1- MA student in Art Studies, Tehran University of Art, Tehran, Iran. , mrzi.slmi@gmail.com
2- Assistant Professor, Tehran University of Art, Tehran, Iran.
3- Associate Professor, Tehran University of Art, Tehran, Iran.
2- Assistant Professor, Tehran University of Art, Tehran, Iran.
3- Associate Professor, Tehran University of Art, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract: (30 Views)
This research examines how two Iranian women’s magazines “Bidari-e Ma” and “Alam-e Zanan” engaged with the idea of women’s fashion during the 1940s, and how ideological frameworks shaped these representations. The study’s significance lies in showing that fashion in this period was not merely about aesthetics or appearance; it was deeply tied to the construction of female identity, social roles, and the politics of power and culture. The main aim is to analyze and compare how each magazine represented fashion, to uncover both their discursive and institutional similarities and differences, and to move beyond the simplistic notion that Iranian women merely “imitated the West.” Instead, the study seeks to understand how different ideological and social contexts influenced the ways women engaged with fashion. The key research question asks: How did “Bidari-e Ma” and “Alam-e Zanan” each construct and promote their own discursive standards regarding women’s fashion? Methodologically, the study is qualitative and draws on Gillian Rose’s (2016) second model of discourse analysis, alongside Michel Foucault’s concepts of apparatus and institutional technology. The analysis is based on available issues of the two magazines, examining both textual and visual materials. The findings suggest that “Bidari-e Ma”, rooted in a socialist and egalitarian discourse, viewed fashion as a means of social awareness and empowerment; a way to shape women as conscious, responsible, and politically active subjects. “Alam-e Zanan” by contrast, adopted a more Western-oriented vision of fashion and beauty, presenting European aesthetics as the standard of progress and modernity for Iranian women. Overall, the research demonstrates that women’s fashion in 1940s Iran was a site of ideological negotiation; a means through which class, gender, and power relations were both reproduced and contested, rather than a mere act of imitation of European styles.
Article number: 6
Keywords: fashion in Iran, Discourse Analysis, Alam-e Zanan magazine, Bidari-e Ma magazine, Gillian Rose
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