From Bedrooms to Streets: The Rise of a New Generation of Independent Iranian Women

The image of Iran in the global media is that of an ever-expanding authoritarian regime, determined to hold on to its ideological foundations as they were articulated in 1979. However, beneath the surface profound shifts are taking place in Iranian society, particularly in the institution of marriage and sexuality–changes that threaten the core principles of the regime and have substantially weakened its ideological appeal. While the Iranian media presents these changes as highly negative and destructive, in many cases they have also released women from the shackles of outdated notions of “morality” and “propriety,” and made it possible for them to emerge as leaders in the unrelenting grassroots protests against the authoritarian regime. This article looks at some of these shifts in the last decade and the ways in which they continue to threaten the ideological fabric of a regime that has built its legitimacy on old notions of justice, gender segregation, family values, and supposed piety and morality.