A 'ritual loosening of the rules' during an election campaign or the sign of 'a broader shift'? I don't know, but it sure is interesting. Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of one of the presidential candidates, has threatened to sue Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying:
The way the president insulted me was an insult to everyone... Those who made up this case against me wanted to say it is a crime for women to study, to get two graduate degrees, to become an intellectual or an artist.
Another woman says, 'We love our religion, but they have used it as a tool to take people's rights'. Whether only a temporary loosening or the sign of something bigger, it shows that even in a less than flourishing democracy, and despite variations of culture, many people do just seem to have these democratic and rights-based aspirations. (See also here.)