Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T02:54:47.096Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Sexual Economy of the Islamic Republic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Janet Afary
Janet Afary*
Affiliation:
At Purdue University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article examines the gender and sexual policies of the Islamic Republic and their ramifications. It argues that the policies of the Islamist government cannot easily be categorized as “puritanical” or “moralistic.” Rather we can argue that various factions within the state actively deployed a new “sexual economy” for the population. Sometimes, the Islamist state privileged patriarchal interpretations of gender norms over more modern ones. At other times, it adopted modern projects such as family planning alongside a discourse that presented them as practices rooted in traditional Islam. In all cases, the state used modern institutions to disseminate and enforce these practices.

Type
Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 42 , Issue 1: Special Issue On Gender and Sexuality , February 2009 , pp. 5 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Iranian Studies 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 A more detailed discussion of these issues will appear in chapter 11 of my forthcoming book, Sexual Politics in Modern Iran (Cambridge, 2009).Google Scholar

2 Foucault, Michael, The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1: An Introduction, trans. Hurley, Robert (New York, [1976] 1980), 17Google Scholar.

3 Foucault, History, 23.

4 Burgess, Ernest W. and Wallin, Paul, with Shultz, Gladys Denny, Courtship Engagement and Marriage (Philadelphia and New York, 1954)Google Scholar.

5 Gordon, Linda, Woman's Body, Woman's Right: Birth Control in America, rev. ed. (New York, 1990)Google Scholar; Neuhaus, Jessamyn, “The Importance of Being Orgasmic: Sexuality, Gender, and Marital Sex Manuals in the United States, 1920–1963,” Journal of the History of Sexuality, 9 (2000): 447–473Google Scholar; D'Emilio, John and Freedman, Estelle B., Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America, 2nd ed. (Chicago, 1997)Google Scholar.

6 Amato, Paul R., Booth, Alan, Johnson, David R. and Rogers, Stacy J. eds., Alone Together: How Marriage in America is Changing (Cambridge, MA, 2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 Ball, Jennifer, “The Twilight of the Era of Hush and Pretend: Contraception, Public Mores, and Police Power in Connecticut, 1940–1965,” PhD Dissertation (Purdue University, Department of History, 2005), 23Google Scholar.

8 Amato et al., Alone Together, 16.

9 I am grateful to Stephanie Coontz, author of Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage (forthcoming) for her helpful e-mail exchange of 3 April 2007; see also Cowen, Tyler, “Matrimony Has Its Benefits and Divorce Has a Lot to Do with That,” New York Times, 19 April 2007Google Scholar.

10 Thanks to Elham Malekzadeh, Mahsa Shekarloo, Farah Ghadernia, Hassan Mortazari and Samira N. for the helpful information they provided for this section.

11 Information from Mehrangiz Kar and e-mail from Azadeh Kian-Thiébaut, of 23 August 2007.

12 Ebrahimi, Zahra, “Porsesh az Zanan-e Nemayandeh-ye Majles-e Sheshom,” Zanan, no. 75 (Ordibehesht 2001): 27–29Google Scholar; Mohri, Homa, “Majles va Zanan,” Hoquq-e Zanan, no. 23 (Barman 2003): 28–35Google Scholar; Tariqi, Noushin, “Yek Eshtebah-e Qanuni,” Zanan, no. 112 (August–September 2004): 2–6Google Scholar.

13 “Iranian Leader Bars Reforms' Press Bill,” New York Times, 7 August 2000.Google Scholar

14 Nomani, Farhad and Behdad, Sohrab, Class and Labor in Iran. Did the Revolution Matter? (Syracuse, NY, 2006), 211Google Scholar.

15 Fathi, Nazila, “Iran Moves to Roll Back Rights Won by Women”, The New York Times, September 19, 2004Google Scholar.

16 Koolaee, Elaheh, “Majles-e Sheshom va Hoquq-e Zanan,” Aeen, December 2006Google Scholar.

17 Hourcade, Bernard, “In the Heart of Iran: The Electorate of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,” Middle East Report, 241 (Winter 2006): 10–11CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

18 According to Basij Commander Mohammad Hejazi the number was closer to eleven million in 2005. “Niruyeh Moghavemat Basij: Mobilization Resistance Force” (2006), http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/iran/basij.htm (retrieved on 5 February 2007). Farideh Farhi suggested a figure closer to eight million (Farhi, e-mail, 9 February 2007).

19 Bellaigue, Christopher de, “New Man in Iran,” The New York Review of Books, 11 August 2005, 20Google Scholar.

20 Fathi, Nazila, “A Revolutionary Channels His Inner Michael Moore,” The New York Times, 26 November 2005, A4Google Scholar.

21 Paula E. Drew, “Iran,” The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality, vols. 1–3, ed. by Robert T. Francoeur (New York, 1997), http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/IES/iran.html (retrieved on 13 August 2006).

22 Mir-Hosseini, Ziba, “Sexuality, Rights, and Islam: Competing Gender Discourses in Post-Revolutionary Iran,” in Women in Iran: From 1800 to the Islamic Republic, ed. by Beck, Lois and Nashat, Guity (Urbana, IL, 2004), 206Google Scholar.

23 See appendix 6 in Afkhami, Gholam Reza ed., Jame‘eh, Dowlat, va Jonbesh-e Zanan, 1357–1342: Mosahebeh ba Mahnaz Afkhami (Bethesda, MD, 2003), 268–269Google Scholar.

24 Dungus, Abubakar, “Iran's Other Revolution,” IranSource: Populi, 27, no. 2 (2000): 1–8Google Scholar; Aghajanian, Akbar, “A New Direction in Population Policy and Family Planning in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Asia-Pacific Population Journal, 10, no. 1 (March 1995): 3–22CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

25 Aghajanian, “A New Direction.”

26 I interviewed Muhammad Alizadeh while I was in Tehran in April 2005, and he generously provided me with many details of their program. Alireza Marandi, a pediatrician and two-time Minister of Health (1985–89 and 1993–97), headed the project. He received the UN Population Award in 1999 and the World Health Organization Award in 2000 for the success of his organization in reducing the birth rate.

27 Nomani and Behdad, Class and Labor in Iran, Table 4.1; Roshanak Zangeneh, “Sexuality in Iran no longer a taboo,” 2 December 2005, http://www.irandokht.com/editorial/index4.php?area=par&sectionID=25&editorialID=1056 (retrieved 12 March 2007); Howard, Jane, Inside Iran: Women's Lives (Washington, DC, 2002), 107–111Google Scholar.

28 “At a Glance: Iran (Islamic Republic of),” UNICEF (2007), http://www.tsunamigeneration.com/infobycountry/iran.html (retrieved 12 February 2007).

29 Tehrani, F. Farahani, F. and Hashemi., M., “Factors Influencing Contraceptive Use in Tehran,” Family Practice, 18, no. 2 (April 2001): 204–208CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

30 For example, in a study that explored the attitudes of teenage girls in the province of Semnan toward puberty and marriage, 97 percent of the girls expressed the desire to have one or two children, and most wanted at least one girl. Malek-Afzali, Hussein Zare', Muhammad and Jandoqi, Ja'far, “Ta‘yin-e Niyazha-y Amuzeshi-ye Dokhtaran-e Semnani dar Ertebat ba Behdasht-e Boluq va Ta'in-e Estrateji-ye Monaseb baraye ta'min-e An,” Behdasht-e Khanevadeh, 3, no. 9 (Spring 1998): 8Google Scholar.

31 Friedl, Erika, “New Friends: Gender Relations within the Family,” Iranian Studies, 42, no. 1 (2009)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

32 Moaddel, Mansoor and Azadarrnaki, Taqhi, “The World Views of Islamic Publics: The Cases of Egypt, Iran, and Jordan,” Comparative Sociology, 1, nos. 3–4 (2002): 299–319Google Scholar.

33 “Miyangin-e Sen-e Ezdevaj-e Zanan dar Iran 3.9 darsad Ezafeh yaft,” Zanan, no. 119 (March–April 2005): 76.

34 “Iran's President Urges Higher Birth Rate,” The Washington Post, 23 October 2006.Google Scholar

35 Mahdavi, Pardis, Passionate Uprisings (Palo Alto, CA, 2008)Google Scholar.

36 Cited in Zangeneh, “Sexuality in Iran no longer a Taboo.”

37 Cited in Zangeneh, “Sexuality in Iran no longer a Taboo.”

38 Kian-Thiébaut, Azadeh, “From Motherhood to Equal Rights Advocates,” Iranian Studies, 38, no. 1 (2005): 52CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

39 Bahramitash, Roksana and Kazemipour, Shahla, “Myths and Realities of the Impact of Islam on Women: Changing Marital Status in Iran,” Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies, 15, no. 2 (Summer 2006): 124Google Scholar.

40 Friedl, Erika, “Tribal Enterprises and Marriage Issues in Twentieth-Century Iran,” in Doumani, Beshara ed., Family History in the Middle East (Albany, NY, 2003), 166Google Scholar.

41 Friedl, “A Thorny Side of Marriage in Iran,” in Lee Bowen, Donna and Evelyn, A. Early, eds., Everyday Life in the Muslim Middle East, 2nd edition (Bloomington), 111–120.Google Scholar

42 Elaine Hegland, Mary, “Aliabad of Shiraz: Transformation from Village to Suburb,” paper presented at the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., November 2005Google Scholar.

43 Friedl, “A Thorny Side of Marriage in Iran,” 113.

44 Friedl, “A Thorny Side of Marriage in Iran,” 113.

45 Shavarini, Mitra K., “Wearing the Veil to College: The Paradox of Higher Education in the Lives of Iranian Women,” International Journal of Middle East Studies, 38 (2006): 208CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

46 Tremayne, Soraya, “Modernity and Early Marriage in Iran: A View from Within,” Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 2, no. 1 (Winter 2006): 80CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

47 For more details see “Ruzaneh 2000 Nafar Bara-ye Daryaft-e Vam Sabt-e-Nam Mikonand,” Mehrnews.com (2007), http://mehrnews.com/fa/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=434804 (retrieved 13 February 2007); “Dowreh-ye Tazeh-ye Monasebat dar Ravabet-e Majles va Dowlat,” Baztab (2006), http://baztab.com/news/49123.php (retrieved 26 September 2006); “Manba'-ye Afzayesh-e Budjeh-ye Mehr-e Reza Kojast?,” AftabNews (2006), www.aftabnews.ir/vdcdjj0ytk0fk.html, (retrieved 10 November 2006). Special thanks to Meir Javadanfar for additional information.

48 See for example “Gerayesh-e Jensi-ye Sadeq-e Hedayat,” MAHA, no. 3 (February 2005): 18; and “Mosahebeh ba Babak: Az Fa‘alan-e Sabeq-e Gorouh-e Houman,” MAHA, no. 8 (August 2005): 8–9.

49 Shirazi, Jahangir, “Chera man ‘Hamjensbaz’ Nistam, Vali ‘Hamjensgara’ Hastam?,” MAHA, no. 6 (June 2005): 27Google Scholar.

50 This article first appeared in http://www.taktaz.com; Shirazi, “Chera man ‘Hamjensbaz’ Nistam, Vali ‘Hamjensgara’ Hastam?,” 27.

51 “Halqeh-ye Gomshodeh,” MAHA, no. 1 (December 2004): 11–12.

52 “Halqeh-ye Gomshodeh,” 11–12.

53 “Hamjensgarayan-e Mosalman,” MAHA, no. 2 (January 2005): 16.

54 “Hamjensgarayan-e Mosalman,” 17–18.

55 “Hamjensgarayan-e Mosalman,” 16.

56 Shirazi, “Chera man ‘Hamjensbaz’ Nistam, Vali ‘Hamjensgara’ Hastam?,” 27.

57 Harrison, Frances, “Iran's Sex-Change Operations,” BBC News, 5 January 2005CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

58 Fathi, Nazila, “Despite President's Denials, Gays Insist They Exist, if Quietly, in Iran,” The New York Times, 30 September 2007, A5Google Scholar.

59 Ireland, Douglas, “Change Sex or Die,” Gay City News (2007)Google Scholar, http://www.gaycitynews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18324930&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=569346&rfi=6 (retrieved 27 May 2007).

60 Delaram, “Nasihati be Lezbiyanha,” MAHA, no. 9 (September 2005): 14–15Google Scholar.

61 “Hamjensgarayan va Mo‘zal-e Ezdevavj,” 7.

62 “Hamjensgarayan va Mo‘zal-e Ezdevavj,” 7.

63 “Seh Nameh az Khanandegan va Yek Javab az MAHA,” MAHA, no. 8 (June–July 2005): 25–26.

64 Delaram, “Valedayn-e Hamjensgara,” 26.

65 “Hamjensgarayan va Mo‘zal-e Ezdevaj,” 7.

66 “Hamjensgarayan va Mo‘zal-e Ezdevaj,” 11.

67 Private correspondence with editors of MAHA, 2 December 2005.

68 Mahnaz Salami, “Unveiling the Iranian Queer Organization: An Interview with Arsham Parsi” (2007), http://www.gozaar.org/template.print_en.php?id=461 (retrieved on 26 November 2007).

69 “Child Prostitution Ring Run by Revolutionary Guards Officers Uncovered in Iran,” Iran Focus (2005), http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1840 (retrieved on 13 March 2007).

70 Douglas Ireland, “Shame on Iran: US Remains Silent on Gay Hangings,” L.A. Weekly, 2–8 September 2005, http://www.laweekly.com/ink/05/41/news-ireland.php (retrieved 20 March 2007).

71 Details can be read on veteran journalist Doug Ireland's web-log at http://direland.typepad.com/direland/.