The Contradictions of Imperial Feminism: Humanitarian Discourse, U.S. Militarism, and the Suffering of Iranian Women

Abstract

This study looks at the paradoxes of U.S. humanitarian discourse and actual experiences of Iranian women in the current Iran-U.S. conflict. Popular political discourses regarding Iran mainly focus on women's rights; democracy and liberation, while in reality social, economic and psychological hardships are deepening at the hands of militarism, sanctions and geopolitical tensions. The study states that these paradoxes are representative of the politics of imperial feminism, which involves feminist/humanitarian language being used opportunistically to support interventionist/militarist politics. Building on the framework of postcolonial feminist theory, the research methodology used is qualitative with a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) approach in examining the political speeches, media representations, policies and humanitarian narratives about Iranian women. The study examines the construction of Iranian women as oppressed subjects that need to be saved by Western political and media discourses while ignoring the gendered effects of war, sanctions and structural violence. In addition, the research examines the marginalization of the voice, agency and resistance of Iranian women in the dominant geopolitical discourse. This study will analyze the intersections of gender, power and militarism in a way which will enrich feminist scholarship on war, representation and global politics. It makes explicit the potential of the humanitarian language as an ideologically-driven tool that validates violence and suggests that the life experience of women in conflict situations is invisible. Finally, the purpose of the study is to bring up the realities and resistances of Iranian women in other discourses concerning imperialism, feminism and international politics.