Medical discourse and sexual controversies after the arrival of modernity in Iran

In the traditional world, sexuality possessed an ideological nature and was understood based on the conflict between public and private spheres. However, with the advent of modernity in Iran, sexuality, as a cultural and social phenomenon, became subject to discursive controversies. The central question is: during the process of modernity's infiltration into Iran, which approaches utilized medical discourse to engage in theoretical debates concerning the management and control of sexuality in society, and how can the strategies of each of these approaches and discourses in addressing sexual issues in society be formulated?
The findings of this research indicate that religion and modernity, as two competing discourses, employed medical discourse to debate the regulation of sexual deviances. These debates commenced with venereal diseases, in response to which two main discourses emerged: the religious discourse, which considered physicality (tanāngī) a sign of corruption, prostitution, and a foreign issue, and the modern discourse, which removed venereal diseases from the realm of morality and ideological perspective and, by employing medical meanings, interpreted them not as criminal behavior but as a domain of illness.
Although the integration and intertwining of religion with political and social spheres in the Qajar era could not liberate other approaches from the hegemony of religious discourse, the elements agreed upon by religion remained the most significant meanings of rejection and highlighting in managing and controlling venereal diseases.