Voices From Iran: The Changing Lives of Iranian Women

Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Middle East

by Mahnaz Kousha

Mahnaz Kousha interviewed fifteen Iranian women in Tehran who originally came from cities and towns throughout Iran. The youngest was 38, the eldest in her 50s. Extensive excerpts from their dialogues form the heart of this remarkable book. With admirable candor the women explore their relationships with their mothers, fathers, husbands, and children. They reflect upon the institutions of courtship and marriage and address issues of childcare, housework, and women's employment. They talk openly about their concerns, ambitions, and frustrations. Finally, they discuss everyday personal problems and the solutions they devise to cope with such difficulties. Offset by telling commentary, these conversations offer significant firsthand insights into the life experiences of the modern Iranian woman and her brave search for identity. Because it covers previously uncharted ground, this volume fills a sizable gap in the study of gender and family relationships in Iran. Abundant footnotes on similar studies in the United States and other countries not only add sociological richness, but also make the book relevant beyond Iran and the Middle East.

Genres: Iran

200 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2002

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anymore it seems there are a lot of books about Iran, and especially about the women of Iran. Because for a lot of us, it's an intriguing topic. The women's lives there we can't even fathom sometimes as it's completely different from what we're used to in a culture. That being said, some of the books out there are better than the others.

Kousha interviews fifteen Iranian women from different walks of life (although the majority are educated) and how being a woman in Iran has played out for them. She explores their relationships with their mothers, fathers, husbands and their role in the workplace. She also asks whether or not they'd rather be born again as women or men and why.

To me a lot of the women she interviewed seemed to be from the same walks of life. A good many of them were able to work, some had pursued higher education, and all were at least given the autonomy to talk to an interviewer. And it's this last thing that I think shows that this book may not be reflective of the society as a whole (the author does say this is not a representational book of women in Iran). It's interesting to hear their stories and how they felt about their stations in life. Generally, most of them weren't happy with some aspects of their life but actually quite content in others.

The format of this book actually made it duller than it really was. Kousha spent a lot of time telling us what she was going to do in the book and after awhile I just wanted to get on to the interviews. But even those were broken up between speculations by Kousha about the women and their relationships. There also seemed to be a lot of repetition. We'd see a quote from one of the women and then just a few paragraphs later that same quote would be part of a larger chunk from the interview. The book was split into sections such as "Mothers and Daughters" and "Fathers and Daughters" and the conversations followed those lines.

This was an interesting book but there are plenty out there that are a little more engaging and show more of the women's stories.

Voices From Iran
Copyright 2002
244 pages

Review by M. Reynard 2013

More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea behind this book was interesting - using the personal accounts of over a dozen women to portray the variety of paths that the lives of women in Iran take. It is helpful to be reminded that everyone has a different reaction to their environment, and it was even more helpful that so much of the stories were relayed by quotes, giving depth and context to the experiences being remembered.

My issue with the book lies in its organization and syntax.

It is hard enough to keep the stories of fifteen women straight without them being all jumbled in together. I understood the author's process: to go point-by-point and insert the narratives that were best-suited with her claims. But this resulted in a disruption in flow as well as in information and the bigger picture. We're given these women's stories piece-by-piece, and the details given have been lumped by category and not by person. Unless the reader is sitting with a notepad and pen, reconstructing each woman's interview, she misses out on the whole story.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really disappointed with this book and avoided reading it for many days and then only skimmed the last half. The author really dominates the book throughout. She talked for the first 50 pages or so about herself and her research and blah blah and then even when she lets the women she interviews speak, she follows their quotes up by paraphrasing what they said. I felt she presented the women's stories in such a way that they weren't even that interesting. I was especially disappointed in this book after reading the 1950s oral history which was so well done. I don't know a lot about life in Iran and didn't lean much from this book :/