Discoursive Analysis of Sexual Debates in Iran

Abstract

The policy area of sexuality in Iran is affected by theoretical conflict between two major approaches. The present article seeks to present a discursive formulation of the theoretical conflicts between these two approaches in Iranian society. In this study, the method of Fariclough, Laclau and Mouffe is applied in a conjoined way. The results of the research indicated that the first approach, based on religious principles, follows the idea of sexual education with the focus on sexual ethics. Furthermore, it also includes various concepts, such as sexual identity, convenient and timely marriage, hijab and continence, etc, to construct the life sex of the Iranian society. Based on this approach, sexuality is studied in a network of biological and cultural components, in which sometimes confronting sexuality does not eliminate its ambiguity but instead enhances it. The second approach is inspired by the liberal literature of the international community, by emphasizing the importance of sex education with a core of knowledge and sexual awareness. Some constructed and predominated concepts in the second approach include various perceptions, such as homosexuality, casual homosexuality, and the recognition of sexual minorities, distinction between sex and gender, and the condemnation of child marriage. In confronting sexuality, disambiguation and explicitly are the most important strategies of the second discourse. The latest public debate on the two approaches was the 2030 United Nations Document.

Keywords

• discourse analysis
• sexuality
• iranian society
• sex education