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| Sevil Suleymani |
According to Sevil Suleymani, Iranian feminists, unlike the feminist movement in the West, do not prioritize the issues of women from minority groups. In an interview with Voice of America, the cultural activist living in the United States discussed how feminist movements in different periods in the West have paid attention to the ethnic and religious identities of women in addition to gender issues.
“In the first wave of feminism, in Europe and later in America, it was an entirely gender-based movement focused on women. They were simply fighting for women’s rights. However, when African American women joined this movement in America, it became clear that their problems were not just related to their gender. For example, white women were fighting for the right to vote and the right to be elected, but African American women were not even recognized as human beings,” she notes.
She explains that over time, feminist movements emerged that not only focused on gender but also on the issues of minorities:
“Other minority groups joined African American women and realized that the discourse of hegemonic white feminism did not address their desires... Then the issue of Intersectionality came up, and it explained that unless you address all the discriminations against me, you cannot even analyze my issues as a woman.”
According to the University of San Diego student, with the emergence of these issues, "feminism redefined itself. It set aside the definitions from the past. In the new definition, the goal of feminism was to eliminate all forms of discrimination. It no longer focused solely on gender. As a result, today in American women's studies departments, all of these areas are examined: ethnic issues, religious minorities, and so on."
She says that, like the first wave of feminism in the West, the Iranian feminist movement still does not address the issues of minorities.
“The Iranian feminist movement has no literature on this issue. The white hegemonic feminism from the first wave in America continues to exist in Iran today. If we look at the books written about women's rights in Iran, how many of them address the issues of women from minority groups? When we talk about feminist literature written in Persian, it depicts a Muslim, Persian, and Shia woman. When we talk about Iranian women, the image of a Shia and Persian woman comes to mind... If you write about the issues of ethnic groups, you are accused of ethnocentrism and pushed aside,” Sevil Suleymani adds.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Sevil Süleymani: İran feminizmi müsəlman, şiə və fars bir qadını təsvir edir