When I was growing up in Iran in the 1990s, public displays of affection were exceedingly uncommon. I distinctly remember the astonishment I felt as a teenager on seeing a young man with his arm around a girl, likely his girlfriend, on the street. The stringent social norms then in place made such expressions of intimacy seem not just indecent but also audaciously brave, from my youthful perspective. However, the Iran of my childhood has changed significantly in the past three decades. The world has witnessed in awe the displays of resilience and bravery of Iranians, especially women, through movements like the Mahsa Amini uprising in September 2022. These events shed light on how relentless Iranians are in their pursuit of defining the terms of their existence and life experiences and in challenging any external impositions.
In this special issue of the Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies, we investigate the changing landscape of love, sex, and desire in Iran from the mid-twentieth century to the present day. Central to our exploration is the evolution of the status and rights of women in Iran, who navigate a complex sociocultural terrain that has historically fetishized their virginity and enshrined it within the broader construct of honor, vigorously guarded not only by their immediate male kin but also by the community at large. Whether as authors, private individuals, or characters in literary or cinematic works, Iranian women navigate a realm where formidable political, religious, social, cultural, and economic forces have converged throughout much of their history. One of the overarching themes of this collection, then, is shaped by examining the mechanisms of women’s subjugation within the Islamic Republic of Iran and their resistance against these hegemonic prescriptions.
Belonging to this category is Elham Naeej’s article “Manufacturing Madonnas: The Sexual/Spiritual Split in Zoya Pirzad’s Chiragh-ha ra man khamush mikunam.” Venturing into the realm of Iranian literary and cultural representations, this article presents a compelling analysis of contemporary romance narratives in Iran. Focusing on Pirzad’s renowned 2001 novel, this piece examines the lives of women navigating their sensual aspirations within the strictures of marriage and motherhood. By employing the Freudian dichotomy of the Madonna/whore complex, Naeej’s study sheds light on the daunting barriers women face in asserting their sexual autonomy amid patriarchal impositions. This article offers insightful reflections on the internal and external conflicts shaping women’s experiences of love and desire.
Another piece in this collection specifically addressing the challenges faced by Iranian women is Maryam Zehtabi’s “Child Marriage in ‘Hitaw’ and Mādīyān.” A moving study of the prevalence of child marriage in Iran and the dire physical and psychological toll exacted by such unions, this piece unveils the patriarchal and religious scaffolds that sustain this practice. Moreover, Zehtabi’s study points out a significant lack of initiative from authorities both before and after the 1979 revolution in addressing child marriage, which underlines the persistent oversight in protecting the welfare of girls caught in these circumstances. This analysis acts as a rallying cry for critically reassessing societal norms and legal frameworks to abolish the injustices perpetuated by child marriage.
The complexities of emotional and physical intimacy for Muslim men and women form the backbone of Roger Friedland and Janet Afary’s article “The Rise of Informal Unions in the MENASA Region: A New Form of Cohabitation?” An intriguing inquiry into the phenomenon of informal marriages, Friedland and Afary’s article demonstrates how the transformations these unions have undergone mirror larger societal shifts toward marriage, cohabitation, and gender roles. Based on hundreds of responses from Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Palestine, Tunisia, and Turkey, this survey casts light on new avenues of partnership and familial configurations that challenge the orthodox matrimonial framework, complicating traditional narratives that mostly ascribe informal marriages to socioeconomic adversities.
The transformations of family structures and romantic interactions in Iran constitute the central themes of Claudia Yaghoobi’s “Love on Hold: Social Distancing and Relationships in Early Iranian COVID-19 Experiences.” This study investigates the effects social distancing measures in Iran had on personal relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like Friedland and Afary, who used Facebook to gather participant responses, Yaghoobi uses social-media platforms to collect answers to her study’s questions. Yaghoobi’s focus is on understanding the sociocultural implications of the pandemic in Iran and how this new mode of life has compelled individuals to express vulnerability in their relationships in unprecedented ways. Moreover, Yaghoobi’s analysis of how class privilege, gender dynamics, and power structures impact our most intimate and private interactions is exceptionally insightful.
Seamlessly adding to the exploration of intersectionality in this special issue is Alexander Jabbari’s “Race against Time: Racial Temporality and Sexuality in Modern Iran.” This piece uses the figure of the Indian in Iranian cultural memory as a lens through which to interrogate the entanglements of race, temporality, and sexuality in Iran. Shedding light on the historical and ongoing racialization of Indians, from Persianate and Islamicate texts to modern Iranian literature and media, Jabbari scrutinizes how their continued, anachronistic depictions—characterized by a distinct physiognomy, language, and sexuality—reflect Iran’s complex engagement with modernity, national identity, and sexual norms. Jabbari’s fascinating study underscores the lasting influence of historical narratives on present-day conceptualizations of race and intimacy.
Each of these articles contributes unique insights into the evolving nature of intimate relationships in Iran. Most were initially presented at the 2020 symposium “Revisiting Discourses of Love, Sex, and Desire in Modern Iran and Diaspora,” organized by Claudia Yaghoobi at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Yaghoobi for advancing academic dialogue on the topic and paving the way for further investigations into the intricate world of human intimacy.