Proper Women Feminism and the Politics of Respectability in Iran

"Detailing the operations of a remarkable nongovernmental center in Iran for marginalized women, this book reveals a deeper understanding of the complexities and contradictions of 'empowerment' programs and the feminist project. Theoretically sophisticated, sensitively written, and filled with rich interview and observational data, Fae Chubin's Proper Women is a highly original contribution to several bodies of literature."- Valentine M. Moghadam, Professor of Sociology and International Affairs at Northeastern University "Fae Chubin's incisive critique is a significant contribution to feminist scholarship on Iran. She argues that one of the principal challenges of Iranian feminism has been the inequitable class and cultural dynamics that made it possible for women from the privileged and middle classes to impose a neoliberal Western framework of gender oppression on women from ethnic minority groups and marginalized classes in Iran. Chubin makes a powerful case for an intersectional feminism with a genuine commitment to principles of social and economic justice for women at its heart."- Nima Naghibi, Professor of English at Toronto Metropolitan University "In this vivid and engaging ethnography, Fae Chubin expertly and eloquently brings Iran into the conversation about the entangled nature of women's empowerment projects with colonialism and Western secular-liberal feminism, as staff and clients clash over what organizational priorities and material conditions will make empowerment meaningful. The absorbing narratives offered here are made even more potent through Chubin's careful, compassionate, and innovative scholarship, which reframes justice through the experiences of those marginalized by class, citizenship status, religion, and ethnicity."- Catherine Z. Sameh, Associate Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of California, Irvine "Proper Women is an interesting, important, and very frustrating book. The frustration does not come from the author's very skillful ethnography or the analysis-this is masterful. The frustration comes from what Fae Chubin reveals about the state of the world and our attempts to change it.... Overall, this is an outstanding work and a very compelling read."- Social Forces