Sexuality in the Islamic Republic

This chapter explores women’s initiatives for both control of abuse and freedom of expression. It survey’s the revolutionary regime’s crackdowns on dress code violations and shows how women’s demands to restrict sexual harassment could align with religious intolerance for sexual freedom. The chapter examines the regime’s shifting strategies to police sexuality and explores women’s creativity for subverting external controls on their bodies and social lives. It relates to the rise and fall of birth control, as government priorities shifted drastically. Finally, it describes popular shifts in family values, the debates over temporarymarriagetemporary marriage and polygamy, the growing popularity of divorce, and the rising anti-hijab movement.