Entitled Yet Resistant: Masculinities of Dissent under the Gender Apartheid Order in Iran

The monograph, tentatively titled Entitled Yet Resistant: Masculinities of Dissent under the Gender Apartheid Order in Iran, explores how men shaped by patriarchal privilege may also experience a sense of critical distance, prompting them to negotiate, challenge, or reject the very norms that uphold their positions. Building on my long-standing research on (un)desirable heterosexual femininities and masculinities in post-revolutionary Iran and its diaspora, the book examines how some men—formed by, yet disenchanted with, the Islamic Republic’s gender order—navigate, resist, or unsettle inherited masculine roles. It highlights both quiet ambivalence and overt acts of dissent, revealing masculinity as a site of complicity, vulnerability, and critique. In Iran, masculinities are shaped by political affiliation, class, education, ethnicity, urban–rural divides, and ideals of piety or toughness. Using a translocational lens, the book analyzes how these intersecting factors produce diverse and sometimes conflicting forms of masculine capital. Drawing on cultural analysis, legal discourses, and personal narratives, it explores the emotional, social, and political stakes of being man in contemporary Iran. The book addresses two gaps: the marginalization of men’s gendered experiences in Middle Eastern gender studies, and the dominance of Western-centric frameworks in masculinity studies.