Down the (digital) rabbit hole: Mapping and decolonizing Safavid women’s imagery in digital museums

Abstract: In this article, I trace Safavid paintings depicting women’s imagery online and explore the possibility of digitally mapping Safavid (1501–1736) paintings featuring women on publicly accessible platforms. Along with the practice of online mapping that led me to digital museums, I investigated the descriptions presented on three digitized paintings on different platforms to address […]

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Legitimating Misogyny and Femicide: Legal Himpathy and (State) Violence against Women in Iran

Abstract: On the fifth of February 2022, a man gruesomely murdered his seventeen-year-old wife, Mona Heydari, in a city in a southern province of Iran. The man then shocked bystanders by strolling in public spaces while carrying his wife’s severed head. This paper focuses on the case of Mona’s killing and investigates the state, media, […]

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Roundtable: Affordances, Diversity, and Inclusion on Dating Apps – A Dialogue between Sociologists and Media Studies Researchers about ‘Hinge’

Abstract: This roundtable paper is part of the project ‘Digitized Love and Intimacy on Hinge.’ It aims to investigate how digital dating apps reconfigure cultural attitudes to love and intimacy and, conversely, how said attitudes influence digital dating practices. The conversation is informed by (n)ethnographic usage of the app. As algorithms and affordances of dating […]

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From Allochronism to Generationality: Ageism in Queer Communities in Belgium

Abstract: This paper looks into ageist and generationalist assumptions that penetrate queer spatio-temporal imageries and explore how to resist oppressive temporalities. It draws on fieldwork in a queer advocacy group and qualitative interviews with trans-, lesbian-, and women-identifying participants in Belgium to explore notions of age and ageism in queer communities. The research relates to […]

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COVID-19 Pandemic and the Crisis of Care: Wellness Discourses, Neoliberal Self-Care, and (Dis)Infodemic

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an influx of misinformation surrounding the virus and its origins. This paper examines the negative consequences of neoliberal self-care discourses related to COVID-19 that contributed to the disinfodemic, focusing on the wellness industry. Some health gurus and wellness instructors promoted lifestyle adjustments and self-care to prevent contracting the virus […]

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Women’s (non) participation in sports: Gendered attitudes, biopolitics, and women’s perceptions of body and sports in Iran

Abstract: Women’s lower participation in sports in Iran is perceived to be caused by broadly held patriarchal-cultural norms as well as the Iranian State’s regulation of women’s sports and visibility. This exploratory research uses feminist scholarship and qualitative methods to investigate the central factors forming women’s perceptions of sports participation and gender. Based on interviews […]

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Queering Iran, digitally: Implicit activism and LGBTQI+ dating on Telegram

Abstract: The Iranian state is notorious for its heteronormativity and policing regime in online and offline spaces. The question of how queer Iranians ‘survive’ this inquisitive and intrusive regime of surveillance and control has attracted scholarly interest across disciplines. The existing studies complicate the picture and show that queer spaces, practices, and performances survive despite […]

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Faking Orgasms: Exploring Iranian Women’s Religious and Sexual Moralities

Abstract: The phenomenon of faking orgasms has been the subject of extensive feminist inquiry, but in contemporary Iran, where sex and sexuality remain sensitive and controversial topics, the topic has not received much scholarly attention. This exploratory pilot study uses qualitative methods to explore the prevalence and the reasons for faking orgasms among a group […]

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Gender, Sexuality, and Embodiment in Digital Spheres: Connecting Intersectionality and Digitality

Abstract: Gender, sexuality and embodiment in digital spheres have been increasingly studied from various critical perspectives: From research highlighting the articulation of intimacies, desires, and sexualities in and through digital spaces to theoretical explorations of materiality in the digital realm. With such a high level of (inter)disciplinarity, theories, methods, and analyses of gender, sexuality, and […]

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Marriage, Parentage and Child Registration in Iran: Legal Status of Children of Unmarried Parents

Abstract: In the contemporary legal system in Iran, child registration is closely tied to Islamic marriage. The Civil Registration Law foresees a process for registering a child born to Islamically married parents. This raises the question of what happens to children whose parents are not married. This paper uses literature review and content analysis methods […]

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