Women with Mustaches and Men without Beards: Gender and Sexual Anxieties of Iranian Modernity

378 Pages·2005·2.95 MB·English

by  Afsaneh Najmabadi

Women with Mustaches
and Men without Beards
The publisher gratefully acknowledges the
generous contribution to this book provided
by the General Endowment Fund of the
University of California Press Associates.
Women with Mustaches
and Men without Beards
Gender and Sexual Anxieties
of Iranian Modernity
afsaneh najmabadi
University of California Press
berkeley los angeles london
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles,California
University of California Press,Ltd.
London,England
©2005by the Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Najmabadi,Afsaneh,1946–
Women with mustaches and men without beards :gender and
sexual anxieties of Iranian modernity / Afsaneh Najmabadi.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn0-520-24262-9(cloth :alk.paper)—isbn0-520-24263-7
(pbk.:alk.paper)
1.Women—Iran—Social conditions—19th century.
2.Women—Iran—Social conditions—20th century. 3.Gender
identity—Iran—History. I.Title.
hq1735.2.n35 2005
305.42'0955'09034—dc22 2004017984
Manufactured in the United States of America
14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum require-
ments of ansi/niso z39.48–1992(r1997) (Permanence of Paper).
For Tally

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
part i. beauty, love, and sexuality
1. Early Qajar 11
2. Nineteenth-Century Transformations 26
part ii. cultural labor of sexuality and gender
3. The Eclipse of the (Fe)Male Sun 63
4. Vatan,the Beloved;Vatan,the Mother 97
5. Women’s Veil and Unveil 132
6. The Tragedy of Romantic Marriage 156
7. Crafting an Educated Wife and Mother 181
8. Women or Wives of the Nation? 207
Epilogue:Feminism and Its Burden of Birth 232
Notes 245
Glossary 307
Bibliography 311
Credits 341
Index 343

Illustrations
1. Amorous couple,early nineteenth century 12
2. Portrait of Fath‘ali Shah.Mihr ‘Ali.1809–10. 14
3. Prince Yahyá,attributed to Muhammad Hasan,c.1830. 28
4. Embracing lovers,attributed to Muhammad Sadiq,c.1770–80 29
5. Lid of casket with scene of ladies on a terrace,attributed to
Muhammad‘Ali ibn Zaman 31
6. A girl playing a mandolin.Muhammad Sadiq,c.1770–80 33
7. Bare-breasted woman holding an apple 40
8. Back of a mirror depicting the court women of Egypt,
nineteenth century 43
9. Shaykh San‘an and the Christian maiden,from Husayn
Bayquara,Majalis al-‘ushshaq,sixteenth century 49
10. Shaykh San‘an looking after pigs,from a sixteenth-century
Majalis al-‘ushshaqmanuscript 50
11. Shaykh San‘an and the Christian maiden,c.1830 51
12. Order of Lion-and-Sun medallion,1836 64
13. Narinjistan,Shiraz,Qajar period building 65
14. Official state emblem,1907 66
15. Official state emblem,early 1970s 67
16. Jewish wedding document (ketuba),1870 68
17. ‘Ashura banner,c.1900 69
18. Twenty-tumancoin,1796 71
ix