Everyday Feminism - February 7, 2016
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| Women's demands in Iran span political, cultural, and social rights, shaped by the diverse identities and experiences of women across different communities. |
Is Iranian feminism truly united, or do the diverse experiences of ethnic and national minority women require distinct and localized feminist movements? This article explores this question through the perspectives of three Turkish women’s rights activists, who highlight the challenges faced by non-Persian women within the broader Iranian feminist movement. Their insights reveal how cultural and linguistic differences have shaped the struggles of Azerbaijani Turkish women, pointing to the need for a more inclusive and regionally sensitive feminist approach in Iran.
"The Azerbaijani Women's Movement" Is a Necessity
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| Simin Sabri – National rights and women’s rights activist from Azerbaijan |
Where does the necessity for an "Azerbaijani Women's Movement" stem from?
To clarify the goal of feminist activism, it’s important to note that third-wave feminist thinking emphasizes the need to consider the economic, social, and cultural dynamics of a society and to craft feminist strategies based on that specific context. In other words, each society must adopt feminist strategies that are suited to its own level of economic, social, and cultural development.
While feminist activism should be rooted in a global understanding of feminism, the strategies employed must be tailored to the specific needs of each region and society. For instance, the feminist strategies that work in Sweden cannot serve as effective solutions for the social conditions in Pakistan or Indonesia. Likewise, the feminist approaches used in Pakistan and Indonesia cannot serve as effective models for feminist activism in the Netherlands or Denmark.
The same principle applies within Iran. Feminist strategies in Azerbaijan, Baluchistan, or Kurdistan cannot be the same as those applied in Fars (Farsestan). Feminist activism cannot rely on vague universalism based on the experiences of Western societies or the theories of a few intellectual elites.
Feminists should think globally but act locally. They must advance feminist work within their own society by adopting strategies and tactics that reflect the specific realities of their region. For example, a highly important feminist task for an Azerbaijani woman is the creation of feminist literature in the Turkish language. This is something that the Persian-speaking community has managed to achieve over 80 years of Persian-dominated state power, having at least laid the groundwork for a Persian feminist literary tradition. Therefore, at this point in time, for a Persian feminist, creating feminist literature is not considered an essential or pioneering activity since it has already been done or is at least in its early stages. However, for a Turkish woman in Azerbaijan, or even a Baluchi, Kurdish, or Arab woman, creating feminist literature in their own language remains a fundamental task.
This difference reflects the distinct pains and challenges of these communities and suggests that feminism in these regions must understand and address those challenges through appropriate strategies and tactics. A "one-size-fits-all" approach within the broader feminist movement will not be effective in achieving these goals. In other words, the feminist activities of non-Persian women alongside Persian women and within Persian-led organizations will ultimately lead to the assimilation and erasure of non-Persian languages and identities. Even non-Persian women find it difficult to operate within a single organization or even share a single social media platform with Persian feminists. Collaboration is possible, but full integration within such feminist spaces is not feasible for the reasons mentioned above.
Perhaps the most effective approach for Azerbaijani women at this moment is to engage in feminist activism within or for the geography of Azerbaijan. Just as a Kurdish or Arab feminist can cooperate with this movement, a Turkish woman can also participate in feminist activism led by other ethnic groups. The primary focus of such activism should be "the Turkish woman of Azerbaijan" and it should be based on the Turkish language. Non-Turkish women in Azerbaijan can and should participate in these efforts or even establish their own independent organizations.
This perspective on feminist activism in Azerbaijan does not seek to separate the feminist struggles of Iranian women. On the contrary, it aims to deepen feminist activism among all women by addressing their specific linguistic and cultural contexts. As feminist movements in different regions of Iran adopt dynamic and localized approaches, cooperation among these regional women's rights movements will become an inevitable necessity.
In other words, feminism should serve as a bridge connecting women and their independent organizations across different national regions in Iran. This approach to feminist activism would also limit the centralization of feminist discourse and express feminist awareness in the languages of the various regions of Iran, thereby spreading feminist consciousness throughout the entire country. In this framework, the goal of feminist activism is to respond to the needs of different regions and communities, with the audience of feminism being the diverse linguistic and national communities of Iran.
Decentering Persian-Centric Feminism
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| Sevil Suleymani – Women’s Rights Activist |
"As a woman, I have no country. As a woman, I want no country. As a woman, my country is the whole world."
This quote from Virginia Woolf’s novel Three Guineas reflects the history of women’s struggles in Europe and America, where women were forced to launch separate movements to secure their rights. In my opinion, this statement remains a valid slogan for today’s feminist struggle and global sisterhood. However, Iranian feminism is still tied to the concept of Iranian (Persian-Shia) identity and the preservation of territorial integrity, marginalizing minority women—those whose identities conflict with the dominant definition of Iranian identity—by labeling them as "ethnic nationalists."
Iranian feminist literature rarely addresses the experiences of Azerbaijani Turkish women with racism and internal colonialism from the Pahlavi era to the present. Nor has it adequately explored the different layers of oppression experienced by Turkish women compared to Persian and center-dwelling women. The construction of an Iranian nation-state and an identity based on "Iranian-ness" has been achieved by sidelining non-Persian ethnic groups, non-Shia and non-Muslim communities, and by marginalizing millions of people into poverty through the imposition of the privileged minority's will on the marginalized. The silence of Persian-centered feminism in the face of this marginalization cannot be reconciled with the principles of global and postmodern feminism.
Feminism, by aligning itself with the marginalized, can better understand and combat these forms of discrimination. Iranian feminist discourse has defined the identity of an "Iranian woman" as Persian and Shia, effectively positioning itself alongside the very system that relegates women to second-class status.
In my view, the feminist movement in Iran must challenge the foundations of the Iranian nation-state, which is rooted in a patriarchal and theocratic ethnic-centered system. This oppressive system, based on a mythical identity, has continuously reproduced authoritarianism—whether under monarchy or theocracy—to serve its own oppressive goals. The absence of a new definition of the Iranian nation-state and Iranian identity ensures that this cycle of authoritarianism will continue to reproduce itself in different forms.
There is no guarantee that political forces seeking to change the current theocratic regime—whether leftist or nationalist—will not recreate this authoritarianism in a new form aligned with their own ideology. Even within Iran's intellectual and social movements today, there is no clear vision for fundamentally addressing the underlying ideological and systemic problems.
For this reason, the first and most critical task for feminists should be to dismantle and question the structures and institutions of authoritarianism and the concepts upon which they are based. Administrative and identity-based centralism—where the entire mechanism of power is concentrated in the hands of a centralized government and controlled by dominant (ethnic, religious, sexual, and lifestyle) identities—must be challenged at its core. Without dismantling this authoritarian and centralized structure, which functions like a black hole for power and slows down meaningful change, it will be impossible to construct a new foundation.
By centering the Iranian nation-state and Iranian identity, Persian-centered feminists have become trapped in Persian-Aryan nationalism, distancing themselves from the core feminist value of human rights and equality. This mindset, rooted in discrimination, makes equal cooperation between Persian feminists and minority feminists impossible. Even if cooperation occurs, it will amount to weaving a web of captivity and accepting inequality. Yet feminism demands the dismantling of all forms of discrimination in every aspect of social life.
Persian feminists—who could accurately be called Persian nationalist feminists—must reject the ethnic definition of Iran and Iranian identity. They should incorporate the practical proposals of feminists from oppressed and marginalized communities as serious alternatives into Iranian feminist discourse. Instead of reinforcing Persian nation-building by labeling other peoples as "ethnic minorities," Persian feminists must confront their unjust and inhumane privileges, which stem from systemic racism in Iran. They must recognize other women in the country as equals and take practical steps to equalize the rights of all Iranian women.
Undoubtedly, by rejecting the official history, the dominant literature, and the imposed official language, we can reach a point where a shared vision for the future becomes possible. The fundamental question is: To what extent have Iranian women, particularly minority women, been involved in defining the modern identity of the country and its core elements?
If we cannot define this identity and its elements based on the interests of all the country’s inhabitants—especially women—then what is the purpose of this struggle? Therefore, the first practical step toward opening a window of hope for an equal, democratic, and just future—one grounded in human rights principles—is to reject the current definition of Iranian identity, which has been imposed on all of us through both soft and coercive means.
Intersectional Identity Politics in Iran: The Struggles of Minority Women
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| Turkmen Gamichi – Turkish Feminist |
One of the key challenges facing feminists worldwide is the issue of minority women. This is precisely the intersection where women’s rights activists and defenders of the rights of social minorities meet—a point where both minority groups, women as a gender minority and ethnic minorities, need to engage in constructive dialogue to combine their strength and potential. This would not only allow them to benefit from each other's capacities but also enrich their understanding by sharing their experiences. In countries where feminist movements are more cohesive, this issue has gained considerable acceptance among feminists. However, it seems that it has yet to receive sufficient attention from Iranian women’s rights activists and feminists.
It should not be overlooked that identity differences in the Middle East are primarily ethnic rather than racial. Since every social movement and process generates its own language and terms based on the dominant social conditions, Iranian feminism is inevitably led to produce the term "identity-seeking feminism." But the first question that comes to mind is: What are the demands of an identity-seeking feminist? How can the concept of intersectionality be defined for minority women in Iran, and how can the rights denied to them be analyzed? Can the approaches and methods of struggle used by feminists of color be adapted to explain the situation of ethnically marginalized women in Iran?
With this introduction, I aim to outline some of the key concerns of identity-seeking feminist women. Undoubtedly, efforts to foster constructive dialogue and a common language of understanding will significantly advance the goals of Iranian feminists. Identity-seeking is a significant part of the demands of an identity-seeking feminist—in fact, both aspects of this term carry equal weight in the struggles of an identity-seeking feminist. Since identity itself consists of multiple layers, it is necessary to define identity clearly before discussing the concerns of identity-seeking feminists. In this short article, I do not intend to differentiate between the various layers of identity and the needs arising from each; therefore, I must clarify that the term "identity" in this text refers to ethnic identity, which in Iran is primarily distinguished by linguistic differences.
Identity-seeking feminists address the demands of two groups of women: rural and urban women. While the root causes of ethnic discrimination are the same for both groups, the effects of discrimination in their lives differ. Therefore, depending on the distribution of women between rural and urban areas, the ethnic needs of two different ethnic groups may initially appear slightly different. For example, the needs of a Turkish, Arab, or Kurdish woman may appear different when examined broadly due to the varying rural and urban population distributions.
Rural Non-Persian Women
A rural non-Persian woman faces deprivation in terms of access to educational, healthcare, and social welfare services. However, even at the level of basic education, she is in a far more difficult situation compared to her Persian-speaking counterpart. She is illiterate, yet she cannot even effectively benefit from television programs. This deprivation from television programming not only denies her the opportunity to learn many skills but also serves as a daily reminder of her illiteracy. She blames herself for this situation, even though she had no part in creating it. She cannot communicate with her urbanized grandchild who speaks Persian; the relationship with her grandchildren and children has been severed. She is isolated and blames herself for this isolation.
Urban Non-Persian Women
An urban non-Persian woman has grown up in a system that provides no information about her own language, history, or cultural achievements. History has been monopolized by the dominant cultural group, leaving her with no sense of pride in belonging to the group she comes from. It can be said that a certain degree of nationalist sentiment exists among all nations and that a moderate level of nationalist pride can boost confidence when engaging with other nationalities. This sense of identity allows individuals to engage in more confident and respectful relationships with people from different backgrounds. This phenomenon is not a conscious effort—it resides in the human subconscious.
However, the urban non-Persian woman knows that she is different from the dominant women because this difference is inherently shaped by language. Yet, at the same time, she feels no pride or dignity in her "non-Persian self." She wants to be part of the "winning team," so she begins to deny her own identity and pretends to be part of the dominant group. To assimilate more fully, she engages in a process of self-forgetting. In this toxic socialization process, she loses a great deal.
The urban non-Persian woman, ignored by the media, finds that her social activities are disregarded unless they conform entirely to the norms of Persian-dominated feminism. The media, by erasing her from the public image and news, attempts to undermine the social movement to which she belongs. Therefore, she is censored, and her presence is not allowed to be seen alongside men. In her struggle, no media outlet extends a hand of support to her.
This highlights the difference in the situation of non-Persian women and underscores the need to address the discrimination they face more directly.
The Need for Intersectional Feminism
Therefore, identity-seeking feminism must reflect the intersectionality between gender and ethnic identity. The dominant feminist discourse in Iran has traditionally aligned itself with the Persian-speaking majority and the dominant national identity, sidelining the experiences of non-Persian women. This has created a form of "centered feminism" that focuses exclusively on the problems of Persian-speaking women, thereby reinforcing the broader structures of linguistic and cultural hegemony.
Identity-seeking feminists argue that Iranian feminism must recognize the multiple dimensions of discrimination faced by minority women and actively seek to dismantle the structures that perpetuate these inequalities. Only by integrating the voices and experiences of non-Persian women into the feminist movement can Iranian feminism become truly inclusive and intersectional.
Ultimately, the goal of identity-seeking feminism is not to replace one form of hegemony with another, but to create a more just and equal society where all women, regardless of ethnic background, have equal opportunities to shape the social, political, and cultural landscape of the country.
Link to the original text in Farsi on Everyday Feminism:
فمینیسم ایرانی و زنان اقلیت قومی/ اتنیکی- بخش نخست: زنان ترک