The Representation of Women’s Social Status in Iranian Popular Cinema of the 1980s

Abstract
The media are very significant in the modern world. What the media represents is important because it shapes public belief. One such medium is cinema. Cinema, as a medium, has the capacity to present ideologies, values, beliefs, and lifestyles on any subject. Cinema has its own specific audience—intellectuals or the general public—which has led to its classification into different categories. One of these categories is popular cinema. The goal of popular cinema is audience entertainment and the economic sustainability of the film industry. The importance of studying popular cinema lies in the fact that it accounts for two-thirds of a country’s cinematic output. On the other hand, the representation of women in cinema has taken different forms across various political and social periods. The objective of this research is to examine the representation of women’s social status in three popular films from the 1980s: “The Tenants” (Ejareh-Neshinha), “Chrysanthemums” (Gol-ha-ye Davoudi), and “The Proposal” (Khastegari). In these three films, cinema engages in encoding, and through the researcher’s decoding, it reveals a set of representations that construct a series of discourses and ideologies present in society. The findings of this study indicate that women in these films are more traditional than modern, conforming to the dominant ideological frameworks of society as well as gender stereotypes. In other Introduction. 
Keywords: Representation, Media, Woman, Popular Cinema, Semiotics.
 
1. Introduction
In today’s world, media holds significant importance and has an undeniable influence on individuals and social realities (Maleki & Rafiei, 2012: 9). Cinema, as a medium, has the capacity to present ideologies, values, beliefs, and lifestyles on any subject (Maleki & Rafiei, 2012: 9). Since its inception, cinema has cultivated its own audience—intellectuals or the general public—leading to its classification into various categories. One such category is popular cinema. Today, this type of cinema occupies a vast space in all countries, with its primary goals being audience entertainment and the economic circulation of the film industry. Popular films account for two-thirds of cinematic productions in any given country (Talebi-Nejad, 2008: 45). 
Numerous sources, including articles and extensive research on Iranian cinema in the 1980s and 1990s, have concluded that the cinema of the 1980s was predominantly male-dominated. Studies indicate that despite women’s presence on the war front and behind the scenes, they were effectively erased from the cinema of this period. The exclusion of women from cinema is a phenomenon worthy of deep reflection The present study seeks to answer the following question: How was the social status of women represented in popular cinema of the 1980s?
 
2. Conceptual Framework
Representation
Representation is the method through which media depicts events and realities in society. Representation conveys meanings through the use of signs, concepts, and the substitution of one thing for another (Roshandel Arbatani, 2014: 46)
 
3. Ideology
Althusser views ideology as an unconscious phenomenon. Ideology is a system of representations, mostly images and occasionally concepts, but underlying them are structures that influence the majority of people without their conscious awareness. Individuals do not critically react to ideology; we are born, grow, and live within ideologies. Althusser argues that through ideology, individuals attain a false understanding of the world (Furter, 2007: 104-105).
Media serves as a tool for representing meanings and transmitting culture, assigning significance to events and possibilities. The process of representation in media consists of two stages: encoding and decoding. The collection of representations in cinema constructs the discourses and ideologies prevalent in society. Media acts as an instrument that reflects existing power relations, actions, behaviors, lifestyles, and everything that occurs among people in society. They are reflections of ideologies. This paper seeks to uncover the hidden ideological world in three films from the 1980s, analyzed through John Fiske’s semiotic levels, including social, technical, and ideological codes.
 
4. Discussion 
- Ejareh-Neshinha: he mother is portrayed as a kind, compassionate, traditional woman, a product of a society characterized by mechanical solidarity and virtuous ethics. She resists her son, who symbolizes a patriarchal society. Moral concepts, honor, and collective conscience are principles valued by traditional families. The heavy burden of motherhood grants her a certain charisma and respect, making her admired. Despite her traditional role, conforming to prevalent gender stereotypes and ideological propositions, she is not passive and exhibits agency at certain points in the film. The mother’s flexible character often contrasts with Abbas Agha’s rigid and uncompromising personality, creating paradoxes where femininity occasionally triumphs over masculinity.
- Gol-ha-ye-Davoudi: In Daisies, we encounter a woman who endures, with patience, tolerance, and compromise being her defining traits. She operates within the gendered ideologies of a traditional society. Only in the context of working and gaining independence does she assert her individuality and autonomy. The man is angered by their child’s blindness and shows no affection, while the woman reaffirms her motherhood, elevating the concept of maternal love. Motherhood here seems to entail introspection and self-awareness, emerging through interaction with the child.
- Khastegari: The film’s discourse is based on male dominance. Mahmoud defines masculinity through notions of honor, zealotry, and the protection of female relatives, considering his mother as his “honor” and assuming the role of decision-maker over her future, positioning himself as her superiors, the actions and reactions of women and men produce and reproduce gendered mechanisms.
- Comparison of Women’s Social Status in the Three Examined Films: Economic independence sets Esmat in Daisies apart from the other two films due to its elitist perspective and her conscious choice to elevate her social status. She exercises agency and freedom of choice, resisting the existing societal structures, while the traditional woman’s options remain constrained. In all three films, the sons engage in conflicts with their mothers. Thus, the mother’s character in The Proposal somewhat resembles that in The Tenants, as both strive to maintain their power and interests despite living in traditional, patriarchal families dominated by male figures. The process of socialization leads individuals to internalize social and cultural norms, unconsciously reproducing habitual behaviors. The myth-making in these films shapes the children’s perceptions of their parents’ authority. In both The Tenants and The Proposal, the prevailing hegemony emphasizes the distinction between men and women, reinforcing stereotypes and predefined mental frameworks. Mahmoud in The Proposal adopts a protective stance over his mother’s honor, opposing her remarriage.
In all three films, the female leads are mothers, fulfilling their maternal roles adeptly. They juggle multiple responsibilities imposed by traditional society while seizing opportunities to assert their identity and take charge. Their leadership operates within the framework of common sense, customs, and societal norms.
 
5. Conclusion
Overall, the findings of this study reveal that the three examined films—particularly The Proposal—depict a male-dominated, patriarchal space. Women are portrayed as the “Other,” subordinate to men, with their value measured in opposition to masculinity. While women occasionally resist, their resistance occurs within passive, traditionally feminine contexts, contrasting with the active agency of men—an agency reinforced by gendered structures and ideologies. According to Althusser, cinema, as a medium, serves as a tool for representing meanings and transmitting culture. These three films encode ideologies, and through the researcher’s decoding, they reveal a system of representations that construct the dominant discourses and ideologies of society. The hegemonic influence in these films is subtly embedded in the characters’ lifestyles and actions, yet its dominance remains pervasive, shaping the entire narrative the signs encoded in cinema reconstruct reality, exerting power over the audience and dictating the direction of their behaviors and lifestyles. Similarly, Ravadrad and Mirzadeh’s (2017) study highlights the significant power gap between men and women, a structure resulting from socialization processes that internalize gender ideologies in both men and women. Thus, the three films demonstrate that the women depicted are more traditional than modern, conforming to the prevailing ideological frameworks and gender stereotypes of society.