Graduation Year
2025
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Politics and International Relations
Reader 1
Sumita Pahwa
Reader 2
Shervin Malekzadeh
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
2025 Maire Claire DuBard
Abstract
In 20th century Pahlavi Iran, Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Shah instrumentalized the ‘woman question’ — women’s political, economic, and professional roles in a changing society — to consolidate their power and promote a modern state. Reza Shah utilized top-down and coercive reforms, including veiling and education, to strengthen his power, weaken religious influence, and create a visible national identity. In contrast, his son, Mohammad Reza Shah, instrumentalized gender issues and tied women’s rights to his personal image of progressivism. Though it can be argued that all of their reforms supported gender equality, they were implemented, in fact, with the primary aim of promoting their states' legitimacy. This thesis argues that while both rulers utilized the ‘woman question’ for similar goals, their motivations and methods varied and resulted in different outcomes, contributing to a larger examination of authoritarian regimes utilizing gender rights within frameworks of modernity, power, and legitimization.
Recommended Citation
DuBard, Maire Claire, "THE WOMAN QUESTION AND STATE FEMINISM: GENDER, POWER, AND MODERNITY IN PAHLAVI IRAN" (2025). Scripps Senior Theses. 2545.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/2545
Included in
Comparative Politics Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, International Relations Commons
