Women and the Politics of Dress in the Islamic Republic of Iran Shirin
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(Re)Fashioning the Body Politic: Women and the Politics of Dress in the Islamic Republic of Iran Shirin Abdmolaei A Thesis in The Department of Sociology and Anthropology Presented in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Social and Cultural Anthropology) at Concordia University Montréal, Québec, Canada August 2013 © Shirin Abdmolaei, 2013 CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY School of Graduate Studies This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Shirin Abdmolaei Entitled: “(Re)Fashioning the Body Politic: Women and the Politics of Dress in the Islamic Republic of Iran” and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Social and Cultural Anthropology) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final Examining Committee: ________________________________ Chair Meir Amor ________________________________ Examiner Marc Lafrance _________________________________ Examiner Setrag Manoukian _________________________________ Supervisor Homa Hoodfar Approved by ___________________________________ Chair of Sociology and Anthropology ________________ 2013 ___________________________ Dean of Faculty ABSTRACT (Re)Fashioning the Body Politic: Women and the Politics of Dress in the Islamic Republic of Iran Shirin Abdmolaei As dress has been acknowledged as a powerful tool to discipline the body, validate and exemplify the nation’s identity, and maintain control over the citizen-populace, the enforcement of dress codes on the citizenry by multiple governments throughout Iran’s past century has worked to undertake various political ventures. However, each regime has persistently been more focused on the clothed bodies of Iranian women, which has subjected women to extensive regulation and control. In a country where women are currently subjected to the Islamic Regime’s dress codes, the enforcement of Islamic dress has been a crucial part of the regime’s policy towards women. Integral to the regime’s project and vital to the maintenance of their power, the imposition of dress codes has worked to determine women’s opportunities and privileges while preventing them from obtaining rights over their own bodies, sexualities and identities. As much as the state has used Islamic dress to their ideological advantage, though, women too have realized the symbolic significance of clothing. This thesis examines what I call ‘alternative dress.’ Neither Western nor conventionally Islamic, urban Iranian women have begun adorning themselves in a myriad of colours and styles as an everyday form of nonverbal resistance and subversion to the state’s excessive hold over them. Probing into the politics of dress in Iran, this thesis explores the significance of alternative dress as a critical ideological challenge to not only state-constructed discourses of femininity, but to the state’s entire political venture. This study, based on personal observations, library and internet research, and interviews examines how Iranian women are using the very bodies and the same aesthetic materials as the Islamic Regime to reclaim the bodies and assert the selves which the state has worked so vigorously to control and define. iii Acknowledgements It would not have been possible to have completed this thesis without the support of those who have fortunately been part of my life. Firstly, I would like to thank my family: my incredible parents, for the unconditional love they have given me throughout my life, as well as my big brothers, aunts, uncles and cousins for their love and encouragement. I would also like to thank my friends for their kind and reassuring support, laughs and love throughout the years. To Dr. Homa Hoodfar, who meant more than a supervisor to me. She was a mentor who pushed me to aim higher, assured me in times of doubt and was a consistent support system throughout the duration of my degree. For her patience and kindness, as well as her unsurpassed knowledge, Homa has been invaluable to me both academically and personally, and for this I am forever grateful. To my committee members, Dr. Marc Lafrance and Dr. Setrag Manoukian, thank you for your suggestions, comments and kind remarks regarding my work. I was lucky enough to have been part of a great cohort of students to experience this ride of an MA degree with, and thank you all for not only making my experience as a graduate student at Concordia what it was, but your friendships have been the reason as to why my time in Montréal has been a great one. iv This thesis is dedicated to my maman and baba, whose sacrifices have been their children’s gains. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ix GLOSSARY xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: DRESSING IRANIAN WOMEN Introduction 1 Dressing and Undressing Mother Iran 3 (Re)Fashioning the Body Politic 6 Addressing Fashion’s Critics: Why Dress Matters 10 Research Questions 15 Chapter Breakdown 16 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY Why Iran? 18 Iran, 2011 18 Undertaking the Study Research Participants 20 The Interview Process 22 Other Sources and Methods of Data Collection 23 Pros and Cons of Doing Anthropology “At Home” 26 In-Between an Insider and Outsider 28 CHAPTER 3: DRESSING THE NATION; FASHIONING THE SELF Introduction 30 Clothing and Political Projects 30 Case of Turkey, Italy and China 31 Clothing, Gender, the Body and Sexuality 34 Dress Reform in the West 35 Dress, the Individual and Identity 40 Resisting Through the Dressed Body 41 Public Veiling Fashions in the Middle East and North Africa 45 Conclusion 49 vi CHAPTER 4: THE MAKING OF THE MODERN IRANIAN WOMAN Introduction 51 Qajar Period 53 Constitutional Revolution (1906-1911) 55 Women and Modernization during the Pahlavi Era (1925-1941) 59 Dress Reform 61 Unveiling 62 The Modern Woman in Modern Iranian Society 69 Women’s Social and Political Activities (1925-1941) 70 Women, Modernity and Mohammad Reza Shah (1941-1979) 71 Women’s Social and Political Activities (1941-1979) 75 1979 Iranian Revolution 80 Conclusion 85 CHAPTER 5: WEARING IDEOLOGY: CONSTRUCTING THE NEW MUSLIM WOMAN Introduction 87 Re-Veiling Iranian Women 89 Disciplining the Islamic Nation 96 Weakening Women’s Rights Public and Private Spheres 100 Education 102 Sexuality 103 Conclusion 107 CHAPTER 6: WOMEN IN POST-REVOLUTION IRAN Introduction 108 Accessing the Global World Satellite, Internet and Consumerism 109 Changing Gender Relations 111 Globalization and Women 113 Changes in Women’s Public Appearances 115 vii Education 117 Women’s Demands in the Islamic Republic 120 Conclusion 123 CHAPTER 7: UNDER THE GAZE AND UNDER CONTROL Introduction 125 Religious Education 126 Good Woman/Bad Woman 132 Sexual Harassment 136 Moral Policing 140 Denying and Defining Women’s Sexuality 147 Conclusion 149 CHAPTER 8: BECOMING VISIBLE Introduction 150 The Fashioned Body Goes Public 151 Identity and Individualism 156 Private Dressing 159 Public Dressing 161 Confidence 166 Contesting Male Authority 167 The Islamic Republic Attack the Fashionable 170 Resisting Through the Fashioned Body 175 Conclusion 178 CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSION 180 REFERENCES 188 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Fashionable, yet modest dress in Tehran 8 & 1.2 Figure 1.3 Tehran elegance 9 Figure 1.4 Women in alternative dress celebrate the presidency of Rouhani 13 Figure 4.1 Qajar Women of the Haram 55 Figure 4.2 Reza Shah among tribal women in modern dress 66 Figure 4.3 Baha’i women in Tehran, 1950 70 Figure 4.4 Men and women dancing to rock n roll, early 1960s 72 Figure 4.5 Miss Iran in the Miss Universe Pageant, 1967 72 Figure 4.6 Students at the University of Tehran 73 Figure 4.7 Men and women (veiled and unveiled) demonstrating together, 1979 84 Figure 5.1 Mass demonstration of women marching against the imposition of the veil in Tehran 91 Figure 5.2 Women demonstrating in Tehran 91 Figure 5.3 Sign displays proper dress codes for women 94 Figure 5.4 Chador-clad women passing Khomeini’s image in Tehran 98 Figure 5.5 Sign: ‘A woman modestly dressed is a pearl in its shell” 105 Figure 5.6 Sign: ‘Hijab is grace’ 105 Figure 6.1 Men and women dining together in Darband, Tehran 112 Figure 6.2 Young men and women at a restaurant 113 Figure 7.1 School girls take off veil to mock public hijab sign 131 Figure 7.2 ‘Alternative dressed girls bring on their own sexual harassment’ 136 Figure 7.3 Woman confronted by morality police 142 Figure 7.4 Woman being pulled away by the morality police 143 Figure 7.5 Physical fight breaks out between morality police and women 143 Figure 8.1 Store mannequins in Iran 152 ix Figure 8.2 Fashionable woman in Isfahan 154 Figure 8.3 Street Fashion in Tehran 155 Figure 8.4 Hipsters in Tehran 155 Figure 8.5 Skulls in Tehran 158 Figure 8.6 Fashionable outfit and accessories 171 Figure 8.7 “Fashion: Those who suffer from weak self-esteem” 172 Figure 8.8 “Psychologists say” 172 Figure 8.9 ‘Brainless badly veiled women’ 172 Figure 8.10 Alternatively dressed women mock hijab propaganda sign 178 x GLOSSARY Basiji: Basiji men and women actively monitor the activities and clothing of citizens, in both public and private spaces in Iran. Bad-hijabi: Refers to women who do not comply with proper Islamic dress codes as dictated by the Islamic Regime. Chador: A style of Islamic dress worn by Muslim women. The chador is a large piece of dark-coloured material which wraps around the head and body. Only the face and hands are left exposed. Hijab: A style of Islamic dress which covers the head of a woman, with the exception of her face. (Hijab will be used interchangeably with ‘veil’, the latter being the Western term for hijab.) Herasat: Moral security at universities. Islamic Regime: In this context, refers to the ruling government in Iran.