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The Struggle to be an Icon. Iranian Women’s Perspectives on Female Identities in Transnational Contexts

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  2. Sociologus
  3. Vol. 71, Issue 2
  4. pp. 107–127

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Albrecht, J. The Struggle to be an Icon. Iranian Women’s Perspectives on Female Identities in Transnational Contexts. Sociologus, 71(2), 107-127. https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.71.2.107
Albrecht, Judith "The Struggle to be an Icon. Iranian Women’s Perspectives on Female Identities in Transnational Contexts" Sociologus 71.2, 2022, 107-127. https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.71.2.107
Albrecht, Judith (2022): The Struggle to be an Icon. Iranian Women’s Perspectives on Female Identities in Transnational Contexts, in: Sociologus, vol. 71, iss. 2, 107-127, [online] https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.71.2.107
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The Struggle to be an Icon. Iranian Women’s Perspectives on Female Identities in Transnational Contexts

Albrecht, Judith

Sociologus, Vol. 71 (2021), Iss. 2 : pp. 107–127

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Article Details

Publisher Name
Duncker & Humblot
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.71.2.107
Language
Multiple languages
Pages
21
Keywords

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Author Details

Judith Albrecht, Institut für Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie, Landoltweg 9 – 11, 14195 Berlin.

References

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  3. Afary, J. & Anderson, K. (eds.) 2005. Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: Gender and the Seduction of Islamism. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.  Google Scholar
  4. Agha, T. 1997. Lebensentwürfe im Exil. Frankfurt a.M.: Campus Verlag.  Google Scholar
  5. Albrecht, J. 2014. In and Out of Iran: die transnationale Verhandlung weiblicher iranischer Identitäten (Berlin, Los Angeles, Teheran). Berlin: Weißensee Verlag.  Google Scholar
  6. Albrecht, J. 2015. How to Be an Iranian Woman in the 21st Century? Female Identities in the Diaspora. In R. Mohabbat-Kar (ed.) Identity and Exile. Berlin: Transparency Iran/ Böll Stiftung.  Google Scholar
  7. Appadurai, A. 1996. Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.  Google Scholar
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  9. Bhabha, H. K. 1994. The Location of Culture. New York: Routledge.  Google Scholar
  10. Caglar, A. 2002. ‘Encountering the State in Migration-Driven Transnational Social Fields: Turkish Immigrants in Europe’. Habilitation thesis. Berlin: Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology (unpublished).  Google Scholar
  11. Coser, L. A. 1972. Theorie sozialer Konflikte. Berlin: Neuwied.  Google Scholar
  12. Elwert, G. 2004. Anthropologische Perspektiven auf Konflikt. In J. Eckert (ed.), Anthropologie der Konflikte: Georg Elwerts konflikttheoretische Thesen in der Diskussion (pp. 26–38). Bielefeld: Transcript.  Google Scholar
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  14. Glick Schiller, N. & Fouron, G. 2001. All in the Family: Gender, Transnational Migration, and the Nation-State. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 7 (4), pp. 539–582.  Google Scholar
  15. Göle, N. 1996. The Forbidden Modern: Civilization and Veiling. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.  Google Scholar
  16. Hall, S. 1990. Cultural Identity and Diaspora. In J. Rutherford (ed.), Identity: Community, Culture and Differences (pp. 222–237). London: Lawrence & Wishart.  Google Scholar
  17. Hall, S. 1997. Representation. Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: Sage.  Google Scholar
  18. Malek, A. 2011. Public Performances of Identity Negotiation in the Iranian Diaspora. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 31 (2011) 2, p. 388–410.  Google Scholar
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  28. Tohidi, N. 1997. The Intersection of Gender, Ethnicity and Islam in Azerbaijan, Journal of Nationalities Papers, 25 (1), pp. 147–167.  Google Scholar
  29. Tohidi, N. 2001 & 2002. “Islamic Feminism”: Perils and Promises. Middle East Women’s Studies Review, 16 (3 & 4), pp. 13–15 & 27.  Google Scholar
  30. Vertovec, S. 1999. Conceiving and Researching Transnationalism. Oxford: University of Oxford.  Google Scholar
  31. Weißköppel, C. 2005. Kreuz und quer. Zur Theorie und Praxis der multi-sited ethnography. Zeitschrift für Ethnologie (pp. 45–68). Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag.  Google Scholar
  32. Alghasi, S. 2009. Iranians in Norway: Media Consumption and Identity Making. PhD dissertation, University of Oslo.  Google Scholar
  33. Afary, J. 2009. Sexual Politics in Modern Iran. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  Google Scholar
  34. Afary, J. & Anderson, K. (eds.) 2005. Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: Gender and the Seduction of Islamism. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.  Google Scholar
  35. Agha, T. 1997. Lebensentwürfe im Exil. Frankfurt a.M.: Campus Verlag.  Google Scholar
  36. Albrecht, J. 2014. In and Out of Iran: die transnationale Verhandlung weiblicher iranischer Identitäten (Berlin, Los Angeles, Teheran). Berlin: Weißensee Verlag.  Google Scholar
  37. Albrecht, J. 2015. How to Be an Iranian Woman in the 21st Century? Female Identities in the Diaspora. In R. Mohabbat-Kar (ed.) Identity and Exile. Berlin: Transparency Iran/ Böll Stiftung.  Google Scholar
  38. Appadurai, A. 1996. Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.  Google Scholar
  39. Ask, K. & Tjomsland, M. (eds.) 1998. Women and Islamization. Oxford: Berg Publishers.  Google Scholar
  40. Bhabha, H. K. 1994. The Location of Culture. New York: Routledge.  Google Scholar
  41. Caglar, A. 2002. ‘Encountering the State in Migration-Driven Transnational Social Fields: Turkish Immigrants in Europe’. Habilitation thesis. Berlin: Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology (unpublished).  Google Scholar
  42. Coser, L. A. 1972. Theorie sozialer Konflikte. Berlin: Neuwied.  Google Scholar
  43. Elwert, G. 2004. Anthropologische Perspektiven auf Konflikt. In J. Eckert (ed.), Anthropologie der Konflikte: Georg Elwerts konflikttheoretische Thesen in der Diskussion (pp. 26–38). Bielefeld: Transcript.  Google Scholar
  44. Ghorashi, H. 2003. Ways to Survive, Battles to Win: Iranian Women Exiles in the Netherlands and the US. New York: Nova Science.  Google Scholar
  45. Glick Schiller, N. & Fouron, G. 2001. All in the Family: Gender, Transnational Migration, and the Nation-State. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 7 (4), pp. 539–582.  Google Scholar
  46. Göle, N. 1996. The Forbidden Modern: Civilization and Veiling. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.  Google Scholar
  47. Hall, S. 1990. Cultural Identity and Diaspora. In J. Rutherford (ed.), Identity: Community, Culture and Differences (pp. 222–237). London: Lawrence & Wishart.  Google Scholar
  48. Hall, S. 1997. Representation. Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: Sage.  Google Scholar
  49. Malek, A. 2011. Public Performances of Identity Negotiation in the Iranian Diaspora. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 31 (2011) 2, p. 388–410.  Google Scholar
  50. Malinowski, B. 1967. A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term. London: Routledge.  Google Scholar
  51. Marcus, G. 1995. Ethnography in / of the World System: The Emergence of Multi-Sited Ethnography. Annual Review of Anthropology, 24 (1), pp. 95–117.  Google Scholar
  52. Mir-Hosseini, Z. 1999. Gender and Islam, The Religious Debate in Contemporary Iran. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.  Google Scholar
  53. Mir-Hosseini, Z. 2013. How to Challenge the Patriarchal Ethics of Muslim Legal Tradition, Open Democracy. Available at: <https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/ziba-mir-hosseini/how-to-challenge-patriarchal-ethics-of-muslim-legal-tradition> (Accessed 1 May 2016).  Google Scholar
  54. Moallem, M. 2005. Between Warrior Brother and Veiled Sister: Islamic Fundamentalism and the Politics of Patriarchy in Iran. Berkeley: University of California Press.  Google Scholar
  55. Mohabat-Kar, R. 2015. Introduction. In R. Mohabbat-Kar (ed.) Identity and Exile. Berlin: Transparency Iran/Böll Stiftung.  Google Scholar
  56. Naghibzadeh, F. 2009, Freiheit ist keine Metapher. Jungle.World, no 26, Available at: <http://jungle-world.com/artikel/2009/26/35337.html> (Accessed 1 May 2016).  Google Scholar
  57. Najmabadi, A. 1991. Hazards of Modernity and Morality: Women, State and Ideology in Contemporary Iran. In D. Kandiyot (ed.), Women, Islam and the State (pp. 48–71). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.  Google Scholar
  58. Sassen, S. 1996. Transnational Economies and National Migration Policies. Amsterdam: Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies, University of Amsterdam.  Google Scholar
  59. Tohidi, N. 1997. The Intersection of Gender, Ethnicity and Islam in Azerbaijan, Journal of Nationalities Papers, 25 (1), pp. 147–167.  Google Scholar
  60. Tohidi, N. 2001 & 2002. “Islamic Feminism”: Perils and Promises. Middle East Women’s Studies Review, 16 (3 & 4), pp. 13–15 & 27.  Google Scholar
  61. Vertovec, S. 1999. Conceiving and Researching Transnationalism. Oxford: University of Oxford.  Google Scholar
  62. Weißköppel, C. 2005. Kreuz und quer. Zur Theorie und Praxis der multi-sited ethnography. Zeitschrift für Ethnologie (pp. 45–68). Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag.  Google Scholar
  63. Alghasi, S. 2009. Iranians in Norway: Media Consumption and Identity Making. PhD dissertation, University of Oslo.  Google Scholar
  64. Afary, J. 2009. Sexual Politics in Modern Iran. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  Google Scholar
  65. Afary, J. & Anderson, K. (eds.) 2005. Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: Gender and the Seduction of Islamism. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.  Google Scholar
  66. Agha, T. 1997. Lebensentwürfe im Exil. Frankfurt a.M.: Campus Verlag.  Google Scholar
  67. Albrecht, J. 2014. In and Out of Iran: die transnationale Verhandlung weiblicher iranischer Identitäten (Berlin, Los Angeles, Teheran). Berlin: Weißensee Verlag.  Google Scholar
  68. Albrecht, J. 2015. How to Be an Iranian Woman in the 21st Century? Female Identities in the Diaspora. In R. Mohabbat-Kar (ed.) Identity and Exile. Berlin: Transparency Iran/ Böll Stiftung.  Google Scholar
  69. Appadurai, A. 1996. Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.  Google Scholar
  70. Ask, K. & Tjomsland, M. (eds.) 1998. Women and Islamization. Oxford: Berg Publishers.  Google Scholar
  71. Bhabha, H. K. 1994. The Location of Culture. New York: Routledge.  Google Scholar
  72. Caglar, A. 2002. ‘Encountering the State in Migration-Driven Transnational Social Fields: Turkish Immigrants in Europe’. Habilitation thesis. Berlin: Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology (unpublished).  Google Scholar
  73. Coser, L. A. 1972. Theorie sozialer Konflikte. Berlin: Neuwied.  Google Scholar
  74. Elwert, G. 2004. Anthropologische Perspektiven auf Konflikt. In J. Eckert (ed.), Anthropologie der Konflikte: Georg Elwerts konflikttheoretische Thesen in der Diskussion (pp. 26–38). Bielefeld: Transcript.  Google Scholar
  75. Ghorashi, H. 2003. Ways to Survive, Battles to Win: Iranian Women Exiles in the Netherlands and the US. New York: Nova Science.  Google Scholar
  76. Glick Schiller, N. & Fouron, G. 2001. All in the Family: Gender, Transnational Migration, and the Nation-State. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 7 (4), pp. 539–582.  Google Scholar
  77. Göle, N. 1996. The Forbidden Modern: Civilization and Veiling. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.  Google Scholar
  78. Hall, S. 1990. Cultural Identity and Diaspora. In J. Rutherford (ed.), Identity: Community, Culture and Differences (pp. 222–237). London: Lawrence & Wishart.  Google Scholar
  79. Hall, S. 1997. Representation. Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: Sage.  Google Scholar
  80. Malek, A. 2011. Public Performances of Identity Negotiation in the Iranian Diaspora. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 31 (2011) 2, p. 388–410.  Google Scholar
  81. Malinowski, B. 1967. A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term. London: Routledge.  Google Scholar
  82. Marcus, G. 1995. Ethnography in / of the World System: The Emergence of Multi-Sited Ethnography. Annual Review of Anthropology, 24 (1), pp. 95–117.  Google Scholar
  83. Mir-Hosseini, Z. 1999. Gender and Islam, The Religious Debate in Contemporary Iran. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.  Google Scholar
  84. Mir-Hosseini, Z. 2013. How to Challenge the Patriarchal Ethics of Muslim Legal Tradition, Open Democracy. Available at: <https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/ziba-mir-hosseini/how-to-challenge-patriarchal-ethics-of-muslim-legal-tradition> (Accessed 1 May 2016).  Google Scholar
  85. Moallem, M. 2005. Between Warrior Brother and Veiled Sister: Islamic Fundamentalism and the Politics of Patriarchy in Iran. Berkeley: University of California Press.  Google Scholar
  86. Mohabat-Kar, R. 2015. Introduction. In R. Mohabbat-Kar (ed.) Identity and Exile. Berlin: Transparency Iran/Böll Stiftung.  Google Scholar
  87. Naghibzadeh, F. 2009, Freiheit ist keine Metapher. Jungle.World, no 26, Available at: <http://jungle-world.com/artikel/2009/26/35337.html> (Accessed 1 May 2016).  Google Scholar
  88. Najmabadi, A. 1991. Hazards of Modernity and Morality: Women, State and Ideology in Contemporary Iran. In D. Kandiyot (ed.), Women, Islam and the State (pp. 48–71). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.  Google Scholar
  89. Sassen, S. 1996. Transnational Economies and National Migration Policies. Amsterdam: Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies, University of Amsterdam.  Google Scholar
  90. Tohidi, N. 1997. The Intersection of Gender, Ethnicity and Islam in Azerbaijan, Journal of Nationalities Papers, 25 (1), pp. 147–167.  Google Scholar
  91. Tohidi, N. 2001 & 2002. “Islamic Feminism”: Perils and Promises. Middle East Women’s Studies Review, 16 (3 & 4), pp. 13–15 & 27.  Google Scholar
  92. Vertovec, S. 1999. Conceiving and Researching Transnationalism. Oxford: University of Oxford.  Google Scholar
  93. Weißköppel, C. 2005. Kreuz und quer. Zur Theorie und Praxis der multi-sited ethnography. Zeitschrift für Ethnologie (pp. 45–68). Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag.  Google Scholar

Abstract

This article sheds light on the negotiation of female Iranian identities and seeks to chart and analyse the ongoing struggle of Iranian women to counter the prevalent ascriptions of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the ‘Western’ world which both incessantly emphasise the religious – by drawing on contexts rooted in their own language and actions. The image of the veiled or unveiled woman has always been tied to concrete political conceptions. But how do Iranian women deal with these female images and their status as icons? How do they cope with this highly influential symbolism?

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Judith Albrecht: The Struggle to be an Icon Iranian Women’s Perspectives on Female Identities in Transnational Contexts 107
Abstract 107
1. Introduction 107
2. A Multi-Sited Ethnography (Teheran, Berlin, Los Angeles) 110
3. Migrating Women and Travelling Images 112
4. Leaving Tehran and Returning 115
4.1 Berlin–Tehran–Berlin 115
4.2 Berlin–San Francisco–Berlin 116
4.3 San Francisco–Los Angeles 116
4.4 San Francisco–Tehran 117
4.5 Tehran–Berlin–Tehran 117
5. Attempts at Mediation 118
6. Berlin: Life Concepts in a Politicised Space 118
7. ‘Iftar’ in the Ebessina Cultural Centre – Cultural Self-Representation of Iranian Families in Orange County 122
8. Iranian Women as Transnational Actors 124
References 125

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