Exploring the Iranian-American women's sexual experiences: Preliminary finding of a qualitative study

Abstract

Although there is considerable research on the status of women as it relates to culture, religion, politics and the dominant male presence in Iranian societies, there is paucity of research that examines these issues of sexuality from the perspective of Iranian-American women. This study explores the experience of Iranian-American women regarding their sexuality using a narrative methodology. Twenty in-depth interviews have been conducted so far and the interview data is being analysed to understand the socio-cultural issues that frame the experiences of migrant Iranian-American woman in both cultures - ie Iranian and Western traditional orientation to sexual values and behaviour. The paper discusses some of the preliminary findings from the on-going study.