Reshaping Bodies, Redefining Violence: Internalized Structural-Symbolic Harms and Reproductive Health in Iran



Taleb S ; Geranmayeh M ; Taleb Z
Source: Violence Against Women: Historical Trends, Contemporary Challenges, and Future Solutions Published:2026

Abstract

This chapter conceptualizes violence against women as a multilevel process in which structural and symbolic forms of domination become internalized and reproduced through bodily practices. Drawing on Galtung’s theory of structural violence, Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic violence, and feminist body theory, the chapter introduces self-imposed violence under symbolic–structural coercion to explain how seemingly voluntary body redesign practices emerge within patriarchal contexts. Focusing on Iran, the analysis identifies a cyclical mechanism through which violence is reproduced: structural pressures on women’s social acceptance → symbolic normalization of aesthetic ideals → self-imposed surgical compliance → social modeling of redesigned bodies, a process that continuously reinforces dominant beauty norms and obscures coercion under the language of choice. Using a historical–analytical and qualitative interpretive approach, the chapter draws on public health data, legal and policy documents, and empirical studies on women’s lived experiences. While body redesign is examined broadly, particular attention is given to the reproductive and sexual health consequences of Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery (FGCS), as a critical site where embodied harm becomes visible. The findings demonstrate that cosmetic interventions are not isolated individual choices but the embodied outcomes of internalized structural and symbolic violence, with measurable implications for reproductive health, agency, and identity. By reframing body redesign as a form of socially conditioned self-inflicted violence, this chapter positions the issue as a matter of public health and social justice, and outlines multi-level policy and educational interventions aimed at disrupting this cycle. © 2026 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.