Christiane Campbell                                                                                                              9/24/19

CUNY CCNY | Professor Michael “Mike” Druffel

Conference Paper Proposal: Iranian Cinema, Gender, and Politics

Iran has undergone many political changes throughout history, but especially in women’s gender and politics. At the turn of the 20th century, Iranian women were veiled, which one can consider to represent the imposed constraints of women’s sexuality and submissive role in a patriarchal society. From 1936 to 1979 (under the Pahlavis dynasty), Iranian women were unveiled, which signified the lifted (to an extent) limits of women’s sexuality and a cessation (also to an extent) of a women’s submissive role in society. Finally, after the Revolution of 1979, when the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) came into power, Iranian women were reveiled; this signified the reimposed restrictions of women’s sexuality and submissive role (but not as submissive as at the turn of the 20th century) in Iran’s patriarchal society. Although women’s gender and politics is an increasingly popular subject of discussion in Iran, one aspect is sorely overlooked: the sexuality, more specifically the sexual health, of Iran’s young women. 

According to the Ministry of Health and Medical Education report in 2012, over 33% of people testing HIV positive got infected through unprotected sex, while “from 1979 to 2011, this number was only 12%” (Journal of Religion and Film, Vol. 19, pg 16). This is representative of a sexual revolution in Iran and consequently brings a new urgency to educate Iranian youth, especially young women, on sexual health. However, the traditional concepts and social norms of Iranian society make it taboo to discuss sexual health. This makes premarital sexual activity clandestine, stimulating the increase of sexual diseases. 

In closing, film is crucial to people’s knowledge on certain topics because media is a primary way that people acquire knowledge and ideas. Through Iranian film, the pressing topic of sexual health among Iran’s young women can be explored and discussed and possibly destigmatized.