Journal of Iranian Cultural Research

Journal of Iranian Cultural Research

Obedience or resistance? The hidden secrets of the Taklif celebration for girls

Document Type : Scientific Research Manuscript

Authors
Nafiseh Roshandel 1
Majid Fouladiyan 2
Homa Zandjanizadeh 2
1 PhD student in Economic Sociology and Development, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Ferdowsi University, Mashhad, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Ferdowsi University, Mashhad, Iran
10.22035/jicr.2025.3418.3667
Abstract
This study aims to explore the lived experiences of religious girls regarding their Taklif celebration (coming-of-age ceremony) and how they reinterpret these experiences after distancing themselves from it. Given the significant gap in this field, interpreting girls' lived experiences of this rite of passage is of great importance.  This qualitative research adopts a phenomenological approach. Through purposive sampling, in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 girls from religious families who had experienced the Taklif celebration and were subsequently strictly monitored in performing religious obligations. The data were analyzed using Colaizzi’s seven-step technique. The findings reveal the post-transition phase of the rite of passage, comprising two key themes: legitimizing identity and resistant identity. The legitimizing identity is constructed through channels such as change creation, socialization, Islamic identity formation, fostering obedient identity, disciplinary rules, and social control. In contrast, the resistant identity emerges in opposition to these mechanisms. The post-transition results indicate that the construction of a legitimizing identity—through various mechanisms after the Taklif celebration—aims, on one hand, to transform girls into normative, obedient, and submissive subjects, and on the other, to establish the dominance of an Islamic identity in society. However, this process has ultimately faced resistance from girls, manifesting in their rejection of emphasized norms, such as the mandatory hijab (veiling).


Keywords
Rite of passage
phenomenology
Taklif Celebration
disciplinary power
Islamic identity
legitimating identity
resistant identity

Subjects

Akbarzadeh, F., & Hashemianfar, S.A. (2020).  [From Conventional Ethics to Post-Conventional Ethics: Typology of Commitment Experience in Cohabitation]. Journal of Sociology of Social Institutions, 2(1), 177-206. doi:  10.22080/ssi.2019.16173.1584 [In Persian]
Ayuso, L., (2018). What Future Awaits Couples Living Apart Together (LAT)? The Sociological Review, 67(1), 1-19. doi: 10.1177/0038026118799053
Bauman, Z. (2003). Liquid Love: On The Frailty Of Human Bonds. Oxford: Polity.
Bawin-Legros, B., & Gauthier, A. (2001). Regulation of Intimacy and Love Semantics in Couples Living Apart Together. Review of Sociology, 11(1), 39-46, doi:  10.1080/03906700020030983
Beck, U., & Beck-Gernsheim, E. (1995). The Normal Chaos of Love. Cambridge: Polity.
Beck, U., & Beck-Gernsheim, E. (2014). Distant Love: Personal Life in the Global Age. Polity Press.
Beck-Gernsheim, E. (2002). Reinventing the Family: In Search of New Life styles  Cambridge: Polity.
Benson, J.K., & Steffany, E.R.A. (2017). Living Apart Together Relationships In Later Life: Constructing An Account Of Relational Maintenance. Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research, 11, 193-215. doi: 10.1108/S1530-353520170000011009
Carter, J. (2022). Intersections of Intimacies and Inequalities: An Introduction. Sociological Research Online, 27(1), 3-7. doi.org/10.1177/13607804211061166
Carter, J., & Duncan, S. (2018). Reinventing Couples Tradition, Agency and Bricolage. Palgrave Macmillan.
Carter, J., Duncan, S. Stoilova, M., Phillips, M., & Roseneil, S. (2015). Sex, Love and Security: Accounts of Distance and Commitment in Living Apart Together Relationships. Sociology, 49(3) 1-18. doi: 10.1177/0038038515573689
Coulter, R., & Hu,Y., (2015). Living Apart Together and Cohabitation Intentions in Great Britain. Family Issues, 38(12), 1-29. doi: 10.1177/0192513X15619461
Duncan, S. (2011). Personal Life, Pragmatism and Bricolage, Sociological Research online. 16(4), 1-12. doi: 10.5153/sro.2537
Duncan, S., & Phillips, M. (2010). People Who Live Apart Together (Lats) - How Different are They? The Sociological Review, 58(1), 112-134. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-954X.2009.01874.x
Duncan, S., & Phillips, M. (2011). People Who Live Apart Together (Lats): New Family Form or Just a Stage? Review of Sociology, 21(3), 513-532. doi:  10.1080/03906701.2011.625660
Duncan, S., (2015). Women’s Agency In Living Apart Together: Constraint, Strategy and Vulnerability. The Sociological Review, 63(3), 589-607. doi: 10.1111/1467-954X.12184
Duncan, S., Carter, J., Phillips, M., Roseneil, S., & Stoilova, M. (2012). Legal Rights for People Who ‘Live Apart Together’? Social Welfare and Family Law, 34(4), 443-458. doi: 10.1080/09649069.2012.753731
Duncan, S., Carter, J., Phillips, M., Roseneil, S., Stoilova, M., (2013). Why Do People Live  Apart Together? Families, Relationships and Societies, 2(3), 323-338. doi: 10.1332/204674313X673419
Duncan, S., Phillips, M., Carter, J., Roseneil, S., Stoilova, M., (2014). Practices and Perceptions Of Living Apart Together. Family Science, 5(1),1-10. doi:10.1080/19424620.2014.927382
Ermisch, J., & Siedler, T. (2009). Living Apart Together. In: M. Brynin, & J. Ermisch, (Eds.) Changing Relationships (31-43). New York and London: Routledge.
Funk, L.M., & Kobayashi, K.M., (2014). From Motivations to Accounts: An Interpretive Analysis of “Living Apart Together” Relationships in Mid- to Later - Life Couples. Journal of Family Issues, 37(8), 1-22.  doi:10.1177/0192513X14529432
Gangopadhyay, J. (2023). Living Apart Together (LAT): A New Family Form in Urban India. Indian Sociological Society, 72(3), 1-17. doi:10.1177/00380229231172146
Giddens, A. (1992). The Transformation of Intimacy: Sexuality, Love and Eroticism in Modern Societies. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Giddens, A. Sutton, Ph. (2024). Sociology (H. Chavoshian, Trans.; 9th ed.). Tehran, Iran: Elmi. (Oroginal work published 2021) [In Persian]
Giraud, C. (2023). Living Apart Together: 40 Years of Sociodemographic Research on LAT Relationships. Population-E, 78(1), 051-082. doi:10.3917/popu.2301.0051
Haskey J., (2005). Living arrangements in contemporary Britain: having a partner who usually lives elsewhere and living apart together (LAT). Population Trends. (122):35-45. PMID: 16411623.
Haskey, J., & Lewis, J., (2006). Living Apart Together In Britain: Context and Meaning, Law in Context, 2(1), 37-48. doi:10.1017/S1744552306001030
Holmes, Mary. (2006). Love Lives at a Distance: Distance Relationships over the Life course, Sociological Research Online, 11 (3): 1-11. doi.org/10.5153/sro.1423
Kanani, M.A., & Alijani, M. (2022).ravābet-e zanāšuyi va bastarhā-ye ān ]Extramarital Affairs and the Contexts: A qualitative Study in Rasht[.  Journal of  Sociology of Social Institutions, (18)8, 273-296. doi:  10.22080/ssi.2022.22927.1960 [In Persian]
Khodabin, M., Sharifi Poor Bgheshmi, M. S. and Movahedzadeh, F. (2024). Critical AI Literacy: Preparing Learners for Algorithmic Societies. Journal of Cyberspace Studies, 8(2), 371-397. doi:10.22059/jcss.2024.102582
Levin, I. (2004). Living Apart Together: A New Family Form. Current Sociology, 52(2), 223-240. doi:10.1177/0011392104041809
Levin, I., & Trost, J. (1999). Living Apart Together. Community ,Work & Family, 2(3), 279-294. doi:10.1080/13668809908412186
Lotfizadeh, A., Zahedi, M.J., & Golabi, F. (2018). [Modernizing Women and Marital Intimacy; A Study of Three Generations of Tabriz Women]. Journal of Social Studies and Research in Iran, (7)2, 227-253.  doi:  10.22059/jisr.2018.260939.708 [In Persian]
Mayring, Ph,. (N.D.). Qualitative content analysis: theoretical foundation, basic procedures and software solution (M.A.  Kanani, Trans.). Guilan: Guilan University Press. (Oroginal work published 2014) [In Persian]
Mayring, Ph. (2014). Qualitative content analysis: theoretical foundation, basic procedures and software solution. Beltz.
Morgan, D. (1996). Family connections: An Introduction to family studies. Cambridge: Polity.
Nico, M., & Caetano, A. (2015). Untying Conceptual Knots: The Analytical Limits of The Concepts of Destandardization and Reflexivity. Sociology, 51(4), 666–684. doi: 10.1177/0038038515604107
Nishikido, M., & Castro-Martín, T. (2024). Living Apart Together in Contemporary Spain: Diverse Motivations Across Life Stages. Advances in Life Course Research. doi:10.1016/j.alcr.2024.100627
Nosraty, N., Tomraee, S., & Zamani, M. (2020). Beauty business in Iran: Does beauty make you healthy?. Socio-Spatial Studies, 4(1), 1-11. doi: 10.22034/soc.2020.211920
Qiu, S. (2019). Chinese ‘Study Mothers’ in Living Apart Together (LAT) Relationships: Educational Migration, Family Practices, and Gender Roles. Sociological Research Online, 25(3), 1-19. doi: 10.1177/1360780419871574
Qiu, S. (2022). Gender and Family Practices: Living Apart Together Relationships in China. Macmillan.
Quaid, S., Hugman, C., & Wilcock, A. (2022). Negotiating Families and Personal Lives in the 21st Century Exploring Diversity, Social Change and Inequalities. Routledge.
Re´gnier-Loilier, A., & Vignoli, D., (2018). The Diverse Nature of Living Apart Together Relationships: An Italy-France Comparison. Springer Science+Business Media, 35, 1-22. doi:10.1007/s12546-017-9197-0
Reimondos, A., Evans, A., & Gray, E., (2011). Living Apart Together (LAT), Relationships in Australia. Family Matters, 87(1), 43-55.
Roseneil, S. (2006). On Not Living with a Partner: Unpicking Coupledom and Cohabitation. Sociological Research Online, 11(3), 111-124. doi.org/10.5153/sro.1413
Stoilova, M., Roseneil, S., Carter, J., Duncan, S., & Phillips, M. (2016). Constructions, Reconstructions and Deconstructions of ‘Family’ Amongst People Who Live Apart Together (Lats). British Journal of Sociology, 68(1), 78-96. doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.12220
Toosi, R., Hosseini, S.H., Nosraty, N., & Rahmatian, F. (2024). Artificial intelligence, health, and the beauty industry. International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Research and Studies, 4(3), 1689-1698. doi:10.62225/2583049X.2024.4.3.4419
Wagnera, M., Mulder, C.H., Weib, B., & Krapf, S. (2019). The Transition From Living Apart Together to a Coresidential Partnership, Advances in Life Course Research, 39, 77-86. doi:10.1016/j.alcr.2018.12.002
 
Send comment about this article
Enter Name.
Enter a valid email address.
Enter a vaid affiliation.
Enter comments (At leaset 10 words)
CAPTCHA Image
Enter Security Code Correctly.