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Zanan: An Iranian Reformist Women's Magazine
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By Amal Hamada
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17/02/2004
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Shahla Sherkat, Editor-in –Chief
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Attending
a course on women’s studies in Tehran
was a very exciting event for me. The Institute for Women's Research and
Studies held the course, the participants belonging to various cultural
backgrounds. Most of the people taking part had good experience in women’s
studies—except for the writer—therefore, the course was very promising and
exciting; meeting new people and getting to read and discuss issues related to
women’s studies and research.
To
top it all was the meeting with Shahla Sherkat, which was one of the most
exciting experiences of the trip. Sherkat is an observer of the remarkable
Iranian experience in politics and economics, as well as social and cultural
issues. I had heard a lot about the woman and her magazine; she is the editor
– in – chief of Zanan, an important publication in Iran, covering issues relevant to women and their respective role in local as well
as national agendas. The meeting was very important for the participants in
general, and for the writer in particular, to discover and discuss what it means
to be a reformist woman journalist in the tense conditions in Iran. I had my fantasies about such an experience, but what we encountered was very
inspiring and helped to make things clearer.
The
meeting started early on one of Tehran’s beautiful winter mornings. Surprisingly, the magazine was located in
a modest building, occupied mostly by young women reporters and writers. A few
minutes later, Mrs. Sherkat arrived. She was an ordinary woman in her late
forties, dressed, like most Iranians, in a very modest way. She was different to
the mental image that I had built up about editors- in – chief of women’s
magazines; she was different— she looked and acted seriously.
Years
ago, before working with Zanan, Sherkat had been a member of staff on another
magazine, Zan-e Rouz, which was affiliated to a major publication, Kayhan.
Although Kayhan was independent, its board was a traditional and conservative
one. Zan-e Rouz means women of today, but the material in the magazine did
not effectively reflect Iranian women. During the ten years she worked there,
Sherkat tried to interfere for what she believed to be relevant to the current
conditions of women in Iran; finally, she was expelled for this reason. Before leaving Zan-e Rouz, Sherkat
sought permission to establish a new magazine, Zanan, and owing to her
cleverness and good relations with the clergy, she was granted permission; this
is how Zanan came to life.
Zanan
is considered one of the best magazines in Iran, in terms of design, photographs, graphic designs, and advertisements. An
independent organization, it supports the rights of Iranians, both men and
women, and encourages them to speak out about their grievances and complaints.
In its one-hundredth issue, the magazine discussed and criticized the legal
system, with regards to women’s rights, the relationship between the
intellectuals and ulama on women issues, and the characteristics of women’s
movements in Iran
With
these liberal and progressive stands, it was surprising that, in the early
nineties, she was able to get permission from the Ministry of Culture to publish
her own magazine. When we asked her how she did it, she said that it was at the
time when Mr. Khatemi was the Minister of Culture, and it was his ministry’s
policy to grant permission to anyone, even if they were not serious enough.
Though Mr. Khatemi and his group were criticized at the time for such a policy,
thanks to their efforts, they planted the seeds of the reform movement; and now
they are collecting the harvest.
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The Magazine was in a modest building occupied mostly by young women reporters and writers |
It
was remarkable to see that the magazine was roughly divided into two sections:
one with ordinary paper for the reports and articles and the other section, with
better quality paper, for the advertisements. The advertisements are mainly for
cosmetics and cleaning detergents. Commenting on that, Sherkat said that the
paper is the most expensive part of their work, they had to keep the good paper
for the advertisements, in order to keep the price reasonable for people to buy
the magazine and read it, after all, this
is the point of having the magazine. They publish approximately 40,000 (forty
thousand) copies of each edition and they work independently, with no sponsor,
therefore advertisements are important to keep them going.
They
try to choose respectable advertisements, but they cannot help it if some
companies do not choose them as a forum to address potential customers.
Another
important issue discussed in the meeting, related to sensitive issues of
government and how to address them. Sherkat made it clear that they are very
careful; it is the responsibility of the editor –in – chief, not the
responsibility of the reporter. One must also remember that women in general,
and women reporters in particular, do not go to jail for political crimes,
therefore they are more advantaged than men are. The red lines are not only
about politics, sometimes they are not allowed to discuss issues such as sexual
relationships, or have pictures about breast cancer. People in charge of any
magazine know the red lines, they tend to write between the lines and their
readers are accustomed to read between them. As she put it, "a good
reporter knows what to say and when to say it".
Is
there a women’s movement in Iran? Sherkat believes that there is a genuine one. It has no leadership, and that,
maybe, is its strength. It is spontaneous and continues to advance; it will be
stronger and more effective in the future. We left Zanan filled with hope—as
is its editor-in- chief, Shahla Sherkat.
Amal
Hamada, Junior lecturer in faculty of economics and political science,
Cairo University, Egypt. She is a PhD. candidate, an observer of the Iranian
political system for the last 14 years.
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