Feminist Identity in Conceptual jewelery: Case study of Contemporary Iranian Women Jewelery Designer (Fatmeh DolatAbadi, Pegah Vedad, Farzaneh Davodian)

Conceptual jewelry, the result of the "contemporary" paradigm, has provided a platform for the expression of social and political ideas as well as the active presence of artists by challenging and criticizing the accepted concepts and principles in classical and modern jewelry. It prioritizes conceptual and artistic expression as a cultural medium. Jewelry is an expressive and symbolic work that implies cultural, political, and social values. For women jewelers, contemporary jewelry is a language to express ideas that show their position, desires, and wishes, simultaneously expressing their criticisms, objections, and views. Therefore, feminist theorists and gender identity activists pay special attention to jewelry.The aim of this study is to show how gender is represented as well as what position women have in Iranian conceptual jewelry. By means of a methodological approach of Fairclough discourse analysis, it searches for meaning in the critical implications of contemporary Iranian jewelry. The results show that jewelry is not only a sign of feminine beauty and aristocracy, but a medium to express a different identity of women, which criticizes concepts such as anonymity and feminism, gender discrimination, humiliation and rejection, gender stereotypes (e.g. the ideal body, beauty, sexual functions), and violence in public and private space, rethinking them all over. Contemporary jewelry artists act in response to the gender perspective and take a critical step in raising awareness of the subject of women.