This is the first part of a two part conversation with Dr. Claudia Yaghoobi exploring the shifting dynamics of sexuality in Iran across a span of nearly two centuries. Dr. Yaghoobi, a professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, examines the intersectionality of gender and sexuality, discussing how gender rights have fared better than sexual rights. She discusses sexual mores in iran and the non-linear trajectory of iran towards modernization. Furthermore, she delves into the notion of "acceptable" sexuality and draws comparisons between Iranian and Western sexual norms. See her chapter “Iranian women and shifting sexual ideologies, 1850-2010” here.