Older Iranian Muslim women's experiences of sex and sexuality

A biographical approach

Bibliographic Data

ID5615071
AuthorsElham Amini (0000-0001-7459-9157, Department of Sociology University of Durham Durham UK, corresponding author), M Mccormack (0000-0002-8772-0814, Department of Social Sciences University of Roehampton London UK)
Year2021
Volume72
Issue2
Pages300-314
Publication date2021-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1315 • E-ISSN: 1468-4446
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1468-4446.12805
PMID33341961
OpenAlexW3117063955
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited53

Muslim women in Iran live in a patriarchal society which significantly restricts their freedom and agency. While there is a growing understanding of social change as it relates to younger Muslim women in Iran, the perspectives and experiences of older women are marginalized; mirroring problems with the intersections of age, gender, and sexuality in the West. In order to address this occlusion, this article draws on life history interviews with 30 older Muslim women living in Tehran and Karaj. Adopting a biographical life course approach, and examining pivotal moments related to sexuality in their lives, we discuss how cultural meanings and symbols of sexuality have emerged and been negotiated by these women at the life stages of puberty, first sex at marriage, and menopause. The patriarchal and religious gender order of Iran transgresses these women's human rights so that sexuality is experienced as a source of shame, stigma, and pollution, yet the women also exert forms of agency in their lives as they adopt and challenge these norms

Agency (philosophy · Human sexuality · Mirroring · Shame · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · Islamic Studies and History · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Psychology · Social Psychology

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