Female Bodies and Sexuality in Iran and the Search for Defiance (eBook)

Nafiseh Sharifi is Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Gender Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK. 

1. IntroductionBackground of the Context: The Two Generations Youth, Sexuality and the Islamic StateResearch Method and Fieldwork Encounters The Interview Process The Issue of Trust and Confidentiality Positionality Mapping the Fieldwork2. Conceptual FrameworkIntroductionThe Emerging Concern: Demystifying Women’s Passive SubordinationPower and Resistance FrameworkThe Limits of Binary Analysis: Redefining Resistance and Agency3. Learning SexualityIntroductionPopulation Policies and the Topic of SexGlobalised Media: New Sources of Learning Sexuality The Question of ‘Normality’The Post-Revolutionary Discourse of Sexuality The Religious Discourse and Women’s Perception of Sex Combining Hadith with ScienceConclusion4. Narratives of VirginityIntroductionSocialising Women about VirginityThe Social Aspects of Virginity Virginity as a Bargaining ToolLosing Virginity: The Younger Generation’s ExperienceConfirming Bride’s Virginity and Changes in Social Customs The Blood-Stained ‘Dastmâl’ The ‘Bride’s Health Certificate’Hymen-Repair Surgeries and Fake VirginityConclusion5. Narratives of MenstruationIntroductionMenstrual Body The Construction of ShameMedicalizing Menstruation: Knowledge versus Tradition Menarche and the Ritual of Slapping Naturalizing MenstruationKeeping the SecretAppropriating RestrictionsConclusion6. Narratives of MarriageIntroductionDifferent Approaches, Different Expectations Marriage in Time of the Revolution Politicised Widowhood and Marital RelationsFamily and Marriage ArrangementsMarriage for Post-Revolutionary GenerationsTemporary MarriageDivorceConclusion7. ConclusionContextualising Women’s Narratives of Sexuality in Iran and its Theoretical ImplicationsMoving Beyond the Binary of Resistance/Subordination