Iran – Women’s Magazine Zanan-e Emruz (Today’s Women) Makes Comeback
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: May 19, 2014
WUNRN
Iran –
Women’s Magazine Zanan-e Emruz (Today’s Women) Makes Comeback
After being shut down by
hardliners in 2008 the May 29 revival of this 16-year-old feminist publication
is an event to celebrate as a defining moment for the resurgence of women’s
rights in the post-Ahmadinejad era.
Pages from
the new issue of the Iranian magazine Zanan-e Emruz. Credit: Arash Ashurnia
(WOMENSENEWS)–Shahla
Sherkat, the award-winning journalist and one of the pioneers of the women’s
rights movement in Iran, re-launched on May 29 her feminist magazine shut down
by hardliners in 2008 after 16 years in operation. The magazine reopens under
the banner Zanan-e Emruz or “Today’s Women,” available in print and
online.
This unveiling comes at a most critical juncture,
emblematic of an era of political in-fighting and ideological schisms in a
leadership structure split between hardliners who continue to cling to
antiquated notions and moderate factions who appear more amenable to granting
more social freedoms.
The
magazine is reviving at a time when a myriad of free-flowing photographs are
being posted online by hijab-free women in Iran
as part of the “Stealthy Freedoms of Iranian Women” campaign. This
bold stance against an enforced dress code, created by London-based Iranian
journalist Masih Alinejad, has been rapidly gaining momentum with over 350,000
followers on its Facebook page alone.
This
demonstration of women’s determination to break a ruling patriarchal cycle
helps make Sherkat’s re-emergence on the journalistic landscape after a
six-year absence a defining moment.
For nearly
two decades, Sherkat, who had mastered the art of survival, courageously
deviated from the normative print media with a unique brand of journalism to
cover a vast array of controversial topics, including some that criticized the
Islamic Constitution.
Through
vivid and exquisite prose, the magazine portrayed the bitter realities of
everyday life for Iranian woman. Articles such as “Female Students Behind
Invisible Fences,” “Women’s Issues Do Not Have Priority” and
“Why Don’t Women Get Paid as Much as Men” highlighted the biases of
an Islamic state. While features, including “Article 1133 of the
Constitution: A Man Can Divorce His Wife Anytime He Wants,”
“Feminists Do Not Have a Place in Tehran’s
Municipality” and “Man: Partner or Boss?,” contested the premise
of patriarchal laws in Iranian society.
Zanan’s modernist interpretation of gender issues challenged Islamic codes
of conduct by demonstrating the ambiguous nature of Quranic verses, thus
rendering the text open for debate. For example, the law recognizes a man’s
right to take up to four wives as long as he is able to treat them all in an
equal manner. In principle this undertaking is highly inconceivable, if not
impossible for any ordinary man to have the ability to treat all four wives in
exactly the same manner. This liberating medium was employed as a blueprint to
expose manipulated “truths” and renegotiate a life of confinement
authenticated by male-driven authority.
Onslaught of Allegations
Sherkat
frequently faced an onslaught of allegations by Iran’s
including her
questioning of an enforced religious dress code.
On Jan.
28, 2008, the magazine finally fell prey to the conservative climate of the era
of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-2013). The Press Supervisory Board of Iran, backed
by the Ministry of Culture, shut down Zanan for “endangering the
spiritual, mental and intellectual health of its readers, and threatening
psychological security by deliberately offering a dark picture of the Islamic
Republic.”
On many
occasions, while she was publishing the magazine, Sherkat spoke of her
daily struggle and the dilemmas associated with running a feminist publication
in this environment: “There are many times when my writers ask me to put
something in the magazine, and I sit down and measure the costs and benefits of
printing something,” she said during an interview with PBS in 2007.
“Sometimes you print something that is of extreme value, meaning that it
has a very positive impact on the reader, and that one piece does great work in
society. I may even decide to do that, even if it leads to the closure of the
magazine.”
Since the
demise of Zanan, Sherkat, who accepted a position as head of advertising for
Samsung Corporation in Iran,
kept hoping to make a comeback. In 2010, the divorced mother of two girls
candidly spoke about her loss, comparing the magazine to one of her children.
She told the Neiman Foundation for Journalism at HarvardUniversity: “Every day I
arrive at work but a piece of the puzzle of my being has been lost. It has been
two years since they have taken from our family my 16-year-old daughter Zanan.
I have walked up and down many stairs and corridors to find my lost one. But
have not had any success.”
Today,
Sherkat’s new act reflects her passion and altruistic mission for advancing the
rights of women in Iran.
The pages of Zanan-e Emruz are vividly brought to life with a potpourri of
passionate and inspirational pieces, including “Why Is It that Men are
Unaware of their Violence and Aggression Towards Women?” and “Women’s
Absence from the Sports Arena.” They showcase the harrowing and often
disturbing circumstances facing women handicapped by legalized
restraints.
Candid
interviews with renowned women’s rights activists in Iran, coverage of
international women’s issues and a variety of articles, including “Women’s
Voices in the Iranian Parliament Are Not Heard,” “The Injustice Faced
by Female Factory Workers in Iran” and “Unemployment Among Women Is
Twice as Much as Men,” shed much needed light on an ongoing affliction.
The future
of Iran is
hidden in a convoluted landscape. But what appears certain is that, despite all
barricades, women’s activism is resurging. And, in this respect, Sherkat has
once again indisputably proven that neither she nor the objectives of women’s
rights will be silenced.
Categories: Releases
