TEHRAN – A businesslike, profit-based, and economic view has influenced the Western outlook on the issue of women.

For many years, the West has enslaved women in various ways. One of the great injustices that Western society imposed on women at the beginning of the 20th century was to drag them from home to the factory, to get cheap labor.

The Industrial Revolution [the biggest period of industrial change in the world, but more specifically within the United States] impacted different social classes of women in numerous ways.  The exact manner in which the Industrial Revolution affected women depended on their social class. The most significantly affected class was the lower class. 

Throughout this time period, working-class citizens were most significantly impacted.  Many women who did not belong to wealthy families would often be forced to enter the workforce just to provide enough for their families to live.

With the rising population came inevitable inflation, and many women were forced to join the workforce in order to provide for their families. On average, women were paid one-third as much as men; thus, employers were generally happy to hire women because they provided cheaper labor. As companies exploited the opportunity to employ inexpensive workers, women would have to work arduously long hours: generally, 13-hour days, with just a 45-minute lunch break.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in this regard said, “A businesslike, profit-based and economic view has influenced the western outlook on the issue of women. This can clearly be seen in the history of the Industrial Revolution. In Europe, women did not have the right to own something. Women's property belonged to men and their husbands. They did not have the right to possess something in their name. And when democracy was promoted in the West, women did not have suffrage. In such a world, investors suddenly thought of the issue of the industrial revolution, factories, and the efficient presence of women in factories with low costs. Then, they granted women suffrage so that they could draw them to factories and give them lower wages. Naturally, the entrance of women to the arena of employment had its own requirements and results which have continued until today. Therefore, besides the fact that the Western outlook towards women is a non-divine and materialistic outlook, the policies which have brought about the current conditions in the Western world - particularly in Europe - have been accompanied by a businesslike, profit-based and economic outlook.” (January 16, 1990)

During those long hours, many lower-income women during the Industrial Revolution had to work in harsh and extenuating conditions.

They often had to work within factories without heat or cooling, resulting in an extremely hot or cold work environment. Women were also not allowed to take breaks during working hours. If they were caught taking a break or were accidentally late, they were at risk of being strapped. The eleven-hour days combined with the thick dust in the air, as well as the lack of safety equipment or masks, made working conditions extremely dangerous and sometimes deadly. 

“Even now women are paid less than men for doing the same work in many Western countries. Women are being misused. Under the pretext of women’s emancipation in the 19th and 20th centuries, women were pulled out from their homes to work in factories with lower wages,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in a meeting with hundreds of prominent Iranian women in the Imam Khomeini Hussainiyah on January 4, 2023.
Historians disagree about whether the British Industrial Revolution (1760-1830) was beneficial for women. Some believed that the Industrial Revolution increased women’s participation in labor outside the home, and claimed that this change was emancipating. However, more recent historians dispute the claim that women’s labor force participation rose and focus more on the disadvantages women experienced during this time period.
“The West’s capitalistic system is dominated by men. In capitalism, capital is something higher than humanity. Humanity is being used to serve capital. Thus, any human being who can generate and accumulate more capital is more valuable. In the West’s capitalistic system, it was the men who were managing the economy, trade deals, and such. Thus, men have priority over women in the capitalistic system,” the Leader of the Islamic Revolution noted. (January 4, 2023)