Slavoj Zizek On International Feminism

Slovenian culture critic and philosopher Slavoj Zizek has written an essay that mostly describes the attempt to change gender relations in an international context.  He somehow manages to frame this phenomenon as a political right-left struggle, exemplified by the current unrest in Iran. 

But he wanders away from Iran and extensively relates the details of a semi-historical movie based on events in West Africa which seems to have little to do with the present state of affairs.

Written before the expulsion of Liz Truss, Zizek uses her and Giorgia Meloni's democratic assumption of transitory power and the lurking of Marine Le Pen in the background of French politics as related in some way to the Iranian situation.

Unlike present-day western societies, Iran is a Shiite theocracy, governed by Muslim clerics that believe that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor. As in other branches of Islam, many aspects of life are heavily regulated by religion, for instance the wearing of the hijab in public appearances by women. Since men aren't required to dress in any particular manner, some women rightfully feel they have a lesser status than men in Iranian society that is enforced by an oppressive government.

Unfortunately for them, oppressive government and the religious authorities are the same institution. This has been the case throughout history. Rulers almost always justify their actions as being the will of God or the gods.

One could make the case that many forms of religion, past and present, are not so much concerned with life after death or the existence of a supreme being but are most interested in what's going on at the present. Studies of other primates that don't seem to have the qualities of abstract thought or language show that one thing that interests them greatly is sex. In fact, this is true over much of the animal kingdom. Horses, cows, beavers, squirrels and other animals are unlikely to have any kind of religious beliefs but within their own small societies sex is heavily regulated, generally by the dominant males. It could be said that religion is meant in its most basic terms to structure the relationships of the sexes. That's why modern religions require marriage rites and have provisions in the legal systems of the societies they dominate punishing adultery, prostitution and other licentious behavior. 

As religions evolve and change over time, their definitions of proper behavior do as well. That explains the acceptance in the western Christian world of once prohibited homosexuality. Same sex marriage is no longer a sin to most.

The Shia empire in Iran will soon dissolve, just as Cromwell's Puritans no longer call the shots in the UK or North America, at least in their original form. Hiding females behind burkas will join the now extinct bustles of nineteenth century, while other aspects of Islam will remain.

Zizek should recognize that everything changes all the time and the ferment in Iran is as temporary as anything else. Right or left wing politics really don't have much to do with it.