Iranian Women’s Identity and Cyberspace: Case study of Stealthy Freedom

Abstract

Gender related identity formation of women has been influenced by numerous parameters in recent years. The status of women in Iran today is not comparable to that in the past. Significant changes have occurred as communities and households respond to social and economic shifts associated with globalization, new technologies and environmental pressures. What is obvious is that, along with the globalization and current social and intellectual upheavals, society and women both have adopted a more transitory and unbalanced attitude towards women's gender identity. Of the most remarkable factors impacting on this shift in attitude has been the role of mass media, modern media such as the internet in particular.Meanwhile among the different views of identity, there is often a shared assumption that the ways in which identity is defined and hence what counts as identity are undergoing far-reaching changes in the contemporary world. This is certainly debatable, but it does imply that one place to look for evidence of change would be women, and perhaps specifically their relation with new technologies. Therefore, I intend to raise some broad points about how we understand digital technology, women and their relationship. This paper first explores theoretical perspectives on cyberfeminism within the definition of identity and its relation with gender. Then the formation of female identity and its elements in regard with media will be contemplated. The most essential aim is investigating women's gender identity and its relevance to media, modern media such as the internet in particular. For this study I examine women's representation in media particularly the internet with a focus on stealthy freedom campaign which allow me to show how Iranian women are shaping their identity quit apart from the pressure of a male dominated society that will provide further insight into this unresolved question.The study of the impact of media on women's identity and an analysis of the due changes together with suggesting strategies to navigate towards this impact will be other serious concerns.

To be Myself and have My Stealthy Freedom: The Iranian Women’s Engagement with Social Media

“…As mentioned above, "My Stealthy Freedom" was created in 2014 by an England-based journalist from the Iranian diaspora, and has since then received over 924,000 "likes," becoming a hot issue both in and out of Iran. By addressing the lack of "freedom of choice" regarding the hijab policy, it has gained the attention of many Iranian researchers (Hamzehei 2014;Karimi 2014;Khiabany 2015;Koo 2014;Lewis 2015;Novak & Khazraee 2014;Sreberny 2015).…”

“…In particular, I analyze the Facebook page "My Stealthy Freedom," where women post pictures of themselves without their hijabs and share their stories. Although "My Stealthy Freedom" has been gaining much notoriety in the press and academia (Hamzehei 2014;Karimi 2014;Khiabany 2015;Koo 2014;Lewis 2015;Novak & Khazraee 2014;Sreberny 2015), the voices of women as subjects has been missing in these studies. It is this void which I seek to fill, by connecting women's online participation with developments in the offline social movements in Iran.…”

Online self-presentation of Malaysian women: a Facebook case study of university students

“…It has been perceived that Muslim women are affected by the constraints in society and by stereotypes that are difficult to change even if this change is sought after only in the virtual space where the Muslim women have the opportunity to manage their self-representation the way they want. In his study, Karimi (2014) concluded that new media offer decent promises for Muslim women to construct their identities of their own in the public sphere. Muslim women have gradually risen from their traditional roles of being just mothers and housewives confined mainly to the private spheres of their families to become influential players in public life.…”

Facebook as a Tool for Discursive Resistance: A Case

“…Moreover, there are many other photographs on the page depicting women from behind, so that their face cannot be recognized by anybody. The "peasant resistance" on these Facebook pages challenges the optimistic perception of the movement by the public, the media (Saul, 2015;Threadgould, 2015), academics (Karimi, 2015;Koo, 2014;Novak & Khazraee, 2014), and the activists themselves. In such a setting, the online public sphere has led to the creation of a comfortable space to voice dissent, yet maybe so comfortable that all movements have remained limited to the boundaries of the online, virtual world.…”

“…However, in recent years, due to the higher accessibility and popularity of social networking websites, such as Facebook, some Iranian women have formed a movement against compulsory hijab in Iran (Karimi, 2015;Saul, 2015;Threadgould, 2015). Although social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are filtered in the country, citizens often bypass the censorship barriers with different means.…”