0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
A potentially great topic, written so bad. Disappointing!, Feb 16 2009
This review is from: Passionate Uprisings: Iran's Sexual Revolution (Hardcover)
The initial topic has a huge potential for discussions and studies by various people. I've always believed that the level of sexual repression in Islamic countries is a big source of being hateful, holding radical views and not having a stable life. Most famous Jihadists including those who attacked the NYC on Sep 11th 2001 or the attackers in Bombay in India a few months ago had severe sexual repressions. I've always jokingly of course, told my western friends that the west should bomb Iran to freedom not through smart bombs or laser munitions but by dropping tons and tons of Playboy & Hustler magazines or porn DVDs. A sexual revolution in Iran the way it happened in the west in 50s, 60s and early 70s (Sexual freedoms) is a great peaceful way to open up the Iranian society. Having had thoughts like this, I thought Ms. Mahdavi's book (which is more like a college research essay) could tell me how this new sexual uprising is unfolding in Iran. I was terribly disappointed to know that she has based her research on ONLY 7 individuals in Iran and that she has basically done little background check on her subjects. Most of her subjects come from upper middle class or high class families where the social and traditional laws are already lax and less intense and therefore they are not really the problem in today's Iran. Our problem is the lower level parts of the populace where radical and religious views are intense and more deep rooted. She has done nothing to uncover those people. And she has written a book based on talking to 7 individuals through a period of several years. This hardly can be encouraging. I believe the sexual revolution is taking place in Iran, I never dispute that. But Mahdavi's book is not the best way of finding out how it is unfolding within the society. 7 people can not really be a revolutionary movement. Moreover, I think Ms. Mahdavi has tried to paint a rosie image of Iran for the foreign readers especially the liberal ones in the US. I might know why she has done it: That rosie picture could help her return to Iran more often and most likley regime won't bar her from re-entering the country in the future. That's understandable since she would like to study Iran but this approach will not make her any more credible and the picture she has tried to convey to the west is hardly true and close to reality.
I am going to wait for the book by Ms. Janet Afary to come out. May be it will be a different and more accurate study of the issue.
Sexual Politics in Modern Iran
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