Women, Gender, and Politics

N21(a) - Women’s Activism and Resistance

Date: Jun 5 | Time: 03:30pm to 05:00pm | Location: SJA-340E

Chair/Président/Présidente : Rebecca Major (Yukon University)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Rebecca Major (Yukon University)

Haunted Bodies: Evaluating the Act of Veiling and Women’s Struggle for Autonomy in Iran: Soma Bidarpour (University of Saskatchewan), Colleen Bell (University of Saskatchewan)
Abstract: In September 2022, the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the Iranian morality police sparked the Women, Life, Freedom (WLF) movement, drawing global attention to women’s rights in Iran. The Iranian regime targeted WLF female protestors “with shotgun fire to their face, breasts, and genitals” and subjected them to rape, torture, force-feeding, and incarceration (Guardian, 2022). This study investigates two interconnected questions. First, what are the counter-hegemonic acts of female political activists to target the hyper-masculinist identity of the Islamic state? Second, what are the state’s gendered strategies for resubjectifying and reassimilating non-normative women? Building on the work of David Campbell (1992), I argue that the Islamic Republic of Iran approaches women as a political battleground to reinforce its performative political identity. It marks unveiled women as “westoxicated” (Moghadam 1994, 124), equating them with foreign enemies and positioning them as threats to the state’s “true identity” (Campbell 1992, 3). In response, resistant (non-conformist) women use counter-hegemonic acts such as collective hunger strikes, uncovering their hair, dancing, and singing in public to reclaim bodily sovereignty and challenge state-imposed narratives. I trace how defiant women challenge “resubjectification” policies by employing lively and creative acts of resistance to reclaim their bodily sovereignty (Wilcox 2015, 14).

2022 Iranian Women’s Counter-Revolution in Contrast to the 1979 Islamic Revolution: AZADEH MOMENI (University of Toronto)
Abstract: This paper explores the Iranian Women’s Counter-Revolution of 2022 as a transformative response to the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The 1979 revolution marginalized women by stripping away rights and relegating them to the private sphere under theocratic rule. In contrast, the current movement, ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini, signals a united front across genders, ethnicities, and classes, championing "Women, Life, Freedom." Unlike the ideology-driven Islamic Revolution, this grassroots counter-revolution is citizen-led and seeks inclusion rather than exclusion, dismantling oppressive symbols like the hejab. This study examines the ways Iranian women are reclaiming public space, challenging the authoritarian state, and rejecting imposed identities, while offering a new vision for Iran that prioritizes dignity, equality, and constructive self-other relations.