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Opinions

On the Perpetual Absence of First Ladies

July 4, 2014
اهالی ایران وایر
2 min read
On the Perpetual Absence of First Ladies
On the Perpetual Absence of First Ladies
On the Perpetual Absence of First Ladies
On the Perpetual Absence of First Ladies
On the Perpetual Absence of First Ladies
On the Perpetual Absence of First Ladies
On the Perpetual Absence of First Ladies
On the Perpetual Absence of First Ladies
On the Perpetual Absence of First Ladies
On the Perpetual Absence of First Ladies

I’m not a royalist by disposition or family background, but whenever new pictures of Iran’s royal family emerge, I find myself transfixed. For some years I thought this was borne of nostalgia, or some interest in Farah Diba’s exceptionally stylish wardrobe, but I now realize it is entirely because of her simple presence in those images. As an Iranian woman standing beside the nation’s leader, on socially equal footing at this side, greeting other heads of state, hosting dinners, representing the nation.

While the position of first lady in any country is largely symbolic and ceremonial, it can still be a powerful role that shapes the perceptions of millions of a nation’s young girls. That a first lady appears and represents the nation alongside her husband, at its most basic, conveys the idea that women are essential to the identity of a society, that even as a wife, simply as a woman, they can occupy high national status.

Despite all the various moments where the Islamic Republic has made some seeming progress toward moderation, there is still a gaping black hole where first ladies are concerned. The iconic state images of the past fifteen years – Mohammad Khatami smiling in an elegant robe, Hassan Rouhani watching football in his living room – are still stripped of women. The wives, when they do dart into public life from the sidelines, are tentative and shrouded in chador, shrouded in the background, disallowed from any meaning or public resonance.

This is something I lament, one of the small and perhaps less painful aspects of the Islamic Republic, but worthy of a brief lament once in a while. How luxurious it is, I sometimes think, that the Egyptians get to discuss Jehan Sadat, or even Suzanne Mubarak. Even Asma al-Assad, who perhaps forever stained Vogue’s reputation with the photo spread that preceded Bashar’s violent assault on his citizens, had a national reputation. Perhaps a terrible one, but it’s arguably better for the next generation of girls to have a first lady around to vilify than none at all, the absence of a lady.

This is what I think of when I see images of Farah Diba in her position as Iran’s first lady and feel some pride. I’m not preoccupied with her as an empress, or the wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, but the historical space she occupies for Iranian women, as a central part of their nation’s story. 

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