During the interview with my subject, who went by the pseudonym “David” for the purposes of my interview and essay, there was a key difference that influenced me to approach him differently: race. David is white and I am black. I did not want him to feel that I was an angry or offended person, so I was very careful in how I worded my questions in the interview and how I said them. I’m usually mindful of how I say things to other people, but during the interview I was especially mindful. I did not want to make him any more uncomfortable than he probably would be. To acknowledge these differences, I related to him on certain things. For example, I related with him on the discomfort that accompanies having discussions about race.  He said that he finds these discussions uncomfortable because you may not be familiar with people included in the discussion and that people can be oblivious of the intentions of others. I said that these talks made me uncomfortable because I don’t know if the person I am talking to is being fully transparent due to their discomfort. Although, over time the interactions between David and I were more positive. As I conveyed my understanding to his views and related with him over certain things, he eased up a bit. There was even smiling and laughter involved. I was glad to have some of that tension gone because people open up more when they do not feel as tense or fear that they’re being judged for what they’re saying, which was really important for my task at hand, the interview. Overall, we went from being somewhat reserved to being more open with our experiences and views, which is what humanity needs a lot more of for its progression.

The online community Wu is trying to portray is sufferers of Factitious Disorder, which causes people to pretend that something is wrong with them because they enjoy the attention and sympathy they receive from it. The sources she relies on for finding out more about the disorder are online forums for people who know someone with FD and those who actually have it and are on the road to healing. She creates a verbal portrait of the community on the pages by describing the forums on which she visited for people with the disorder, or as she called, “FDers”. The first forum she visited was mostly comprised of commentary of people that fell susceptible to the acts of a loved one who was a FDer or suspected that that loved one had FD. The second forum she visited, she found from the first forum via a link in one of its posts. This time the posts in the forums were comprised of actual FDers. She notes that the FD posters have the same layout in their responses. This layout consists of the backstory of the FDer’s illness, how it affected them and their loved ones, expression that they’ve reached their limit with FD, and a request of advice on how to curb the behaviors from the disorder. The role that footnotes play in Wu’s text is providing helpful background information. For example, in the first forum she was in, the doctor in charge of it kept referring patients to his book in his replies to them. Wu then put in a footnote that someone politely called him out on it and that he denied using the forum as a way to advertise his book. In her piece, Wu describes the community by creating a verbal portrait of them, relies on specific sources, and ensures that the reader has a better understanding of her content by including footnotes with information relevant to what she is stating.

Abstract:

This essay discusses white feminism and its detrimental effects to the feminist movement. The subtopics discussed within this topic are the support of white women when they did something wrong (in a situation concerning race), white feminism being in accordance with white supremacy, and overshadowing the voices of WOC (Women Of Color).

Introduction:

White feminism is feminism that focuses on the struggles of white women rather than including WOC and the unique struggles that WOC face. In the process of ignoring the struggles of WOC, white feminism also tends to overshadow the voices of WOC when discussing the issues they face. This essay will examine how white feminism affects the feminist movement and explain that is tends to be a result of white feminist’s issue of overlooking WOC. 

Literature Review:

To commence with, one way in which white feminism affects the feminist movement is by supporting white women when said women did something wrong (in regards to racial situations) instead of having them take accountability for their actions. One example of this is when Jessie Daniels, in her article “The Trouble with White Feminism: Whiteness, Digital Feminism and the Intersectional Internet”  mentioned a journalist’s article sympathizing with a white woman who lost her PR job over “ ‘one stupid tweet’ ”. The same tweet that said, “ ‘Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!’”. Instead of addressing the racist tones in that tweet and correcting the woman that lost her job, the journalist caped for the woman instead. This aspect of white feminism is detrimental to the feminist movement because it condones prejudice behavior by white women, which cannot benefit the feminist movement when true feminism includes WOC (Women of Color). Feminism concerns women’s issues, not just white women’s issues.

Another way that white feminism affects the feminist movement is by supporting white supremacy. Since white feminism “articulates a limited version of gender inequality without challenging racial inequality, then white feminism is not inconsistent with white supremacy”. An extreme version of white feminism being in coordination with white supremacy is a “Ladies Only” discussion board within the white supremacist global portal for white pride called “Stormfront”. In this group, white feminists fully  support ideas such as abortion only if the termination is of a non-white child and go as far as somestimes supporting gay rights, but only if said gay person is a white supremacist too. 

 Further examples of white feminism being in accordance with white supremacy–specifically within the system of patriarchy– include the 2016 presidential election of Donald J. Trump. While campaigning, Trump boasted that he used to grab women “by the pussy”. Despite this alarming statement admitting to sexual assault, 53% of white women that voted in the 2016 election still voted for him. Despite his “anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiments”, 53% of white women who participated in the 2016 presidential election still voted for him. Sadly, this does not necessarily reveal anything new about white feminists.  It corroborates the already-known fact that white women have historically voted Republican, despite their own interests considering the fact that the Republican party tends to hold beliefs that do not favor true, all-inclusive feminism (Jesus, A, 2018, p. 307-340).

In Daniels’ “The Trouble with White Feminism: Whiteness, Digital Feminism and the Intersectional Internet”, she supports the notion that white feminism overshadows and ignores the struggles and voices of WOC. (The second wave of feminism, which took place in the 1960s and 1970s, fought against “employment discrimination, unequal pay, legal inequality, and meagre support services for working women that needed to be corrected through legislative guarantees of equal pay for equal work, equal job opportunities, and expanded child-care services” (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Brittanica). The first wave of feminism, which took place in the 19th and early 20th centuries, focused primarily on women’s suffrage.)  She supports this argument by examining a couple of examples of white activist feminism, two of them being “Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In and “Ban Bossy” campaigns and Eve Ensler’s movement One Billion Rising”. In Sandberg’s book Lean In, Sandberg implores women to assert their rightful position in the workplace while not acknowledging the fact that that’s not going to be a simple process for all women because of systematic challenges and nowhere in her book did she mention the LBGTQ+ community. Next, the movement One Billion Rising  (which I will from now on refer to as OBR) founded by Ensler is an example of white feminism because it overshadowed the idigenous women’s movement in Canada that had already been happening for decades. OBR’s latest endeavor is V-Day events, in which there is activism against sexual violence. However, Ensler chose February 14th for her events. This was problematic because February 14th was already a signifier for the indigenous women’s movement, in which native women highlight the violence against native women and honor missing and murdered native women.

 Conclusion:

The major themes in the articles are white feminism overshadowing the voices of WOC and being parallel to white supremacy. The authors of the articles strongly supported their points with a myriad of details, such as Daniels supporting her points with examples of books and movements from white feminists. Good questions for further research would be “What are less talked about ways in which white feminism manifests itself?”, “How has white feminism changed forms from the early 20th century to now?”, and “Will white women be responsible for dismantling white feminism?”.

Bibliography:

1. Daniels, J. (2016). The Trouble with White Feminism: Whiteness, Digital Feminism and the Intersectional Internet. CUNY Academic Works.
2. Jesus, A. M. Beliso-De. (2018). Confounded Identities: A Meditation on Race, Feminism, and Religious Studies in Times of White Supremacy. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 86 Issue 2, p307-340. 34p.
3. 3. Bulbeck, Chilla. (2010). (White) Feminism and Foreigners. Vol. 25 Issue 66, p493-503, 11p

Introduction

A community is a group of people who share something in common such as goals, interest, problems, belief, etc. The gathering of people within the same community brings about joy and unity. Every community is useful in their own way and one of the most popular communities is the anime community.  

The anime community started blooming in the 1980s, which is when people started to watch anime and become fans of it. Anime is a Japanese cartoon show that is driven from a book comic known as a manga. People of the anime community often say the major difference from a normal cartoon and anime is the plot. Most cartoons’ goal was to create humor for everybody, especially kids, while anime was made for people to relate in a way that could be enjoyable. Anime is made for people of specific ages to watch, depending on the content. Most anime are rated 13 and up due to the bloodshed it reveals. Fans rate anime from its plot, character’s development, and life lessons. Although all cartoons that are made with Japanese animations are anime, fans tend to consider only the cartoons that have these 3 things as anime.

Anime Background

The biggest or one of the biggest anime community from the day it came out is One Piece. One Piece is an anime where a boy named “Luffy” wants to go out on an adventure as a pirate to fulfill his dream of being pirate king. To become the pirate king he would have to travel across the world and find the former pirate king’s mysterious treasure called “one piece”. His reason for becoming king is not because of the treasure but because the person who becomes the king has the most freedom in the world. Being a pirate is a taboo, so the government despises them and sends marines after them to capture them. Throughout his journey we see how corrupt the world is and much more struggles he went through. 

 Population and Community 

This community started around 2007-2008 when the anime was on its 150^th episode. One Piece has about 1 million fans on Facebook and sold over 473 million copies of the comic. This implies they have over 500 million fans because most of the fans that read the manga watched the anime, which was stated on from Instagram and in a survey in 2016. On a post on Instagram it asked how many people watch the anime One Piece and all the people who stated they read the manga stated that they watch the anime to see it in action. In a survey (http://www.onepiecepodcast.com/2016/05/23/winter-2016-survey-results), the dominant gender to watch the anime are males and the ratio of male to female and other are 76: 23.6 : 0.4 respectively. One Piece ran for 20 years and is still continuing, so the people of the first generation still watch it colliding with the second generation. 32% of the people who watch it are 15 to 20 years, whereas 58% of the people who watch it are 21 to 30 years of age. Then the people who watch it that are above 30 are 9% of the fans. The One Piece community is possibly even bigger due to some fans do not participate and interact with others in the community. 

Over 56 languages are spoken throughout the community but the most spoken language is English. Although many speak English, the people who can’t speak it are happily accepted and are able to easily assimilate within the community. Most fans watch the anime in subtitles due to they prefer the original Japanese voice of the characters in the anime. Almost all the fans know the words ‘baka’ and ‘nani’ from watching it in subtitles. Throughout comments in Facebook, if someone says something stupid but funny they will reply with the word “baka”, which practically means “idiot” in Japanese; they say this in a joking, friendly manner. On the contrast, the word ‘nani’ is said as a mean to insult a person for an illogical thing that they said. The word “nani” means “what”, but when a fan uses the word they use it to make others feel dumb. When interacting with the people within the community they all stated that they prefer someone calling them the word ‘baka’ then someone responding ‘nani’ to their post. 

Rules and Regulations

Like most communities, there are rules that are established to control people’s behaviors. The most common rules in a One Piece community are the rules of no posting and sharing anything that breaks copyright rules and no bullying. Another rule is preventing members of the community from posting porn, hentai, and other sexual content. Apart from these rules other groups within the community have their own rules. In a Facebook group called One piece-One Million Fans they added the rules of the prohibition of purposely posting annoying content, the maximum limit of posting is 5 times per day, and translating everything to English before you post. Most of these rules are kept by the fans and are made to prevent people from deviating from acceptable community behavior. In conventions the rules the people in the community must follow are, don’t lose your bracelet, don’t carry props that look very realistic and dangerous, no costume that is considered inappropriate while walking outside, and no selling unofficial, unlicensed, or bootleg products. These are the main common rules followed in a convention and if they are not followed you are most likely to be banned, suspended or kicked out of groups within them. Even though this is not a rule most members in the community dislike spoiling the anime to people who are behind. If they want to spoil they tend to give a reasonable warning.

Disadvantages of the Community 

Most people in the community can turn on you fast if you say something about their favorite character. The community tends to be toxic at times when you say something bad about a popular character. For example someone can call Luffy weak due to him struggling against another captain crew member and the community will tend to ignorantly argue against the fact and conjure up excuses. Another problem is that people within the One Piece community tend to pest people to watch the anime so they can make people realize how good it is despite sometimes poor animation quality. It is good that they want to express their love for the anime, but it can become irksome.  

Conclusion

Anime is a form of Japanese cartoon loved by many worldwide. They use common phrases such as “baka” and “nani” that are exclusive to their community. They also have rules that are to be followed, like a real, in-person community. The anime community, specifically of One Piece, is an excellent example of online communities. 

“A Black Woman’s Peek Inside a White Man’s Mind”  by Christiane Campbell

I wonder what’s inside the white man’s mind. As someone living in America who is arguably on the lowest rank of the totem pole racially and sex-wise, a Black woman, I always wondered what went on in the minds of the highest in society, white men. So, I chose to ask a white man about his values in respect to race to get a glimpse into the white mind. I chose the generic-looking, pale skin, blue eyes, wavy brunette hair, white guy. Not only did I learn about what can be inside a white mind, but also that what they think and feel is often what I think and feel too. 

The first question I asked was a rather pointed one, “Have you ever witnessed and/or participated in prejudice or racism? If so, what were your thoughts and emotions afterwards?”. I asked this question because it was my way of fulfilling my curiosity as to what was said about POC (People Of Color) behind closed doors. What smack were they talking, if any at all? My wonderings were easily extinguished when my interviewee, David (pseudonym) said that he was raised in a household where although the perspectives were conservative, speech conveying racism towards other races was “looked down upon”. I thought this to be very interesting because I had always equated “conservative” with “racist”. David’s background takes place in an area of America where people possessed views that would be appropriately placed on the right side of the political spectrum. He was raised in a homogenous town in central Virginia that was, according to David, “an interesting mix of military and redneck”. He went on to explain that a lot of the people there had stereotypical views of POC. Some of these views included that the Asian kid was the most intelligent or played musical instruments, or that the Black kid was the laziest. Some of these views came in the form of jokes, such as ones that told Hispanic kids as being born from illegal immigrants. At some point in the interview, David and I discussed his first conversation about race with another person. Now in his mid-thirties, he had this conversation with a Black person and revealed that that conversation took place only about six years ago. In other words, David had his very first conversation about race in his late twenties. His late twenties. This struck a chord with me because although he does not possess the racist views a lot of the people in his town does, it reminded me of how a lot of ignorant white people could be so much less ignorant if they had conversations about race earlier on in their lives. Statistically, most white people live in predominantly white communities and are in predominantly white social circles. If no one is talking about race in certain white communities where white people are surrounded by other white people, then it is unfortunately too easy to develop and stimulate inaccurate views of POC since there is no one in their environment kindly correcting them in conversations about race. 

Also, during this conversation with David, I realized that him and I have certain similarities and differences with our experiences. For example, one similarity that we have in discussions of race is that we both find it uncomfortable. One thing I noted was that he lit up when I said I find racial discussions uncomfortable too because he was able to find comfortability in our ability to relate to that uncomfortability. He finds it uncomfortable because “there are people you don’t know and people who don’t know what your intentions are”; I find it uncomfortable because I have skepticism towards how transparent the person is being because they’re probably uncomfortable just like me. Another example- but concerning difference- that David and I noted is that when he is pulled over by a police officer, he doesn’t have to worry about the same things that “non-White people have to worry about.” I agree with that sentiment because whenever I’m around law enforcement I always think to subtly show that my hands are clear so that they don’t fear I have a gun and shoot me. As a matter of fact, I don’t even drive yet and I think of ways to show that I am truthfully pulling out my driver’s license or registration, rather than a gun, so that I am not shot like Philando Castille . I know that the typical white person is not thinking of those extra precautions.

During this interview, I was able to get a glimpse into a white mind. I had some of my questions answered and was even able to find common ground with David. Hopefully, I can get more glimpses into more white minds in the future. 

Christiane Campbell                                                                                                        12/17/19               

CUNY CCNY | Prof. Michael “Mike” Druffel 

Final Reflection

        Over the course of the first semester of the 2019-2020 school year, I learned how to compose a research question, research information through databases (especially college databases), and establish authority in my writing.

To begin with, a lot of thought goes into coming up with a research question. One thing crucial to coming up with a research question is specificity. A research question that is specific is important because it is easier to focus on a specific problem within an overarching issue rather than the overarching issue itself. It also helps in  preventing the writer from deviating from the topic. “What are the effects of the 2019 space alien terrorist attacks on the mental health of Hungary’s youth ages 16-24?” is a much stronger question than “What are the effects on the mental health of Hungary’s youth after terrorist attacks?”. The former question has a substantial amount more of specificity in it than the latter question because it includes a time period and a specific demographic within the general demographic. 

Secondly, I learned how to use college databases to come across resources such as peer reviewed articles to use in support of answering my question. The database that I used the majority of the time for my research was CCNY’s online library database. The “Advanced Search” aspect of this resource was especially helpful since I could narrow down exactly what I was looking for with its two-lines-of-keywords system. The first line of the “Advanced Search” feature says, “Any field” and “contains”; the second line says, “AND”, “any field”, and “contains”; these terms of both lines are interchangeable with key words such as “Title”, “or”, “not”, and more. For example, if I wanted to research the effects of turmeric-based seasonings on the kidneys of Iranian citizens I can type “Tumeric-based seasoning” in the first line and “Iranians’ kidneys” in the second line. You can also add more lines if you want.

Lastly, I learned how to establish authority in my writing. One way to establish authority in writing is by coining a term. For example, if you wanted to discuss the new trend of millenials eating avocado toast you can invent the term “Avocado Era”. Coining a term establishes authority because it implies that you are well enough educated on the subject to be able to go as far as making a new term in relation to it. Another way to establish authority in writing is by discrediting the argument of someone else who discussed the same topic you’re discussing too. For instance, take the topic of the lack of time management skills among Generation Z. If one person said that Gen Z lacks time management skills because they are lazy bums, you can discredit that with a different argument that argues that Gen Z lacks time management skills because they are addicted to social media and that addiction causes them to not prioritize the other tasks they need to do. Another, more basic way, to establish authority in your writing is by stating your titles and/or accomplishments within your field. For example, if the topic is the relationship between students’ emotional disabilities and their performance in school, you can establish your authority by saying you’ve been a teacher for thirty five years.

In conclusion, I’ve learned a lot over the semester about writing. Some of the things I’ve learned are how to compose a research question, utilize databases, and establish authority in my writing. These skills are important because it makes you a stronger writer in the fact that it structures and builds any argument that you’re making.

The Need of Sexual Health Education, Especially for Young Women, is being Sorely Overlooked in Iran                                                                          11/19/19
by Christiane Campbell

1. Introduction

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; from 1936 to 1979 (under the Pahlavi dynasty), Iranian women were unveiled; finally, after the Revolution of 1979, when the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) came into power, Iranian women were reveiled. These events signified the imposed constraints of women’s sexuality and submissive role in a patriarchal society, the lifting of those constraints, and the reimposing of them (but to a lesser extent than at the turn of the 20th century) after 1979, respectively. 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 and how film can be used as a tool for sexual education.

1. Statistics and Mothers’ Views on Sexual Health Education for Young Girls

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). Not only that, but according to a 2015 survey, 33% of boys and 27% of girls under the age of 18 have engaged in sexual relations. 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 and unwanted pregnancies. 

Another aspect of Iranian girl’s sexual health worth mentioning is their mothers, as they play a critical role in educating young girls about their sexual health. Specifically worth mentioning is that a lot of Iranian mothers are a barrier to their young girls acquiring knowledge on the topic of sexual health. One of the reasons they can be a barrier to their girls gaining sexual knowledge is that they, too, believe in the taboo of discussing sexual health, as mentioned in the previous paragraph. In a study on mothers’ views on sexual health education for their young daughters, light was shed upon how they felt about it and what prevented them from discussing such topics with their daughter. One mother expressed shame and embarrassment about discussing sexual health with her daughter, saying, “I am ashamed to say something about such issues to my daughter. My daughter also does not ask me because she does not feel comfortable with me.” Other mothers do not wish to discuss sexual health with their daughters because they fear it will influence their daughters to engage in sexual relations by stimulating curiousity and temptation in regard to sex. Another mother said, “If girls permit to know about contraception, they may do anything wrong out of their family sight. If they know what to do, nothing bad may happen and the family may never notice.” Some mothers do not know how to communicate to their daughters about this topic and some just outright feel that sexual health education is not a necessity. Although, some mothers do support sexual health education, expressing a desire to be educated on this topic, especially since many of them feel they lack the knowledge to discuss such topics with their daughters. 

1. Sexual Health Promotion and the Importance of Film in Such Endeavor

However, not all hope is lost. Sexual health is increasingly being discussed in Iran. An example of this is the creation of the app Hamdam, which is the first Iranian Persian-language app about sexual health, including contraceptive methods. This allows tens of millions of Iranian women easier access to information concerning sexual health , which is especially critical to poorer Iranian women to whom this information was not previously available. 

If an app has the ability to reach so many women, imagine how much more women can be reached through film. Film is crucial to people’s knowledge on certain topics because media is a primary way that people acquire knowledge and ideas. This is proved through Iran’s history with film. 

After the 1979 Revolution, Iran began to prohibit certain films from reaching the public. The films that were censored were largely Western-influenced films that had sexual scenes in them. In 1979, 1,800 films were denied a permit to be showed to the public; by 1982 that number dramatically decreased to 19 (Tapper, pg 33). But, this was not because more and more films were being approved by the Iranian government for showing, but because they were not even bothering to review nearly as many films as in 1979. As a result, there were less films to deny. Consequently, this contributed to the taboo of women’s sexuality, and inherently, the idea of sexual education. Mention of Iran’s censorship of such films is important because it conveys the extensive power Iran’s government has to keep the general population from certain types of knowledge and in turn the power they have to give the general population certain knowledge if they put as much effort into sexual education as they do censorship. As mentioned before, film could help in the fact that it can be utilized as an informative tool standing on the platform of mass media.  An example of this is the burning of 180 theatres in Iran, leaving only 256 of them still existing. The amount of people that were exposed to new ideas and information before the theatres were burned was likely staggering, which is only a testament to film being important because it reaches many. Another reason film is important is because it can destigmatize women’s sexuality in Iran. With it being strongly preferred for women to wear hijabs to even temporarily marrying a man to be able to interact with them on a movie set if they are acting together, it is very clear that there is a strong wall of stigma encompassing women’s sexuality in Iran. A final reason film is important is that it can inform illiterate women where books, articles, and apps cannot since you do not have to read (in most cases) film in order to understand it since it mainly functions on visuals and sound. Film can be of great assist in eradicating that stigma and maybe even take Iran back to how it was during the Pahlavi dynasty, where Iranian women were not stigmatized as much and had more freedoms as a result.

1. Content that Should be in Sexual Health Promotion Films

Finally, after it being explained why sexual education through film is important, it should also be enunciated what these films should look like- specifically what should be included in them. One thing that should be included in sexual education films are information on all types of STDs (Sexually Transmitted Disease) and how they can be transmitted (vaginally, orally, anally). Another thing that should be included are anecdotes from people who have had or still have a STD, especially how they cope with it emotionally and mentally and how and what treatment(s) they receive for it. This can help Iranian women who have recently contracted an STD. Next, other helpful information that should be in these films are contraceptives and how to figure out which one is the best for each female to use (since everybody is different) to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Another kind of information that should be included are what to do in event of an unwanted pregnancy and seeing what options are available. With this information, the rate of contraction of STDs can decrease or even die out since the general population would be much more educated on the subject of sexual health.  Relating back to some of the mother’s sentiments about not being informed enough, a final piece of information that should be included in this film is how to discuss sexual health with your daughters and sons, especially daughters.  

1. Conclusion

One can see how crucial film can be to Iran, especially its women, in the realm of sexual education. As an increasing amount of youth are engaging in sexual relations before marriage, it is imperative that they have sufficient knowledge of sexual health so that they can prevent any occurrence of sexual harm unto themselves. Film is a major platform under mass media in which ideas are communicated to and absorbed by the general public, making it an ideal vehicle to transport information of sexual health to Iranian women who need this kind of information to better themselves. The subjects in films of sexual education that should be discussed are STDs, contraceptives, and unwanted pregnancies. Through sexual education in film, women’s sexuality in Iran can be destigmatized and women can lead much healthier sex lives.

1. Bibliography

1. Shams, Mohsen. Mothers’ Views about Sexual Health Education for Their Adolescent Daughters: a Qualitative Study. 10 Feb. 2017.

Tapper, Richard. New Iranian Cinema: Politics, Representation and Identity. I.B. Tauris & Co., 2008.

The Need of Sexual Health Education, Especially for Young Women, is being Sorely Overlooked in Iran                                                                          11/19/19
by Christiane Campbell

1. Introduction

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; from 1936 to 1979 (under the Pahlavis dynasty), Iranian women were unveiled; finally, after the Revolution of 1979, when the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) came into power, Iranian women were reveiled. These events signified the imposed constraints of women’s sexuality and submissive role in a patriarchal society, the lifting of those constraints, and then the reimposing of them (but to a lesser extent than at the turn of the 20th century) after 1979, respectively. 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 and how film can be used as a tool for sexual education.

1. Statistics and Mothers’ Views on Sexual Health Education for Young Girls

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). Not only that, but according to a 2015 survey, 33% of boys and 27% of girls under the age of 18 have engaged in sexual relations. 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 and unwanted pregnancies. 

Another aspect of Iranian girl’s sexual health worth mentioning is their mothers, as they play a critical role in educating young girls about their sexual health. Specifically worth mentioning is that a lot of Iranian mothers are a barrier to their young girls acquiring knowledge on the topic of sexual health. One of the reasons they can be a barrier to their girls gaining sexual knowledge is that they, too, believe in the taboo of discussing sexual health, as mentioned in the previous paragraph. In a study on mothers’ views on sexual health education for their young daughters, light was shed upon how they felt about it and what prevented them from discussing such topics with their daughter. One mother expressed shame and embarrassment about discussing sexual health with her daughter, saying, “I am ashamed to say something about such issues to my daughter. My daughter also does not ask me because she does not feel comfortable with me.” Other mothers do not wish to discuss sexual health with their daughters because they fear it will influence their daughters to engage in sexual relations by stimulating curiousity and temptation in regard to sex. Another mother said, “If girls permit to know about contraception, they may do anything wrong out of their family sight. If they know what to do, nothing bad may happen and the family may never notice.” Some mothers do not know how to communicate to their daughters about this topic and some just outright feel that sexual health education is not a necessity. Although, some mothers do support sexual health education, expressing a desire to be educated on this topic, especially since many of them feel they lack the knowledge to discuss such topics with their daughters. 

1. Sexual Health Promotion and the Importance of Film in Such Endeavor

However, not all hope is lost. Sexual health is increasingly being discussed in Iran. An example of this is the creation of the app Hamdam, which is the first Iranian Persian-language app about sexual health, including contraceptive methods. This allows tens of millions of Iranian women easier access to information concerning sexual health , which is especially critical to poorer Iranian women to whom this information was not previously available. 

If an app has the ability to reach so many women, imagine how much more women can be reached through film. Film is crucial to people’s knowledge on certain topics because media is a primary way that people acquire knowledge and ideas. This is proved through Iran’s history with film. After the 1979 Revolution, Iran began to prohibit certain films from reaching the public. The films that were censored were largely Western-influenced films that had sexual scenes in them. In 1979, 1,800 films were denied a permit to be showed to the public; by 1982 that number dramatically decreased to 19. But, this was not because more and more films were being approved by the Iranian government for showing, but because they were not even bothering to review nearly as many films as in 1979. As a result, there were less films to deny. Consequently, this contributed to the taboo of women’s sexuality, and inherently, the idea of sexual education. Mention of Iran’s censorship of such films is important because it conveys the extensive power Iran’s government has to keep the general population from certain types of knowledge and in turn the power they have to give the general population certain knowledge if they put as much effort into sexual education as they do censorship. As mentioned before, film could help in the fact that it can be utilized as an informative tool standing on the platform of mass media.  An example of this is the burning of 180 theatres in Iran, leaving only 256 of them still existing. The amount of people that were exposed to new ideas and information before the theatres were burned was likely staggering, which is only a testament to film being important because it reaches many. Another reason film is important is because it can destigmatize women’s sexuality in Iran. With it being strongly preferred for women to wear hijabs to even temporarily marrying a man to be able to interact with them on a movie set if they are acting together, it is very clear that there is a strong wall of stigma encompassing women’s sexuality in Iran. A final reason film is important is that it can inform illiterate women where books, articles, and apps cannot since you do not have to read (in most cases) film in order to understand it since it mainly functions on visuals and sound. Film can be of great assist in eradicating that stigma and maybe even take Iran back to how it was during the Pahlavi dynasty, where Iranian women were not stigmatized as much and had more freedoms as a result.

1. Content that Should be in Sexual Health Promotion Films

Finally, after it being explained why sexual education through film is important, it should also be enunciated what these films should look like- specifically what should be included in them. One thing that should be included in sexual education films are information on all types of STDs (Sexually Transmitted Disease) and how they can be transmitted (vaginally, orally, anally). Another thing that should be included are anecdotes from people who have had or still have a STD, especially how they cope with it emotionally and mentally and how and what treatment(s) they receive for it. This can help Iranian women who have recently contracted an STD. Next, other helpful information that should be in these films are contraceptives and how to figure out which one is the best for each female to use (since everybody is different) to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Another kind of information that should be included are what to do in event of an unwanted pregnancy and seeing what options are available. With this information, the rate of contraction of STDs can decrease or even die out since the general population would be much more educated on the subject of sexual health.  Relating back to some of the mother’s sentiments about not being informed enough, a final piece of information that should be included in this film is how to discuss sexual health with your daughters and sons, especially daughters.  

1. Conclusion

One can see how crucial film can be to Iran, especially its women, in the realm of sexual education. As an increasing amount of youth are engaging in sexual relations before marriage, it is imperative that they have sufficient knowledge of sexual health so that they can prevent any occurrence of sexual harm unto themselves. Film is a major platform under mass media in which ideas are communicated to and absorbed by the general public, making it an ideal vehicle to transport information of sexual health to Iranian women who need this kind of information to better themselves. The subjects in films of sexual education that should be discussed are STDs, contraceptives, and unwanted pregnancies. Through sexual education in film, women’s sexuality in Iran can be destigmatized and women can lead much healthier sex lives.

1. Bibliography

1. Shams, Mohsen. Mothers’ Views about Sexual Health Education for Their Adolescent Daughters: a Qualitative Study. 10 Feb. 2017.

Tapper, Richard. New Iranian Cinema: Politics, Representation and Identity. I.B. Tauris & Co., 2008.

The Need of Sexual Education, Especially for Young Women, is being Sorely Overlooked in Iran

Christiane Campbell (FIQWS 10103, Tuesdays)                                                               11/1/19

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; from 1936 to 1979 (under the Pahlavis dynasty), Iranian women were unveiled; finally, after the Revolution of 1979, when the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) came into power, Iranian women were reveiled. These events signified the imposed constraints of women’s sexuality and submissive role in a patriarchal society, the lifting of those constraints, and then the reimposing of them (but to a lesser extent than at the turn of the 20th century) after 1979, respectively. 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 and how film can be used as a tool for sexual education.

Film is crucial to people’s knowledge on certain topics because media is a primary way that people acquire knowledge and ideas. This is proved through Iran’s history with film. After the 1979 Revolution, Iran began to prohibit certain films from reaching the public. Mention of Iran’s censorship of such films is important because it conveys the extensive power Iran’s government has to keep the general population from certain types of knowledge and in turn the power they have to give the general population certain knowledge if they put as much effort into sexual education as they do censorship. Another reason film is important is because it can destigmatize women’s sexuality in Iran. With it being strongly preferred for women to wear hijabs to even temporarily marrying a man to be able to interact with them on a movie set if they are acting together, it is very clear that there is a strong wall of stigma encompassing women’s sexuality in Iran. A final reason film is important is that it can inform illiterate women where books, articles, and apps cannot since you do not have to read (in most cases) film in order to understand it since it mainly functions on visuals and sound. Furthermore, after it being explained why sexual education through film is important, it should also be enunciated what these films should look like- specifically what should be included in them. The subjects in films of sexual education that should be discussed are STDs, contraceptives, and unwanted pregnancies. Unfortunately, due to the remaining stigma of sexual topics in Iran, there are not really any films on sexual health in Iran or any articles about film concerning the sexual health of Iran. 

Finally, the reason I chose the journal “Unmet Needs of Adolescent and Young People’s Sexual and Reproductive Health in Iran” by Farideh Khalajabadi-Farahani is because it pertained to my subject the most out of all the other journals I took a look at. Also, I appreciated the structure of the journal. It first gave a background of the problem, which I likewise did in my introduction. Then, it included factual numbers on the issue, which I also did. Lastly, it gave a solution to the issue, which I also did by proposing films and what should be included in said sexual education videos. Some challenges in completing this publication is that I had to shorten it a lot since there is a 500 word limit. I feel that I would have been able to create a better publication without this constraint. Fortunately, I was still able to mold my publication to the journal.  

ReferencesKhalajabadi-Farahani, Farideh. “Unmet Needs of Adolescent and Young People’s Sexual and Reproductive Health in Iran.” Journal of Reproduction & Infertility, Avicenna Research Institute, 2015, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4508349/.

Christiane Campbell                                                                                                            10/15/19

CUNY CCNY | Professor Michael “Mike” Druffel

Writing About Iranian Cinema: Conference Paper

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; from 1936 to 1979 (under the Pahlavis dynasty), Iranian women were unveiled; finally, after the Revolution of 1979, when the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) came into power, Iranian women were reveiled. These events signified the imposed constraints of women’s sexuality and submissive role in a patriarchal society, the lifting of those constraints, and then the reimposing of them (but to a lesser extent than at the turn of the 20th century) after 1979, respectively. 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 and how film can be used as a tool for sexual education.

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). Not only that, but according to a 2015 survey, 33% of boys and 27% of girls under the age of 18 have engaged in sexual relations. 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 and unwanted pregnancies. 

However, not all hope is lost. Sexual health is increasingly being discussed in Iran. An example of this is the creation of the app Hamdam, which is the first Iranian Persian-language app about sexual health, including contraceptive methods. This allows tens of millions of Iranian women easier access to information concerning sexual health , which is especially critical to poorer Iranian women to whom this information was not previously available. 

If an app has the ability to reach so many women, imagine how much more women can be reached through film. Film is crucial to people’s knowledge on certain topics because media is a primary way that people acquire knowledge and ideas. This is proved through Iran’s history with film. After the 1979 Revolution, Iran began to prohibit certain films from reaching the public. The films that were censored were largely Western-influenced films that had sexual scenes in them. In 1979, 1,800 films were denied a permit to be showed to the public; by 1982 that number dramatically decreased to 19. But, this was not because more and more films were being approved by the Iranian government for showing, but because they were not even bothering to review nearly as many films as in 1979. As a result, there were less films to deny. Consequently, this contributed to the taboo of women’s sexuality, and inherently, the idea of sexual education. Mention of Iran’s censorship of such films is important because it conveys the extensive power Iran’s government has to keep the general population from certain types of knowledge and in turn the power they have to give the general population certain knowledge if they put as much effort into sexual education as they do censorship. As mentioned before, film could help in the fact that it can be utilized as an informative tool standing on the platform of mass media.  An example of this is the burning of 180 theatres in Iran, leaving only 256 of them still existing. The amount of people that were exposed to new ideas and information before the theatres were burned was likely staggering, which is only a testament to film being important because it reaches many. Another reason film is important is because it can destigmatize women’s sexuality in Iran. With it being strongly preferred for women to wear hijabs to even temporarily marrying a man to be able to interact with them on a movie set if they are acting together, it is very clear that there is a strong wall of stigma encompassing women’s sexuality in Iran. A final reason film is important is that it can inform illiterate women where books, articles, and apps cannot since you do not have to read (in most cases) film in order to understand it since it mainly functions on visuals and sound. Film can be of great assist in eradicating that stigma and maybe even take Iran back to how it was during the Pahlavi dynasty, where Iranian women were not stigmatized as much and had more freedoms as a result.

Finally, after it being explained why sexual education through film is important, it should also be enunciated what these films should look like- specifically what should be included in them. One thing that should be included in sexual education films are information on all types of STDs (Sexually Transmitted Disease) and how they can be transmitted (vaginally, orally, anally). Another thing that should be included are anecdotes from people who have had or still have a STD, especially how they cope with it emotionally and mentally and how and what treatment(s) they receive for it. This can help Iranian women who have recently contracted an STD. Next, other helpful information that should be in these films are contraceptives and how to figure out which one is the best for each female to use (since everybody is different) to prevent unwanted pregnancy. A final piece of information that should be included are what to do in event of an unwanted pregnancy and seeing what options are available. With this information, the rate of contraction of STDs can decrease or even die out since the general population would be much more educated on the subject of sexual health.   

In conclusion, one can see how crucial film can be to Iran, especially its women, in the realm of sexual education. Film is a major platform under mass media in which ideas are communicated to and absorbed by the general public, making it an ideal vehicle to transport information of sexual health to Iranian women. The subjects in films of sexual education that should be discussed are STDs, contraceptives, and unwanted pregnancies. Through sexual education in film, women’s sexuality in Iran can be destigmatized and women can lead much healthier sex lives.