Conventionally the dominant Shi'i religious thought has excluded women from positions of religious and political authority in many Muslim societies. This type of exclusion was often justified through clerical reference to Islamic texts which alluded to women's inferiority and incapability for leadership or positions of judgeship. The 1979 Islamic Revolution enforced this stance and hindered women's access to key political decision-making positions. However, Iranian women have continuously challenged this traditionalist interpretation through women-centered rereading of religious texts. In recent times, women's demands for reform has resulted in more liberal and reformist interpretations concerning Shari'atic notions of female authority in which few religious leaders have shown an inclination to reconsider their traditionalist position. However, the clerical justification for such modern shifts from the conventional stand falls into two categories. The majority of Shi'i reformists justify their shift on female authority through discussion of environmental changes in which they argue that the "quality of women" has improved over time providing them with the necessary skills to acquire political or religious authority; while a minority of reformists argue that a feminist rereading of the texts is required to correct the conventional position. Through outlining the shifts in reformist Shi'i thought concerning female authority over the years, this paper argues that each of these categories of clerical justification has a different implication for women and on the future prospects of reform in the society. This work examines the extent to which each of these reformist positions democratizes religious interpretation. This work will illustrate that the majority position does not contribute to democratization of religion since it merely accommodates the gender perspective of the current society without fundamentally altering the conventional interpretational framework. This reformist position maintains the clerical establishment's authority over declaring women's capabilities for leadership by placing the blame for women's historical lack of power on women themselves. Hence, it justifies women's access to authority in modern times through women's own progress rather than clerical misinterpretations. Conversely, the minority stance emphasizes clerical misinterpretations that unjustly hindered women's access to positions of power and ignored religious principles of gender equality. In this regard, this paper raises the issue of voices of authoritative reform in the modern Shi'i discourse concerning women's societal status. It concludes by arguing that although there is a demand for feminist centered re-reading and re-interpretations of religious texts, the current dominant Shi'i reformism still maintains its monopoly on religious interpretation.