Passionate Uprisings

by Mahdavi, Pardis

• ISBN13: 9780804758567
• ISBN10: 0804758565
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-09-04
• Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr

Summary

There is perhaps no place in the world today where the stakes of partying and having sex are higher than in present-day Iran. Drinking and dancing can lead to arrest by the morality police and a punishment of up to 70 lashes. Consequences for sex outside of marriage can be even more severe--up to 84 lashes, or even public execution. But even under the threat of such harsh punishment, a sexual revolution is taking place. Iranian youth continually risk personal safety to meet friends, date, and, ultimately, to have sex. In the absence of any option for overt political dissent, young people have become part of a self-proclaimed revolution in which they are using their bodies to make social and political statements. Sex has become both a source of freedom and an act of political rebellion. With unprecedented access inside turn-of-the century Iran, Pardis Mahdavi offers a firsthand look at the daily lives of Iranian youth. They are given a voice as she tells the stories of their intertwined quests for sexual freedom, political reform, and a better future - but not a future without risk. The sexual revolution is also leading to increased levels of abortion, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, and ongoing emotional troubles and mental illnesses, with worrying implications for Iranian youth and Iranian society at large. Passionate Uprisingsis a fascinating, ground-breaking, and personal look into a society that is poorly understood--if it is understood at all--by the majority of Westerners today. Mahdavi's narrative provides not only an invaluable insight into the real lives of much of Iran's population, but shows how sexual politics and the youth culture could even destabilize the current regime and change the course of Iranian politics.

Author Biography

Pardis Mahdavi is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Pomona College and a consultant for the International Women's Health Coalition. She previously was editor-in-chief for Slant Magazine, as well as a consultant for the United Nations Population Fund, and has written for the Los Angeles Times Magazine. As part of her research for this book, Mahdavi visited Iran over a period of seven years, starting in 2000.

Table of Contents

Prologue	p. 1
Welcome to Tehran	p. 11
Life in the Islamic Republic of Iran	p. 39
Tehran Chic	p. 104
Meeting, Mating, ... and Cheating in the Islamic Republic	p. 135
Caught!	p. 184
High Risk	p. 216
The Adults	p. 268
Growing Up in the Islamic Republic?	p. 298
Acknowledgments	p. 311
Notes	p. 313
Works Cited	p. 323
Index	p. 327
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