Sexual Politics in Modern Iran

Abstract

Janet Afary is a native of Iran and a leading historian. Her work focuses on gender and sexuality and draws on her experience of growing up in Iran and her involvement with Iranian women of different ages and social strata. These observations, and a wealth of historical documents, form the kernel of this book, which charts the history of the nation's sexual revolution from the nineteenth century to today. What comes across is the extraordinary resilience of the Iranian people, who have drawn on a rich social and cultural heritage to defy the repression and hardship of the Islamist state and its predecessors. It is this resilience, the author concludes, which forms the basis of a sexual revolution taking place in Iran today, one that is promoting reforms in marriage and family laws, and demanding more egalitarian gender and sexual relations.

Homosexuality as cultural battleground in the Middle East: culture and postcolonial international theory

“…We saw above that the emergence of the concepts of homosexuality and heterosexuality in the Middle East from the 19th century onwards -in a parallel (in the sense of both similar and contemporaneous) albeit not identical process to that in Europe -is well documented by researchers such as Afary, Rouayheb and Najmabadi. 64 Murray and Roscoe (although not subscribing to the notion that modernity represents a sharp 'break' when it comes to the idea of homosexuality) suggest that Western and non-Western societies have a lot in common in their approaches to homosexuality. In their words: 'What might be termed "pre-modern", "modern", and "postmodern" homosexualities actually co-exist in contemporary societies, Western and non-Western'.…”

The Piety of Public Participation: The Revolutionary Muslim Woman in the Islamic Republic of Iran

“…87 In these speeches, it is clear that Khomeini was asking women to become active citizens, not only by casting motherhood in a political light, but by encouraging women to become visible participants in the new Islamist order. 88 Many young women -particularly from conservative and religious sectors of society -fully embraced Khomeini's message. As Janet Afary notes, such women had little to fear from the newly implemented moral code; most of them already lived by such norms as dictated by their conservative husbands and fathers.…”

‘My culture haunts me no matter where I go’: Iranian-American women discussing sexual and acculturation experiences

“…The reasons for this immigration were changes in the political system and/or to avoid following a narrowly Islamic interpretation of rules for social conduct of both men and women. These changes included the mandatory veiling of women, espoused by the new regime that came into power after the 1979 revolution (Afary 2009;Ghaffarian 1998;Jamarani 2012;Kousha 2002;Mahdavi 2007Mahdavi , 2009Moaveni 2005;Molavi 2002;Sadeghi 2007).…”