Human Relations

Context: Revolutionary societies typically attempt to reform and/or reimagine human relations in order to bring about a new social order that is more moral, ethical, and just than what came before. Efforts to shape gender roles and channel sexuality have been central to modern revolutionary projects,appearing most often in the form of “new man,” “new woman,” and “revolutionary family” campaigns. This was certainly the case in the 1959 Cuban Revolution and 1979 Iranian Revolution, despite profound ideological differences that became especially apparent as Cuba revolutionary authorities developed a hardline communist party line and Iranian revolutionary authorities turned to fundamentalist Islam in the years immediately following the overthrow of the old regimes. This paper is intended to help you understand these two revolutionary projectsand their often contradictory attitudes towards non-normative sexualities.Compare and contrast the ways in which the Cuban and Iranian revolutions have addressed the “problem”of non-normative sexualities.1.Why were Cuban and Iranian authorities concerned about non-normative sexualities?2. How did they respond to the problem in the first years after their respective revolutions? 3.How did their responses change over time? Why?4.Whichnon-normative sexualities have become (relatively) acceptable to authorities? Why?5. Which-normative sexualities are still considered a problem? Why?