116 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 21:4

The Making of the Modern Iranian Women:
Gender, State Policy, and Popular Culture, 1865-1946

Camron Michael Amin
Gainesville: University Press of Florida. 2002. 320 pages

The book, a detailed historical examination of an important era of con-
temporary Iran’s history, documents a variety of late-nineteenth-century
views on “the women’s question.” Amin’s attempt to review its historical
background is an excellent gender-perspective analysis of the political
atmosphere existing before Iran’s constitutional revolution of 1906-08.
The intellectual debate ranged enormously during this period. For exam-
ple, the atheist Akhundzadeh blamed Islamic and Turkmen rule (Central
Asians tribal rulers who had invaded Iran throughout Iranian history) for
their situation. Meanwhile, the Babist Kermani, who called Iranian women
“the living dead,” saw their enslavement as the result of the corrupted Arab
culture transmitted through Islam. The example of such “progressives” as
Taghizadeh, who followed western ideas and used the most racist and sex-
ist arguments against women’s equality, presents an interesting aspect of
westernization, which is brought up in the book.

Alongside these different views, Amin documents a different and
equally valuable late-nineteenth-century response that sought equality for
women within Islam. This trend, similar to that of Qasim Amin of Egypt,
includes as its most notable example Jamal al-Din Asadabdi, who sup-
ported a modern interpretation of Islam that included gender equality.
Mirza Malkam Khan, publisher of Ghanon (The Law), a newspaper print-
ed in exile, was the first person to transform the “women’s question” from
an elite discussion to a matter of Iranian public discourse through the press.
He argued that women must be treated as human beings with the same dig-
nity that was accorded to men. 

Amin delineates two responses to the women’s question: a misogynist
view that is best illustrated by Ta’dib al Nesvan (Disciplining Women),
published during 1882-89, and a reaction to it written by Bibi Khanom
Astarabadi, authoress of Ma’ayb al Rejal (The Vice of Men). Astarabadi (in
some ways she can be called the first Muslim feminist) condemned such
misogynous practices as infidelity and temporary marriage, as well as the
drinking, gambling, and pedophilia practiced by some men. 

The most interesting part of the book is the author’s discussion of
Reza Shah and his break with the Qajar dynasty. Reza Shah imposed his



Book Reviews 117

own idea of Iranian womanhood – as women being under modern male
guardianship – and launched the “Women Awakening” project. In this way,
he brought the issue into the heart of the new monarchy’s political legiti-
macy. While Reza Shah is often regarded as a liberator of women, Amin
shows that his “project,” which led to forced unveiling, was an extension of
state authority over women’s bodies as well as an attempt to control the
men who would be their guardians (p. 81). This “project,” which domi-
nated Iran’s cultural landscape from 1936-41, sought to impose a single
vision of modern Iranian women as unveiled, educated, and employed, yet
comfortably dependent on the stewardship and goodwill of her many mod-
ern male guardians (p. 247).

The Pahlavi era is often viewed as a period of great progress for women
in terms of freedom and emancipation. The book illustrates the roots of such
liberation, which started as an attempt to emasculate state power over the
making of new Iran. For example, such legal changes as the 1931 marriage
law reform were meant to favor women, albeit under male guardianship.
However, even as state-initiated reforms were implemented, independent
women’s organizations were dismantled. The book carefully and systemat-
ically documents women’s entry into higher education as well as paid
employment, particularly in the public sector, which makes it a very useful
source for those interested in these topics from a historical perspective. The
author’s documentation of the women’s press and the ideals of modern
Iranian women as expressed through public discourse is quite impressive,
and is a very valuable resource for researchers and academics. Amin also
depicts that era’s contradictions by dealing with documents about the first
women pilot and doctors alongside pictures of female graduates of the
Academy of Girls and crafting of educated housewives. 

The author then reviews the consequences of the “Women's Awaking”
project and reveals how their limited emancipation, due to male guardian-
ship and a lack of political freedom, led to a break in the guardianship and
the formation of an independent women’s voice during the 1940s: “…the
most telling symbol of women’s political independence from men was the
Women’s Party – not the Iranian Women’s Party or the Tudeh Women’s
Party –  just the Women’s Party” (p. 234) founded in 1944 by Saffiyeh Firuz
and Fatemeh Sayya. 

The last chapter brings the historical legacy of the “women’s question”
into contemporary Iran’s political climate. Amin’s excellent analysis, which
links history to current events in Iran, is a valuable source for understand-
ing contemporary Iran. In this chapter, the reader is apprised of how the



118 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 21:4

perspective of equality is slowly replacing the complementary rights
perspective. The author informs the reader about the current discourses on
gender equality and their historical roots. He argues that, contrary to the
expectations of some of Iran’s archconservatives and despite the many set-
backs for women under the Islamic Republic, the government’s official
stance toward women was a return to 1936 (the “Awakening Project”) rather
than to 1883 (the reactionary misogyny of “Disciplining Women”). 

For example, women’s athleticism in the Islamic Republic (the Islamic
Women’s Olympics) is reminiscent of the early Pahlavi regime, in spite of
the veiling and seclusion. To further illustrate this point, Amin draws the
reader’s attention to Salam Iran, a website (www.salamiran.org) sponsored
by the Islamic Republic of Iran in Ottawa. The site is an example of the
extent to which Iranian women participate in the country’s public and civic
life. Another example of the current state of ideology is the Women’s
Bureau of the Presidential Office, which gathers a great deal of data and sta-
tistics on women in relation to arts, sports, education, and the family. Amin
argues that even such themes as “Women and Revolution” and “Women
and the Constitution” (Islamic revolution) are direct responses to the more
recent legacy of the “White Revolution” (Pahlavi revolution) that have their
roots in the first major legal alliance between the state and women: the
Marriage Law of 1931.

This book is an excellent source for students of Iranian history from a
gender perspective, academics, and those who wish to understand contem-
porary political issues in Iran. The book is also recommended for those who
wish to learn about contemporary Iran more generally, as a great deal of
what is happening there cannot be easily understood without an under-
standing of Iran’s recent history.

Roksana Bahramitash
Simone de Beauvoir Institute, Concordia University

Montreal, Quebec, Canada