Women’s concern about their husbands preferring men, especially when they sought distance from them during intercourse, was a clear indication of the traditional prioritization of men over women for adult men. As written by Afsoon Najmabadi in her book “Women Without Veils and Men Without Beards: Gender Anxieties in Modern Iranian Society”, husbands of men who desired men also tried to alleviate their impotence through ceremonies such as “untying the knot of the trousers” and encouraged them to engage in sexual relations and impregnate them.

The legend of Najm Abadi, in a book that was translated into English in 2005 and first published in the winter of 1396, presents a thorough research on the topic of sexuality in Iran. It challenges the existing gender norms of today by examining the past and argues that concepts such as nation, politics, homeland, and science have played a significant role in shaping Iranian modernity from the late 18th century to the first decades of the 20th century.

What has been published, has been translated into Farsi by Athena Kamel, with full understanding and faith, and under the supervision of the author herself. It only includes two chapters from the original book, which are related to the historical analysis of gender in Iran. In this translation, after a brief preface and introduction, the first section titled “Beauty, Love, and Sexuality” begins, which is also the title of the first section in the English version of the book. However, in the Farsi translation, the first chapter of this section starts with a look at the early Qajar period and then delves into concepts such as women, men, and their relationship during this time.

The second chapter of this first section of the book begins with an examination of the developments of the 19th century, followed by discussions on topics such as “The Chalice of Fate and Casting Aside Faith” and “The Effects of Gender Transformation”.

Najm Abadi briefly establishes his topics in the first three sections of the book through visual texts. He also takes a symbolic approach to the Iranian flag, examining the lion and sun symbols. The lion is masculine for Najm Abadi, with the sun “(not) masculine” rising behind it. The author also explains the reason for reading the sun as not masculine, stating that our understanding of the beauty and femininity of the sun today does not align with the Qajar era’s understanding of beauty and femininity, and therefore it is a mistake to view the sun as feminine in the national symbol of Iran.

However, the author’s reason for delving into the Qajar era is hypothetical, as he has stated in the introduction. In his view, the history of 19th century Iran is a period of “gender transformation” in this country, and this transformation has also been “based on a change in sexual desires.”

The translators have translated the entire book into Farsi with the help and collaboration of the author, and they hope that the conditions for its full publication will be provided soon. The book, which the author mentions in the final section of the introduction, “if this book makes us aware of the weaknesses and deficiencies of Iranian modernity in relation to feminism, and takes a step towards advancing modern gender and sexuality studies in Iran, it will have a greater achievement than I expected.”

Book Name: Women Without Veils and Men Without Beards

Author: Afsaneh Najmabadi

Translators: Atena Kamel and Iman Vaghefi

Publication Year: Fifth Edition, Autumn 2018

Publisher: Tisa