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This issue brings alarming news from Iran that the feminist journal



Zanan has been closed down. Below is a report sent to me by Farideh Farhi of the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Farhi writes frequently on contemporary Iranian politics.--Claire Moses

An email received from a young and incredibly smart woman reporter I know in Tehran was short and to the point: "Zanan's license has been revoked."

Zanan, which means "women" in Persian, is a monthly magazine dedicated to the reporting and analysis of women's issues, problems, and achievements. It has been in business for the past sixteen years, weathering all sorts of pressures even during the times when many other magazines and newspapers were being shut down.... After all these years of publication, those running Zanan had no clue that this was coming and were ... stunned [by the notice]....

Those who know a bit about the publishing business in Iran understand that sustaining the publication of a privately owned magazine for sixteen years is a major feat. It is not only hard politically for a magazine that deals with sensitive social and cultural issues, facing a variety of restrictions and constant threats of shut down, it is almost impossible financially. Yet Shahla Sherkat, Zanan's license holder and managing director, has done it by repeatedly defending her magazine in front of authorities and the courts, developing a base of loyal subscribers, and relying on women-directed advertising. She unabashedly calls Zanan her third daughter and has done anything that has to be done to keep it alive, many times even accepting the charge of being too cautious from women activists and friends of the magazine.

This has not been an easy process but it has been done with grace and acumen, making Zanan the preeminent arena in which difficult gender issues are discussed, a variety of problems and solutions contemplated, and women's achievements in Iran, individually and collectively (and there are many), celebrated. In the process, a large number of young and dedicated reporters have been trained not to approach gender issues ideologically and through empty slogans but with...

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