Words, Not Swords
Iranian Women Writers and the Freedom of Movement
Syracuse University Press · Print & ebook · May 16, 2011
A woman not only needs a room of her own, as Virginia Woolf wrote, but also the freedom to leave it and return to it at will; for a room without that right becomes a prison cell.
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- Who it’s for
- Farzaneh Milani examines how movement, sex segregation, and women’s writing intersect in Iranian literature and film.
- Genres
- Feminist Theory & Criticism, Middle Eastern Lit Crit, Women's Studies
- Published
- Syracuse University Press, May 16, 2011
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Start with this bookAbout this book
A woman not only needs a room of her own, as Virginia Woolf wrote, but also the freedom to leave it and return to it at will; for a room without that right becomes a prison cell. The privilege of self-directed movement, the power to pick up and go as one pleases, has not been a traditional "right" of Iranian women. This prerogative has been denied them in the name of piety, anatomy, chastity, class, safety, and even beauty.
Continue reading
It is only during the last 160 years that the spell has been broken and Iranian women have emerged as a moderating, modernizing force. Women writers have been at the forefront of this desegregating movement and renegotiation of boundaries. Words, Not Swords explores the legacy of sex segregation and its manifestations in Iranian literature and film and in notions of beauty and the erotics of passivity. Milani expands her argument beyond Iranian culture, arguing that freedom of movement is a theme that crosses frontiers and dissolves conventional distinctions of geography, history, and religion. She makes bold connections between veiling and foot binding, between Cinderella and Barbie, between the figures of the female Gypsy and the witch. In so doing, she challenges cultural hierarchies that divert attention from key issues in the control of women across the globe.
Freedom of Movement
Farzaneh Milani examines how movement, sex segregation, and women’s writing intersect in Iranian literature and film.
Come here for
- Iranian women writers and the history of freedom of movement
- Connections between veiling, foot binding, Cinderella, and Barbie
Expect
- Discussion of beauty and the erotics of passivity
- An argument extending freedom of movement across cultures
Where it sits
| Women's Studies | 30% |
|---|---|
| Feminist Theory & Criticism | 29% |
| Middle Eastern Lit Crit | 24% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Middle Eastern Lit Crit
- Women Authors Criticism
- Authors
- Farzaneh Milani
- Publisher
- Syracuse University Press
- Published
- May 16, 2011
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Middle Eastern Lit Crit