Issues of Women in Iran and the Islamic Republic's 'Very Low' Tolerance Threshold

The women's magazine 'Women Today', the only feminist monthly published in Iran in the past year, has been suspended. One of the reasons cited for its suspension was its focus on women's sports and women's demands to enter sports stadiums. Mehrangiz Kar, a lawyer residing in the United States, is our guest this week. Ms. Kar, why do you think the women's magazine was suspended? Mehrangiz Kar: The Islamic Republic cannot coexist with any press that seeks to speak the language of the people, whether men or women, and express the ideas and theories of the people. Its tolerance threshold is much lower regarding women than other issues. We have experienced this throughout all periods after the revolution; however, there was a particular era when the magazine now called 'Women Today' began publishing as a monthly in 1992 under the editorship of Shahla Sherkat, presenting a different perspective from the official viewpoint of the Islamic Republic without damaging its frameworks. At that time, it was tolerated for 16 years; however, that tolerance was also under significant tension, and the magazine faced financial and security pressures. The women's magazine was suspended during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, and its editor, Shahla Sherkat, who is also the editor-in-chief and responsible manager of 'Women Today', has not yet had the opportunity to defend herself in court against the accusations made against the magazine. In your opinion, what need did the publication of 'Women Today' fulfill in today's Iranian society? In this particular period, Iranian women are severely lacking platforms to voice their concerns and present their issues. Essentially, even in non-women's press, discussions about women's issues and current topics are not publishable. The press rarely analyzes major women's issues and generally cannot provide additional analysis. They either do not take risks or are unable to do so; therefore, there has been and continues to be a significant need not only for a magazine like 'Women Today' but for several women's magazines. However, the absence of women's publications that aim to select audiences from various groups of women and even men has been and remains a gap. One of the reasons cited for the suspension of 'Women Today', as reported in the media and mentioned on the magazine's Facebook page, was its discussion of the topic of 'white marriage'. This topic had been addressed in various publications for months, and it seems that 'Women Today' has become its victim. Did this magazine really break the taboos of today's Iranian society? The magazine that Ms. Sherkat published after seven years of silence and longing seems to me to have been very conservative. She did not want to get caught up in another seven years of silence that she had behind her. However, even to this extent, it was not tolerated. The reason can be said to be the extraordinary sensitivity of the men of the Islamic Republic towards the issue of women, and those men who have this sensitivity hold positions of authority and responsibility in important security and military sectors of the country and can easily shut down discussions about women's issues today, not just the magazine but also the problems of women today. Why? In your opinion, why do the male authorities of the Islamic Republic have no desire to publish materials about women? They do not want to face widespread protests from women again because, as you know, all women's movements have been said to have been suspended. Now they are very worried that a small movement like the publication of 'Women Today' might lead women to think they can organize a movement again and can speak about their legal, economic, and social problems. Let's look at this from another perspective. As you mentioned, for over twenty years since 1992 and the publication of the magazine, only Shahla Sherkat has been involved in publishing a magazine for Iranian women interested in their rights. During this time, we have seen several issues of a quarterly or occasional publication called 'Second Gender' published by Ms. Noushin Ahmadipour, a prominent women's rights activist. Why has no similar magazine been published during this time? Why have other women's rights activists never entered this field? I believe it requires taking risks. It requires those who have a risk-taking spirit to enter this field. Now, aside from the names you mentioned, among the women who are like-minded with Ms. Sherkat, who have revolutionary backgrounds and may currently have government support, there are many women who can apply for permits and can publish a magazine for the diverse Iranian society, which is truly a diverse community; however, they generally shy away from taking risks and it requires a lot of courage. Because sometimes their men prevent them, and sometimes they themselves prefer not to get caught up in these information exchanges and security fluctuations. Aside from Ms. Sherkat, if we examine, we cannot find... for example, Ms. Noushin Ahmadipour has made many other efforts, but her publication could not achieve the circulation and impact that 'Women Today' had. Despite all this, we cannot deny the efforts of other activists in the field of women's press. Well, Ms. Ahmadipour has invested her energy elsewhere and has taken many risks, but in the field of press, we cannot claim that anyone other than Ms. Sherkat has stood firm in this area because her vision was that Iranian women do not all necessarily have a single type of thought that can be said to be the dominant thought in the Islamic Republic. This gap remains. In your opinion, why has no other publication been able to shoulder this responsibility and find its way among women? Iran is a transforming society. Its women have played a significant role in the social transformations of the past thirty-five or six years since the revolution. Well, they need cultural spaces other than those that only lead them towards values and slogans. In my opinion, the door they are closing tightly and not allowing any openings to emerge ultimately creates many problems, even for the government.