Devices and desires: population policy and gender roles in the Islamic Republic.

There is a widely held assumption that Islamist ideology is incompatible with modernity and feminism. Active debate in Iran about the dynamics of population policy and women's rights and responsibilities, together with the government's efforts to build public consensus on the need for birth control and family planning, however, suggest that Islam may be flexible and adaptable in response to political and economic realities. Iranian women individually and collectively have questioned the male interpretation of the proper Islamic role of women. They have encouraged the government to introduce reforms in the areas of marriage, divorce, and education, and are agitating for more improvement in women's legal and social position. These activities indicate that reproductive choices and strategies are not decided by Islam, but are the product of the political and economic realities of a given society. The first population policy of the Islamic Republic was formulated in 1989. Since then, the Family Planning Board has regenerated itself well beyond its pre-revolution capacity in terms of research and public services. Population policy before and after the Islamic Revolution, building national consensus on family planning, the family planning network, women's status, contradictory signals, and women's options are discussed.