Cycling as Resistance: Women living under Islamic Authoritarianism
Keywords:
Gender and Mobility, Gender and Cycling, Grassroots Activism, Authoritarianism and Resistance, Women and Shari'a LawAbstract
The regulation of women’s bodies under the Iranian and Saudi Arabian regimes has been the subject of much research. However, the majority of this research has fo- cused on restrictions on women’s clothing, access to the public sphere, and/or sport. This paper builds on these theories and suggests that the act of women cycling embodies resistance to the projection of the authoritarian regime’s power onto women’s bodies. Further, it argues that in rejecting the Iranian and Saudi Arabian regimes’ restrictions on mobility, women who cycle can participate in the reconstruction of gender from below.
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• Hoodfar, Homa. “Kicking back: the sports arena and sexual politics in Iran”. In Sexuality in Muslim Contexts: Restrictions and Resistance. Edited by Anissa Hélie and Homa Hoodfar. London: Zed Books, 2012.
• Kuru, A.T. “Authoritarianism and Democracy in Muslim Countries: Rentier States and Regional Diffusion”. Political Science Quarterly 129, no. 3 (2014): 399-427.
• Mir Hosseini, Ziba. “Criminalising Sexuality: Zina Laws as Violence Against Women in Muslim Contexts”, SUR 8, no. 15(2011), 7-33.
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• Ramdani, Nabila. “Saudi women are allowed to cycle – but only around in circles”, The Guardian, April 3, 2013. Accessed January 3rd, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2013/apr/03/saudi-women-allowed-to-cycle .
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• Wheeler, Deborah L. "Saudi Women Driving Change? Rebranding, Resistance, and the Kingdom of Change”. The Journal of the Middle East and Africa 11, no. 1 (2020): 87-109.
• Zamaneh Media Writers, “Iranian Women’s Cycling Barred by Law or Shari’a?”, Zamaneh Media, September 8, 2016, accessed 20, 2021, available at https://en.radiozamaneh.com/28105/ .
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Published
2021-12-06
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