Resistance through clothing styles: Iranian young women’s body representation in public spaces

ABSTRACT This qualitative research extends critical theorizing on clothing practices by exploring how young women’s clothing styles serve the function of resistance to formal hegemonic culture in Iran. Thirty young women, recruited through a snowball-sampling strategy, reported their lived experiences of wearing fashionable clothing styles in urban public spaces. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews and analyzed by way of inductive thematic analysis. Seven key themes were found: young women use clothing styles (1) to communicate new meanings and values related to their femininity; (2) to resist dominant dress codes and veiled bodies; (3) to strengthen feminine agency; (4) to express elegance and openness; (5) to create alternative public spaces; (6) to resist hegemonic body shape; and (7) and to challenge the unbearable heaviness of being the same. It was concluded that the heterogeneity in appearance and in bodily practices among Iranian young women challenges the intended homogeneity of the dominant culture. In this sense, fashionable clothing styles are tools of resistance.