The principal unit in traditional Kurdish society was the tribe, typically led by a sheikh or an aga, whose rule was firm.Along with Kurdish men, Kurdish women--who traditionally have been more active in public life than Turkish, Arab, and Iranian women, especially in prerevolutionary Iran--have taken advantage of urban educational and employment opportunitiesDetribalization proceeded intermittently as Kurdish culture became urbanized and was nominally assimilated into several nations.Tribal identification and the sheikh's authority are still felt, though to a lesser degree, in the large urban areas.