Shahrnush Parsipur’s ‘Women Without Men’ and the Fight for Iranian Women’s Freedom

As Iranians around the world watch for potential shifts in the Islamic Republic, the long-awaited UK publication of Shahrnush Parsipur’s 1989 novella, Women Without Men, arrives as a potent reminder of decades of resistance and the ongoing struggle for women’s rights in Iran. The book has been longlisted for the 2026 International Booker prize.

A Life of Resistance

At 80 years vintage, Parsipur is considered one of Iran’s most celebrated and courageous feminist writers. Her stories gained prominence in Iranian literary circles during the 1980s, leading to her imprisonment for nearly five years without formal charges. Following her release, she published Touba and the Meaning of Night and Women Without Men in 1989. These works circulated underground, shared among Iranian women, until a copy of Women Without Men reached the wife of an Islamic Republic official.

This led to Parsipur’s second arrest and imprisonment, this time for her depictions of women’s bodies and sexuality. She eventually sought exile in northern California in the mid-1990s, where she continues to live today.

The Story of Sanctuary and Rebellion

Women Without Men is set in Tehran in 1953, against the backdrop of the US- and UK-backed coup that reinstated the Shah. The novella follows five women – Munis, Faezeh, Zarrin, Mahdokht, and Farrokhlaqa – each fleeing oppressive circumstances: violent marriages, stifling social expectations, and political turmoil. They find refuge in a garden outside Tehran, creating a temporary sanctuary from societal control and shame.

The characters represent different facets of the challenges faced by Iranian women: Munis escapes her brother’s control, Faezeh’s faith is shattered by rape, Zarrin flees the dehumanization of sex work, Mahdokht transforms into a tree out of fear of intimacy, and Farrokhlaqa leaves her husband to build a space of independence.

The Power of ‘Bekarat’ and the Fight for Bodily Autonomy

Parsipur identifies the core of the controversy surrounding her work as centering on the taboo topic of virginity – “bekarat” in Farsi. She recounts that an official’s wife objected to the book not given that it was anti-Islamic, but because it dared to address the subject of virginity. Parsipur herself suffered from anxiety about her own virginity as a young woman, due to a lack of education about female anatomy, and wrote the book to prevent other girls from experiencing the same distress.

She emphasizes that the pressure surrounding virginity extends beyond religious families, encompassing societal expectations and even the desires of men – a phenomenon she believes is “universal.”

Enduring Legacy and the “Woman, Life, Freedom” Movement

Despite being banned in Iran, Women Without Men has been translated into numerous languages and adapted into a film in 2009. Parsipur believes the book resonated because it addressed universal themes of female desire for freedom and autonomy. She observes that Iranian women are increasingly challenging societal norms, as evidenced by the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement that began in 2022.

Parsipur expresses her conviction that “The women of Iran will cause the fall of the Islamic Republic.” She has largely ceased writing in recent years, feeling disconnected from the Iranian context while living in exile, stating, “I’m not in Iran, so I can’t write something new. I’ve written all my stories already.”

Women Without Men will be published by Penguin on March 26th.