"Woman question" as an Instrument of the Nation-state

These authors reveal several ways in which women and the construction of a gendered and/or feminized discourse was used as a tool in the nationalist project. Najmabadi explores how the changing meaning of vatan (as a gendered signifier) had profound implications in the construction of nationalist discourse, the creation of the "nation of Iran," as well as what that means and has come to mean for its "citizens" over time. The shift from Iran as "mother earth" to "mother/beloved" to female body was created and then developed in conjunction with greater emphasis on geographic space in defining Iranian national identity. The power of land and territory was crucial in the construction of an alternative nationalism that utilized a distinctly gendered discourse that called for the male protection of an "abject beloved," one produced from the failure of Iranian masculinity (109).

The construction of citizenship in response to such nationalism (and the meaning placed on such a concept) is fascinating, one Najmabadi notes was articulated through a rights-based discourse, and brings attention to the implications of new nationalism of the power dynamics within the state. What it meant to be an Iranian citizen came to depend on one's relation to geographic space rather than allegiance to a monarch (103), which not only changed how one's role within the state was conceived, but also the obligation then placed on the individual as a member of that "nation." Najmabadi notes that the construction of Iran as a female body was central in "producing a gendered notion of the nation and modern citizenship" which contributed to the "emotional charge of Iranian nationalism" (106) from its citizens. How is this notion of "citizen" informed by this changing gendered discourse? How can (or should) we understand the various (new) meanings of citizenship in this context? What are the implications of rights-based discourse surrounding "citizenship" in the context of a female Iranian nationalism?

Kandiyoti explores how the "woman question" was not only created in the forging of national identity, but also contributed to the creation of that identity, highlighting the importance of analyzing the experience of women in Muslim societies within the proper historical and geopolitical context in which such experiences are (and still continue to be) built and understood. She demonstrates how gendered discourse was utilized as a mechanism of social control within a larger state project, as demonstrated by ideological shifts on "women's authenticity" and the intervention (a term I hope we'll explore further) of the state into family life (8-9). She aptly notes that the simultaneous push for an independent nationalism and the reaffirmation of "Islamic identity" within Turkey (Mernissi) cannot be understood without its placement in the geopolitical context.

In the second chapter, Kandiyoti reveals how distinctly gendered ideologies have been used as means for the construction of a "better nation" through such discourse within the Turkish context. The appearance and construction of women - first as objects, then as political actors - became instruments of the state, particularly in the navigation of Western influence and secularization. Ideologies of "women's emancipation" created not only a discursive space where nationhood and Islam could be linked (Turkism), but was also used a tool (through the creation of the "new woman" (41)) in the Kemalist fight for a secular Turkey (42-3).