARKLE AND CURIOSITY TURNED PLAY INTO A REVOLUTIONARY PRACTICE

CONTENTS

A Revolutionary Timeline

Overture

Coda

Acknowledgments

Notes

Photo section

A Revolutionary Timeline

TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 1963. The theologian Ruhollah Khomeini issues a declaration denouncing Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, Iran’s ruling monarch, listing the various ways in which the Shah has violated the Iranian constitution. Khomeini condemns the spread of moral corruption in the country and accuses the Shah of submission to the United States and Israel. He decrees that the Nowruz celebrations (the festival of the New Year) for the Iranian year 1342 (March 21, 1963) be canceled as a sign of protest against government policies.

MONDAY, JUNE 3, 1963 (ASHURA, THE TENTH DAY OF THE MUSLIM CALENDAR). Khomeini delivers a speech in which he denounces the Shah as a wretched, miserable man and warns him that if he does not change his ways the day will come when the people will offer up thanks for his departure from the country. In Tehran an estimated one hundred thousand Khomeini supporters march past the Shah’s palace, chanting, Death to the Dictator! Death to the Dictator! God save you, Khomeini! Death to the bloodthirsty enemy!

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 1963. Khomeini is arrested in Qom and imprisoned in Tehran. This sets the stage for a massive uprising referred to as the 15 Khordad incident, in which demonstrators attacked police stations, offices, and government buildings, including the ministries. The government declares martial law and a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Khomeini is released on Tuesday, April 7, 1964, and returned to Qom.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1964. Khomeini is forcibly exiled from Iran. He settles in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 1978. Cinema Rex in Abadan is burned down by arsonists. The regime and the opposition blame each other.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1978 (EID AL-FITR, THE END OF RAMADAN, MONTH OF FASTING). Hundreds of thousands march in support of Khomeini.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1978 (BLACK FRIDAY). Demonstrations in Tehran. Iranian military use tanks, helicopters, and troops to fire at twenty thousand protestors in Tehran’s Jaleh Square, leaving a carnage of destruction, according to the Guardian. Western media report fifteen thousand dead and wounded. The French philosopher and journalist Michel Foucault reports four thousand dead at Jaleh Square. The Shah declares martial law and appoints a military government. Schools and universities are closed, newspapers are suspended, and gatherings of over three people are prohibited in Tehran.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1978. Khomeini moves his residence from Iraq to France.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1978. Millions weep as they see Khomeini’s face in the moon.

SUNDAY–MONDAY, DECEMBER 10–11, 1978 (TASU’A AND ASHURA, NINTH AND TENTH DAYS OF THE MUSLIM CALENDAR). Seventeen million people join in demonstrations against the Shah, declaring Khomeini the leader of the Iranian Revolution.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1978. The Shah chooses the longtime opposition leader, Shahpur Bakhtiar, as prime minister.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1979. Khomeini appoints a secret Council of the Islamic Revolution to issue regulations pertaining to the period of transition.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1979. Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi leaves Iran.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1979. In an interview with Khomeini’s aide, Sadegh Ghotbzadeh, in the national conservative newspaper, Kayhan, Ghotbzadeh is quoted declaring the complete equality of men and women.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 1979. Mehrabad Airport is taken over by the army. Khomeini declares (on January 25) that he will return to Iran as soon as the airport is reopened.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 1979. Millions of people march in Tehran for the return of Khomeini.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1979. Khomeini returns to Iran.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1979. Khomeini declares Mehdi Bazargan prime minister of the interim government.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1979. The conservative Iranian newspaper Kayhan quotes a talk given by Khomeini’s aide, Sadegh Ghotbzadeh, to workers at the oil refinery on February 5 in Rey, now part of the greater Tehran metropolitan area: Women are free in Islam.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1979. Kayhan announces March 8 celebration of International Women’s Day in honor of female laborers and freedom fighters around the world, Ferdows Auditorium, Tehran University.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1979. Kayhan announces the return of millions of students to school after the revolution.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1979. Khomeini moves his permanent home to Qom. The women’s group known as the Jamiyat-e zanan-e mobarez announces its formation as a democratic entity, noting the participation of women in the insurrection. It welcomes all women regardless of their ideological leanings to join. Jamiyat-e zanan likewise announces that International Women’s Day is March 8, not January 7, as it would have been celebrated this year under the Shah.

THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 1979. Kayhan reports on an open letter written in support of Khomeini by the Group of Women Lawyers. The letter asks the Bazargan government to acknowledge the great contribution of women in the insurrection against the Shah. The group also asks the government to guard the civil rights of women from the theologians.

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 1979. Khomeini speaks to a women’s group in Qom, encouraging them to participate in the business of the nation. The talk is published in Kayhan on March 6.

MONDAY, MARCH 5, 1979. Kate Millett and Sophie Keir arrive at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran. Millett has been invited to speak at the International Women’s Day celebrations of March 8 by members of a committee organized by the Iranian feminist Kateh Vafadari and later named the Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights.

TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 1979. Ettela’at, the oldest daily newspaper in Iran, announces that all coeducational schools in Tehran will be dissolved at the beginning of the next school year.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 1979. The conservative newspaper Ettela’at announces Khomeini’s March 6 decree on the veiling of women. The French newspaper Libération reports on the first appearance of the chant Ya roosai, ya toosari, Cover your head, or be smacked in the head, on the streets of Tehran on this day. Women’s groups are activated in resistance to Khomeini’s decree, and it is agreed that they will take their protests to the streets the next day. Ettela’at and Kayhan and the liberal newspaper Ayandengan each write a short piece on the history of International Women’s Day. That evening, Iranian television announces that all women participating in the imperialist and foreign celebration of Women’s Day will be regarded as un-Islamic. The announcement is made by a much-loved television announcer, Maryam Riyazi, who appears fully veiled on Iranian television for the first time that evening. The Tudeh (communist party) rally is held at 3 p.m. at Tehran Polytechnic. The organizers withdraw their promise to invite Millett and other female speakers to the stage to address the crowd. Outraged, women walk out in protest. (For video, scan QR code.)

THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 1979 (INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY). In Tehran, women in the tens of thousands demonstrate against Khomeini’s decree on mandatory veiling. A group of women arrive at the prime minister’s office and find out that three thousand women have already traveled to Qom to protest the decree in Khomeini's city. At Tehran University, women gather to participate in the celebration of International Women’s Day at Ferdows Auditorium. Students engage in heated debates on the campus that afternoon. They climb the locked gates of Tehran University to join street demonstrations and march to the Ministry of Justice and the central komiteh. That evening Millett speaks at the Reza Shah Kabir High School.

QR Television announcer, Maryam Riyazi. https://youtu.be/Efk5nOqaH5M

FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 1979. Women gather at Tehran University. After much debate, they agree to march toward the headquarters of the liberal national newspaper, Ayandegan.

SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 1979. Women gather at Tehran University and at the Ministry of Justice. High school girls from Marjan, Hasht-roodi, and other northern high schools in Tehran engage in protests on campus and join other women in street demonstrations toward Tehran University. They join women at the Ministry of Justice at a sit-in and rally. The grand hall of the Ministry of Justice is filled to the brim with women, including university students, nurses, women judges, women from the wood and paper industry, women workers from the gas company, women from the nursing school, women working in education, women working in building and urban development, women working for IBM, women working for the oil industry, policewomen, women working for the Tehran electrical company, women working in telecommunications, women working at Iranian Airlines, and high school students from Azar, Anooshiravan, Kharazmi, Jean d’Arc, Chista, and Toos.

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 1979. Demonstrations occur at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Millett holds her first press conference at the Hotel InterContinental. Iran’s interim government retracts mandatory veiling. The liberal national newspaper Ayandega’s headline on the retraction reads, There is no compulsion. And it’s not about the chador. The paper reports on violent attacks on four women during Saturday’s street demonstrations to the Ministry of Justice.

MONDAY, MARCH 12, 1979. Women gather at Tehran University. Debates ensue. Great march to Azadi Square. At 4 p.m. a few women head toward National Iranian Radio and Television (NIRT), where there has been no coverage of the women’s protests since they started. Khomeini’s supporters attack the headquarters of the newspaper Ayandegan. At 8 p.m. Iranian radio announces an attack on the director of NIRT, Sadegh Ghotbzadeh, by women demonstrators. Ghotbzadeh denies these attacks a few weeks after the end of the women’s demonstrations and deems the retraction of the news story irrelevant.

TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 1979 (CHAHAR SHANBE SOORI). Demonstrations occur at National Iranian Radio and Television.

THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 1979. The deputy prime minister of the Iranian interim government, Abbas Amir-Entezam, holds a press conference in which Ralph Schoenman’s deportation is announced. Amir-Entezam confirms that Kate Millett will also be deported. The Comité International du Droit des Femmes holds a press conference in Paris announcing the departure of a women’s delegation to Iran.

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 1979. Millett holds a second press conference outside the Hotel InterContinental.

SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 1979. The Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights in Iran establishes its first offices in Tehran and drafts its first constitution.

MONDAY, MARCH 19, 1979. Millett and Keir are expelled from Iran. A delegation of eighteen women from the Comité International du Droit des Femmes leaves Paris at 1 a.m. and arrives in Tehran in solidarity with Iranian women.

TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 1979. A delegation from the Comité International du Droit des Femmes is granted an audience with Khomeini. The group arrives at the Feyzieh Seminary in Qom for a meeting the next day.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 1979. Nowruz, the festival of the Persian New Year.

FRIDAY–SATURDAY, MARCH 30–31, 1979. A national referendum is held on the question of whether Iran should become an Islamic Republic.

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 1979. Of the national votes that are tallied, 98.2 percent are in favor of an Islamic Republic.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1979. The liberal national newspaper, Ayandegan, is declared counterrevolutionary and is banned.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1979. Sixty-six Americans are taken hostage at the American embassy in Tehran.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1979. President Jimmy Carter’s delegation arrives in Iran to negotiate the freeing of the hostages. Khomeini refuses to meet the delegation.

OVERTURE

The American feminist Kate Millett arrived in Tehran just after the Iranian Revolution and just before the Persian New Year. It was an exciting time of national regeneration and seasonal transformation. Spring had sprung. A new cycle had begun and, for the nation, the vision of an unpresentable future, a future never seen before, was within grasp.

On March 8, 1979, less than two months after a revolution that overthrew Iran’s ruling monarch, Mohammad Reza Shah, International Women’s Day celebrations were held in Iran. This was the first time in over fifty years. While Persian queens had ruled long before the dawn of Islam and a vivid feminist consciousness had coursed through Iranian literature and poetry as early as the nineteenth century, the Shah had banned the celebration of International Women’s Day, decreeing instead that women celebrate the anniversary of his father’s authoritarian, pro-Western ban on public veiling on January 8, 1936.¹ And so the choice to celebrate March 8 as International Women’s Day was in itself a symbol of a revolution that women had fought and won, hand in hand with men, against an autocratic Shah. Millett, who had opposed the Shah’s tyrannical rule from the United States, received an invitation to be one of the event’s international speakers. She was the only invited Western speaker to actually arrive.

Time magazine had called Millett the Mao Zedong of the women’s liberation movement in 1970. Her manifesto, Sexual Politics, published in the summer of that year, circulated as the Kapital of the women’s movement. Millett argued in the book that patriarchy was the central organizing structure of society, a social constant that organized all other social, political, and economic forms.² This seminal text, though her first, propelled Millett into the media limelight and effectively slammed her with an identity whose weight and responsibility for the movement was too much for her to bear.³ In Iran, less than nine years after the publication of Sexual Politics, her contact with the media, surprisingly, backed her into a similar position, this time with political and diplomatic consequences that few could have imagined given her renown as an international feminist and an ardent pacifist.

Traveling to Iran with her partner, the Canadian journalist Sophie Keir, $1,200 worth of film and audio recording equipment, a duffel bag full of clothes and books, and no money to spare, Millett was burdened with technology and distracted by it at every turn. News clippings from Tehran show Millett with a portable cassette tape recorder in hand, her memory box, into which she whispered observations on her surroundings as she captured the voices of the Iranian women with whom she joined in six days of protest. With no training in the Persian language, commonly referred to as Farsi by Persian speakers, Millett was a stranger to the instincts of the Iranian women around her (see entries x, xiv, xviii). Her audiocassettes, factory manufactured to pick up all sound, captured an auditory landscape of which she was unconscious: the sentiments of Iranian women everywhere. Millett’s whisper tapes thus