Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Map of Iran
- Introduction
- Part 1 Premodern practices
- Part 2 Toward a Westernized modernity
- 4 On the road to an ethos of monogamous, heterosexual marriage
- 5 Redefining purity, unveiling bodies, and shifting desires
- 6 Imperialist politics, romantic love, and the impasse over women's suffrage
- 7 Suffrage, marriage reforms, and the threat of female sexuality
- 8 The rise of leftist guerrilla organizations and Islamist movements
- Part 3 Forging an Islamist modernity and beyond
- Conclusion: Toward a new Muslim-Iranian sexuality for the twenty-first century
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - Redefining purity, unveiling bodies, and shifting desires
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Map of Iran
- Introduction
- Part 1 Premodern practices
- Part 2 Toward a Westernized modernity
- 4 On the road to an ethos of monogamous, heterosexual marriage
- 5 Redefining purity, unveiling bodies, and shifting desires
- 6 Imperialist politics, romantic love, and the impasse over women's suffrage
- 7 Suffrage, marriage reforms, and the threat of female sexuality
- 8 The rise of leftist guerrilla organizations and Islamist movements
- Part 3 Forging an Islamist modernity and beyond
- Conclusion: Toward a new Muslim-Iranian sexuality for the twenty-first century
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The rise of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925 coincided with a new era of gender and sexual politics in Iran, a time when a new and more educated middle class emerged whose unveiled women appeared in public on their way to school, in women's organizations, and in jobs. This educated elite was fascinated with many aspects of modernity, from Bolshevism and Fascism to Freudian psychoanalysis, gramophones, and cinema. Reza Shah's reign (1925–1941) saw changes in gender norms in four specific areas: (1) increased reforms in health and hygiene that reduced the spread of venereal and other contagious diseases; (2) educational and legal reforms that mitigated social hierarchies; (3) reforms in dress codes and the ascendancy of modern mannerisms, and (4) reforms that contributed to normative heterosexuality and attempted to outlaw male homosexuality. Many of these reforms consequently clashed with existing practices, producing ambiguity and anxiety in the realm of sexuality. Often, Western cultural and social values were forcibly grafted onto indigenous practices, creating hybrid forms in which old and new cohabited uneasily.
Resistance stemmed partly from the fact that in Shiʿi Islam, as in a number of other religions such as Zoroastrianism and Judaism, the body is a source of shame and ritual impurities. Accordingly, not only unveiling, but also modern clothing for men or women, participation in team sports, and greater socialization between the sexes violate notions of honor and centuries-old traditions of segregation.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Sexual Politics in Modern Iran , pp. 142 - 173Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009