Woman and Culture Industry in Iran; Empowerment or Submissiveness?

Gender discrimination and inequality caused by domination over women is a prevalent global phenomenon, and has made them face the limitation of equal access to opportunities, facilities, sources of power and influence in different societies. One of the main solutions of international institutions for this problem is the women's empowerment policy. This policy has also been taken into consideration in Iran and policies and plans have been made by the relevant authorities. However, objective evidence shows that the situation of women is not much favorable. According to the World Economic Forum, in 2019, Iran was ranked 148 among 153 countries in terms of gender discrimination. The aim of this research is to identify the reasons for acceptance of male domination, by women in Iran. To conduct the research, the available quantitative and qualitative data were collected, and to test the hypothesis, the "critical analysis" method was used. The theoretical approach of the article is also based on the principles and concepts of critical theory. The findings of the research show that women's submissiveness is in part formed as a result of the influence of cultural-educational elements. Therefore, as long as the educational system, the media and scientific, cultural and religious platforms that have a general audience, reproduce, justify and promote attitudes, beliefs, and relations based on legitimizing inequality and discrimination, we will see no meaningful change in the status of women in society.