Amir-Ebrahimi 327and even sometimes create new social movements that can have signifi-
cant consequences in the physical world.
nternet and weblog writing became a tool of empowerment for I
youth and women, as well as for intellectuals, journalists, artists, ex-pol-
iticians and other marginalized social groups. For youth, this empower-
ment begins with a redefinition of the self through the consolidation of
new identities and the exercise of self-expression because many of them
believe that their “real/true” identities have been “lost/repressed/hidden”
in Iran’s public spaces. Women use weblogs to voice their frustrations,
needs and interests on a personal and social level. Intellectuals, journalists
and artists see the opportunity to create a new public sphere where they
express themselves, interacting and exchanging their points of view with
their publics inside and outside Iran. These new bodiless selves form new
communities and contribute to the emergence of a new public sphere that
had been absent in Iranian physical spaces.
Appearance and performance in post-revolutionary Iran
Until recently, self-narration in public (such as autobiography) was
unheard of in Iranian culture. According to Michael Craig Hillman, “in
1980, the novelist and literary critic Reza Barahani reacted to a biographi-
cal sketch of himself by worrying that its review of political issues in his
life might jeopardize his academic career, if not his political freedom...
In other words, specifically Iranian concerns about the reaction of fam-
ily, friends, neighbors, and society at large play a not insignificant role in
the attitude of writers when it comes to telling the story of a writer’s life.”^7
This concern is especially acute for women, who have almost always been
subject to the observation and judgment of others about their decency
and their reputation. For centuries, women have hidden their lives and
their inner selves [Bāten] behind walls, veils, appearances [Z.āher] and
performances to stay safe according to ‘urf [conventions] and to shari’a
[religious law].^8 After the Islamic Revolution it was no longer sufficient to
hide the “inner self”; people also had to learn how to perform their pub-
lic selves in different situations and spaces according to newly imposed
norms. Particularly during the first two decades of the Islamic republic