Negotiating Commitment: White Marriage in Iran

Abstract

Iranians describe unmarried, cohabitating couples as living in a ‘white marriage’. The growing number of white marriages in Iran has provoked official media condemnation and increasing public discussion about commitment. In this article I examine the meaning of commitment and commitment-making processes among middle-class women and men in pre-marital and self-regulated white marriages. I argue that their conceptualization of commitment in white marriage is heterogeneous, fluid, and mutually agreed upon, rooted in a resistance to expectations of their relationship based on old norms of marriage. Moreover, I note how their idea of commitment in white marriages evolves over time. I also examine white-marriage commitment during life challenges, such as a financial crisis or illness. My investigation, based on sixteen interviews, shows that beyond the binary of traditional or modern in third space, most couples in white marriage believe in negotiating agreed-upon commitment in an egalitarian way, whereas in practice they reproduce gendered norms, while offering each other mutual support during life crises.