Ever Seen a Princess with a Moustache!?

Exploring into the fascinating history of Princess Esmat ed-Dowleh 👑✨ Don't let viral clickbait memes obscure her remarkable story OR what it says about gender norms...

#queerhistory #gendernorms

Text sources:
“Princess Qajar” and the Problem with Junk History Memes

Najmabadi, Afsaneh. Women with Mustaches and Men without Beards: Gender and Sexual Anxieties of Iranian Modernity, 2005.
Image sources:

Ismat al-Dawlah daughter of Nasir al-Din Shah, wife of Dust Muhammad Khan Muʻayyir al-Mamlik

Lovers embracing
Najmabadi, Afsaneh. Women with Mustaches and Men without Beards: Gender and Sexual Anxieties of Iranian Modernity, 2005.

King Louis XIV

Genji monogatari emaki

[neshatshajirati]

I studied the Qajar dynasty. The castle raised a lot of outspoken women including shah’s daughter. As you see in the picture. Esmat Bano created this image of herself to show that the women are not any lesser than males. She was the first Persian pianist and very well known for her wise lifestyle.

[jennifers]

“A pretty face is a pretty face.” Yes!! 1, 000 times yes.

[sakurasensations]

“It’s fashion, dahling, get on board.” With the hair toss was the perfect amount of sass lmao

[narthakiyasendra]

That "it's fashion darling, get on board" is pure eargasm

[sparkysheep]

I think one of the fastest changes in recent history was how fast it went from men being the only ones who shaved to it being considered *necessary* and even unhygienic for women not to shave. The first ad targeting women to shave was ran by Gillette in 1915, within 50 years 98% of American women removed at least some body hair. That is an *incredibly* abrupt and comprehensive shift in beauty standard

[dragonflies]

"Wait. How would that woo her?" KILLED ME

[TheGaymer-njjt]

"it's fashion, dahling."

I'm 1000% stealing this

[Persianyasmine]

You forgot to mention she was a voice for women’s rights activist.
Till this day women in Iran are treated horribly.
Any Iranian woman who reads my comment I want you to know that as a Persian woman myself
*( my grandparents suffered a lot before they escaped Iran)
please know that I pray for you everyday. You are always in my heart. ♥️

[kimkkl]

As a persian hear this. ppl did kill themselves for her, but mostly for her wits. Because unlike 99 percents of ghajar royalties, this woman did some really beneficial things, stablishing really helpful institues for art and women (and if u know ghajar, u know that smallest thing done for women is a massive one) and of course she was A PRINCESS. And that time she was considered really pretty

[Z.A.M.]

"It's fashion, darling. Get on board."

[dunkel]

A great reminder that grooming habits and beauty standards are just arbitrary social constructs that can be changed or ignored.

[satohime]

not necessarily persia, but 5, 000 years ago in the same region, the sumerians and akkadians found unibrows/facial hair on women to be incredibly attractive! you can find lots of period art depicting women with facial hair, this wasn't even just a "weird quirk" of the noble class, it was (and imo still is) normal

[nazaninmoghadamtabrizi]

The other point is that these pictures are only from the women in the Haram of the king Naser Aldin Shah. He brought the first photography camera to Iran from a trip in France. He liked photography, so he started photographing his wives. He liked big hairy women, so the hairless wives would draw moustaches to make themselves more appealing to him. Also he asked them to dress up and look silly for the photos too. This is one man's private life, fun time and preferences. We don't know what type of women the rest of the society found beautiful.

[yasminoreilly]

As a persian girl I'm feeling more secure about my mustash 😂

[Account-user]

Apart from her looks, do you know she was one of the earliest feminists of Persia from the eighteenth century who broke many conservative stereotypes including divorcing out from a toxic marriage, taking off her veil and condemning extramarital affairs.. She was one of the earliest advocator of female rights.

[riftlee]

I think the really bizarre thing is the photo where she has a hijab on but a mid-thigh skirt

[artemishadadi]

As an Iranian, I have to say that the rumor that men killed themselves for her was an ironic way to say that she was so ugly and that no one would have wanted her because everyone knew the story is false and it was said in a mocking way

[ALovelyLad]

The green floral skirt, high tube socks, and hijab combo absolutely kill me

[mozorellastick]

Yes, Iranian beauty standards also valued men with no facial hair and androgynous looks. Also it’s good to mention that many Persian women naturally grow a moustache and we now have to manage them via painful removal techniques due to western beauty standards 😭

[slantos]

I remember reading "War and Peace" (Tolstoy), he often mentions a beautiful girl's moustache in that book... it's not just Persia.