The Role and Consequences of Publications in the Modern Policies of Iranian Women with Emphasis on the Issue of Clothing and Fashion (1310-1320SH)

One of the main social reform programs of the first Pahlavi government was the modernization of Iranian women's society. To achieve this goal, the Pahlavi government was trying to encourage and require a wide range of women, especially in the two issues of clothing and fashion, to follow a path that would result in them becoming modern women. In achieving this goal, the publications of the early Pahlavi era played an important role as the most important media available to society. The role played by publications in the first Pahlavi era, especially in the years 1310-1320, had consequences. Accordingly, this research seeks to address and answer the question of what was the role and function of publications in the government's modern women's policy in the years 1931 to 1941, with an emphasis on the issue of clothing and fashion, and what consequences did it bring, using a historical approach and the use of publications and archival documents. The research findings show that Iranian publications during the first Pahlavi period, especially during the years 1931 to 1941, within the framework of the role that publications function in political systems with an absolute governance model, played a promotional and propaganda role to advance the goals and programs of modernization of the Pahlavi government in women's affairs; this function and role was more focused on changing the women's traditional clothing, which was done on the one hand by criticizing the old traditional clothing and on the other hand by advertising new clothing and New ornaments in newspapers. The consequence of such a function can be seen in the prevalence of female consumerism. Signs of the prevalence of consumerism can be seen in the increase in the import of women's consumer goods in the field of clothing, cosmetics and accessories, such as fabrics and sewn clothes, hats, perfumes, colognes and watches, and Iran's trade statistics for the years 1931 to 1938 indicate an increase in the import rate of these goods. The increase in imports of these goods also indicates an increase in consumption rates and the prevalence of consumerism among Iranian women in the years under discussion.