The status of women in Iran has been extensively discussed in academic literature. This paper focused on how women in Iran are being portrayed by the media in historiography, classical literature...Show moreThe status of women in Iran has been extensively discussed in academic literature. This paper focused on how women in Iran are being portrayed by the media in historiography, classical literature and novels, newspapers, television, films and drama serials. This literature overview demonstrates that women in Iran are underrepresented and invariably displayed within the framework of ignorant housewives, caring mothers and sex slaves or entertainers (of their husband). This perception contradicts with the actual representativeness of women within the Iranian media culture with regard to what they themselves strive for: exposing and combating gender inequality. Since the 19th century women in Iran have started to develop and organize women's organizations to fight for women’s rights by participating in political demonstrations and institutions. With the advent of the internet, Iranian women could communicate online about women-related topics. The increased influence of social media apps, such as Facebook and Instagram, enabled Iranian women's activism to develop to the fullest. Masih Alinejad's contributions on Facebook and Instagram are an example of this. Her successful My Stealthy Freedom- movement has raised awareness about the position of the Iranian woman in general and specifically about the mandatory hijab rule. This paper conducted a qualitative content analysis on forty of Masih Alinejad’s Instagram-posts in May 2022 to demonstrate how she contributes to the social debate on the position of women in Iranian society. The research demonstrated that Alinejad informs her Instagram followers with personal journalistic stories and then tries to stir up the moral consciousness of her followers. Thereafter, Alinejad motives her followers to take action to improve women’s status in Iran and the rest of the world. Alinejad’s online activism has not (yet) induced governmental policy changes in Iran, however her movement has contributed to the advancement of Iranian women's rights movement in size and reach.Show less
