Conflictual Identities: The State and Feminist Women in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Abstract

This study explores the tensions between the state and women’s efforts to construct an alternative vision of gender equality and feminism. The experiences of the One Million Signatures Campaign for the Repeal of Discriminatory Laws offer new perspectives on women’s struggles to carve out their own space and place in society. But how and why does the state construct and reproduce patriarchal norms and practices? Conversely, how do women, specifically feminists, address and engage the state in their attempts to form their own feminist rights and gender identities? Although it is important to understand that both the state and women draw on their own political and cultural preferences, I argue that constructing feminist identities is often an uphill battle, as women encounter resistance from the state that is not gender neutral and is patriarchal.