Journal of Iranian Social Studies

Abstract Background and aim: Despite the prominent place of sweets in the culture and everyday life of the people of Yazd, the cultural dimensions of their continued consumption have received relatively little independent attention. Therefore, the present study was conducted to examine the cultural and social contexts underlying the continued consumption of sweets in the city of Yazd Data and method: This study was conducted using a qualitative approach and an ethnographic method. Data were collected through participant observation, sustained engagement in confectioneries, sweet-making workshops, households, and ritual occasions, along with field notes. To complement the data, semi-structured interviews were subsequently conducted with seven confectioners and seven consumers. The data were analyzed using Spradley’s three-stage method. Findings: The continued consumption of sweets in Yazd results from the interplay of culture, economy, climate, social status, collective memory, and emotional relationships, and cannot be explained solely in terms of taste preferences or nutritional needs. In different contexts, including gatherings, celebrations, mourning ceremonies, visits to the sick, travel, Ramadan, and Nowruz, sweets serve various functions, such as expressing respect, hospitality, strengthening social ties, displaying social status, preserving memories, and transmitting cultural values. In addition, concepts that emerged from the field, including “installment sweets,” “junk sweets,” “sweets as symbolic capital,” “the ceremonial display of sweets,” and “sweets as a cultural response,” reveal less explored dimensions of the culture of sweet consumption. Conclusion: This study shows that sweets in Yazd serve as a cultural medium through which identity, social relations, and collective memory are reproduced.

Abstract Background and aim: Understanding social Stratification and women’s status helps explain patterns of inequality and power relations in society. This study examines how The Hekayat-e Baloch, a seven-volume work by Mahmoud Zand-Moqaddam, represents and positions Baloch women within social stratification relations.
Data and method: This qualitative study employs Norman Fairclough’s approach to critical discourse analysis. The data consist of narratives, descriptions, and dialogues concerning women in the seven volumes of The Hekayat-e Baloch. The data were analyzed at three levels: description, interpretation, and explanation.
Findings: The findings indicate that women are represented in a substantial portion of the narratives in relation to livelihood activities, family affairs, care for family members, and the production and reproduction of everyday life. Women’s social positions vary according to their familial and tribal status, economic circumstances, and access to resources. Narratives concerning lower-status women and female slaves reveal the intersection of gender and social inequalities. At the same time, some narratives depict women’s presence and agency in social relations and interactions among different groups.
Conclusion: The analysis shows that women’s positions in The Hekayat-e Baloch are intertwined with social status, kinship relations, economic circumstances, and tribal affiliation. Thus, the work does not present a homogeneous image of Baloch women; rather, it represents differences in their positions within the social structure and relations of power. These findings concern the representation of women in The Hekayat-e Baloch and cannot be directly generalized to the situation of all Baloch women in contemporary society.

Abstract Background and Objective: Tattooing has become widespread across various social groups, and displaying tattoos in public has become common. Tattoo is perceived with heightened sensitivity, particularly in contexts characterized by a blend of traditional and modern elements. Shiraz, as Iran’s third religious capital, provides an ideal setting for studying tattoo. Thus, this research aims to study tattooing in the social context of Shiraz to gain insight into the lives of tattooed people.
Methods and Data: This study employed a qualitative approach based on Grounded Theory. Seventeen tattooed individuals were selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews and analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding.
Findings: Data coding led to the identification of six categories. Physical-psychological benefits, and aesthetic sensibilities, constitute the causal conditions for tattooing. Normalization as the contextual condition. Significant others as the intervening condition. Struggle and argumentation are the strategies. Finally, contradictory outcomes as the consequences of tattoo.
Discussion and Conclusion: The findings gave rise to a core: Tattooing as a tool for identity and resistance. Within the social context of Shiraz—individuals draw on the structures of metropolitan life to assert themselves and engage in self-repair, deriving a sense of empowerment from their tattoos. However, because of the city’s traditional fabric, they simultaneously encounter numerous social restrictions when dealing with institutional structures and official discourses, thereby experiencing this contradiction more intensely.