With the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and the development and transformation of social structures as well as the intellectual and ideological foundations of society, a new conception of cinema emerged. 

 

Since 1982, the political, cultural, economic, and professional affairs of the cinema came under government control. Later on, the formation of the Farabi Cinema Foundation in 1984 contributed to the consolidation of this policy. Although the Farabi Foundation was apparently a non-governmental organization, it was established with the aim of implementing government policies in the field of cinema. Thus, screening foreign films were restricted and the heavy taxes on producing Iranian films were cut. The relationship between cinema owners and filmmakers became regulated and appropriate and affordable loans were provided for producers. Nowadays, these supportive policies are still in place.

 

In terms of political and social developments, the period after the Islamic Revolution can be divided into four completely different periods, each of which has had a clear effect on the cultural and artistic policies of the country (in general) and cinema policies (in particular). 

 

The first period refers to the occurrence of the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War, which began in 1979 with the victory of the Revolution and ended in 1988 (the end of the eight years of the Imposed War). The second period is called the construction period, which lasted from 1989 to 1996. The third period is known as the period of reforms and it includes the years 1997 to 2004, and finally, the fourth period that is the period of principlism lasted from 2005 to 2013.

Using the other studies and with some changes, the present study, while adopting a historical perspective, analyzes the image of women in Iranian cinema after the Islamic Revolution in four periods (Islamic Revolution and Iran-Iraq War, construction period, reforms period and period of Principlism). In terms of content, the representation of women’s social identity has been studied in three main areas namely economic, cultural and socio-political.

 

The economic picture addresses issues such as social class, employment and financial independence of women. Of course, due to the wide range of topics that fall under this category, the type of jobs women choose will not be discussed. The cultural image includes education (at three levels of illiteracy, secondary and higher), consuming the cultural goods (reading books, newspapers and magazines, using radio and television, listening to music, etc.), general skills of women (sewing, embroidery, hairdressing, etc.) and daily household chores (in terms of connection with the duties of wife and mother). Political and civic participation and activities are also among the issues that have been considered in examining the socio-political image of women. Political participation is manifested in party membership and participation in rallies and elections. Issues related to political participation and civic activities such as women’s rights activists, cultural heritage activists, environmental activists, etc. have been considered by the author.

 

It is worth mentioning that Helen Hemmati, in the “Representation of Women’s Jobs in Iranian Cinema” has identified the jobs of women in five stages. During the first period (1930-1937) women were asked to act in the movies to promote the idea of removing the hijab. In the second period (1948-1359) women were mostly engaged in jobs such as cafes and nightclub singing, janitoring, and cleaning and cooking in people’s houses. In the third period (1960-1969), women acting in the films were mostly injured characters, prostitutes, cabaret fans, pickpockets, smugglers and the deceived villagers.

 

The fourth period (1970-1979) was the time for the emergence of a new wave in Iranian cinema which played a key role in eliminating women. In such movies, women were not active characters and instead, they were used only as an excuse for the fights and quarrels in which the anti-hero character was engaged. These movies presented the oppressed and helpless face of an Iranian woman. In the fifth period (1980-2007), we are facing a significant decline in the number of female characters. Also, during this period, socially disadvantaged women (dancers, singers and prostitutes) no longer played in the movies. Of course, the author points out that with the end of the war and the beginning of a neorealist cinema in Iran, women gradually found their true roles, but again in these movies, they were marginalized by male roles, that is, they were more passive, marginalized and acted as a member of a family.

 

The statistical population of the present study includes all movies which had been released since the victory of the Islamic Revolution until the end of the year 2013. In order to determine the sample size, the post-revolutionary cinema is divided into four main periods (four categories) based on the stratified probability sampling. Since the number of productions of Iranian cinema in each of the four mentioned periods may significantly vary, the number of samples is proportional to the frequency of productions of each period. In other words, it is based on the method of proportionate stratified.

 

Table 1: Research Findings on Economic Image of Women

 

The Economic Image of Women

Production Year/ Released Time

Director

Name of Movie

Period

Financial Independence

Employment Status

Social Class

Unknown

No

Yes

Unknown

Housewife

Employed

Unknown

Lower

Middle

Upper

*

*

*

1985

Iraj Ghaderi

Taraj

The Islamic Revolution and Iran-Iraq War (1979-1988)

*

*

*

1984

Samuel Khachikian

Oqabha

*

*

*

1986

Rasool Mollagholi Poor

Parvaz Dar Shab

*

*

*

1987

Seifollah Dad

Kani Manga

*

*

*

1989

Ebrahim Hatamikia

Didehban

*

*

*

1990

Behrouz Afkhami

Arous

Construction (1989-1996)

*

*

*

1992

Dariush Mehrjui

Sara

*

*

*

1995

Dariush Mehrjui

Pari

*

*

*

1995

Rakhshan Banietemad

Rousari-e Aabi

*

*

*

1996

Ebrahim Hatamikia

Bou-ye Pirahan-e Yousef

*

*

*

1996

Dariush Mehrjui

Leyla

*

*

*

1999

Tahmineh Milani

Do Zan

Reforms (1997-2004)

*

*

*

1999

Ebrahim Hatamikia

Rouban-e Qermez

*

*

*

2000

Rahman Rezaie

Dokhtaran-e Entezar

*

*

*

2001

Rakhshan Banietemad

Zir-e Poust-e Shahr

*

*

*

2001

Bahram Beyzai

Sagkoshi

*

*

*

2002

Manijeh Hekmat

Zendan-e Zanan

*

*

*

2002

Nasser Taghvai

Kaghaz-e Bi Khat

*

*

*

2001

Fereydoun Jeyrani

Sham-e Aakhar

*

*

*

2003

Manouchehr Mosayeri

Donya

*

*

*

2004

Dariush Mehrjui

Mehman-e Maman

*

*

*

2006

Asghar Farhadi

Chaharshanbeh-ye Souri

Principlism  (2005-2013)

*

*

*

2008

Manijeh Hekmat

Se-zan

*

*

*

2007

Sirus Alvand

Zan-e Dovvom

*

*

*

2010

Sharam Shah Hosseini

Zanha Fereshtehand

*

*

*

2010

Mohammad Banki

Do Khahar

*

*

*

2009

Asghar Farhadi

Darbareh-ye Eli

*

*

*

2008

Ebrahim Hatamikia

Da’vat

*

*

*

2012

Mostafa Shayesteh

Man Hamsarash Hastam

 

 

 

 

Table 2: Research Findings on the Cultural Image of Women

 

The Cultural Image of Women

Name of the Movie

Period

Housekeeping Skills

General Skills

Consuming the Cultural Goods

Level of Education

Unknown

No

Yes

Unknown

No

Yes

Unknown

No

Yes

Unknown

Higher

High school

illiterate

*

*

*

*

Taraj

The Islamic Revolution and Iran-Iraq War (1979-1988)

*

*

*

*

Oqabha

*

*

*

*

Parvaz Dar Shab

*

*

*

*

Kani Manga

*

*

*

*

Didehban

*

*

*

*

Arous

Construction (1989-1996)

*

*

*

*

Sara

*

*

*

*

Pari

*

*

*

*

Rousari-e Aabi

*

*

*

*

Bou-ye Pirahan-e Yousef

*

*

*

*

Leyla

*

*

*

*

Do Zan

Reforms  (1997-2004)

*

*

*

*

Rouban-e Qermez

*

*

*

*

Dokhtaran-e Entezar

*

*

*

*

Zir-e Poust-e Shahr

*

*

*

*

Sagkoshi

*

*

*

*

Zendan-e Zanan

*

*

*

*

Kaghaz-e Bi Khat

*

*

*

*

Sham-e Aakhar

*

*

*

*

Donya

*

*

*

*

Mehman-e Maman

*

*

*

*

Chaharshanbeh-ye Souri

Principlism (2005-2013)

*

*

*

*

Seh Zan

*

*

*

*

Zan-e Dovvom

*

*

*

*

Zanha-ye Fereshtehand

*

*

*

*

Do Khahar

*

*

*

*

Darbareh-ye Eli

*

*

*

*

Da’vat

*

*

*

*

Man Hamsarash Hastam

 

Analysis of Findings

 

1) The Economic Image of Women

 

During the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War, women were generally belonged to the middle class, housewives, and lacked financial independence. But during the construction period, in more than eighty percent of the cases, the main female character in Iranian movies belonged to the upper and middle classes, about one-third of whom had jobs and financial independence. In the reform period, the number of upper-class women decreased, and although there was an increase in the number of employed women, women were less likely to be financially independent. There was no sign of upper-class women in the movies produced during the period of Principlism, but women were generally employed, and half of them were financially independent.

 

2) The Cultural Image of Women:

 

In the films produced during the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War, education, consumption of cultural goods and women’s general skills received little attention, but sixty percent of women were housewives. During the construction period, about fifty percent of women had higher education and consumed cultural goods. In this period, the general skills have been to some extent taken into account. In addition, managing the family and daily affairs is the distinct feature of the main female character of the films made during this period. Likewise, similar attention was paid to women’s education in the movies produced during the reform period. However, the study shows that the consumption of cultural goods has increased significantly. In terms of statistics, the films made during the period of Principlism are similar to that of the construction period.

 

What needs special consideration is the fact that in all periods, the filmmakers were unwilling to show the effective political and social role of women. Political and civic participation of Iranian women, from being active in managing food supplies for soldiers during the Iran-Iraq War, raising revolutionary children, participating in rallies, elections, etc., to launching civic campaigns and active participation in non-governmental organizations, are significantly different from what the movies depict. Therefore, it is suggested that the researchers study the consistency of the image of the Iranian woman in movies with the existing reality in society (based on statistics and documents).

 

Reference: Art & Media Studies [A Biannaual Scientific Research Journal]. Volume 2, Number 4, Fall & Winter 2020-2021, Pp 57-84.

Archive of Culture and Art