Regulating Sexuality in Contemporary Iran: Red Lights in Parks

21 Feb 2014

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Regulating Sexuality in Contemporary Iran: Red Lights in Parks

Presented by Dr. Batmanghelichi, PhD Columbia University, a candidate for UCIS Visiting Professor position. Soon after the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the landmark Shahr-e No, a government-regulated brothel area in Tehran, was demolished and later developed by the Islamic Republic into a pristine, Islamic family-themed park called Park-e Razi. Details about the historic spatial and ideological transformations of this century-old red-light district are seldom known or analyzed in popular and academic discourses. In this lecture, Dr. Batmanghelichi traces the social realities of this leisure space over a forty year period, using both archival and ethnographic sources. This investigation is part of her larger study on bodily technologies employed by the Iranian state to regulate sexuality, in general, and prostitution, in particular, through the ideal rehabilitation of women, public space, and public memory.

Event Date: 
Friday, February 21, 2014 - 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Institution(s): 
Sponsored By: 
Global Studies Center
Location: 
4217 Posvar Hall, University of Pittsburgh
Target Audience: 
Higher Education
Presenter Type: 
Visiting Scholar/Faculty