Sexuality, dating, and double standards: young Iranian immigrants in Los Angeles

Abstract

As in Many other Countries Around the World, A Gender based double standard (one set of social and moral norms governing the male and another governing the female) has always existed in Iran. In modern Iran, prior to the 1978-79 revolution, the traditional Iranian family was patriarchal and patrilineal. From early childhood, members of each gender were initiated into their respective roles and were socialized to a double standard of sexual morality. For instance, women who sought and experienced the same privileges of sexual freedom as men were not respected, but rather became victims of social ostracism. Women suffered from many social disadvantages, and their position, in most cases, was far from equal to men's.Because pre-revolutionary Iran was a traditional society, the issues of dating and intimate relationships, especially for young women, were sensitive. Some of the sharpest contrasts between Western values and traditional Iranian values existed in these areas.