Dānish - the First Women’s Journal in Iran: A Contribution to the Study of the Discourse of the Early Iranian Women’s Movement

In this article, I explore the content of Iran’s first women’s newspaper, Dānish (‘Knowledge’), published in Tehran in 1910–1911. Using the method of close reading, I address the question of the model of womanhood that was presented in the pages of the weekly. In this regard, I examine selected articles that appeared in the surviving issues of Dānish, distinguishing three dominant thematic areas: the education of girls and women; marital relationships; child rearing, hygiene, and health care. By putting the journal’s discourse in the context of the discussion on ‘women’s issues’ that was ongoing in the press during the Constitutional Revolution (1905–1911), I reflect on the relationship between the agenda of the early Iranian women’s movement and the discourse of constitutionalist nationalism.