چادر

Many Iranian women wear chador by choice as a personal religious commitment. Many resent its imposition in contexts where it is required: حوزه (howze) seminaries, certain government buildings, shrines such as Imam Reza in Mashhad and Hazrat-e Ma'sume in Qom, and some workplaces. Both groups exist in the same country, often in the same family. The garment is also generational: women who came of age before the 1979 revolution often wear chador only in religious contexts; women who came of age after may wear it daily by choice or never wear it at all.