Shahla Vahabzadeh - Third place in the Teen Princess Pageant in Chicago 1967
Shahla Vahabzadeh - 1967
Shahla Vahabzadeh - 1967
Shahla Vahabzadeh - 1967
Shahla Vahabzadeh - 1967
Shahla Vahabzadeh - 1967
Miss Iran Finalists 1967
Miss Iran Finalists 1967
Miss Iran Finalists 1967
Miss Iran Finalists - 1966
Mitra Nikanpour - 1966
Mitra Nikanpour - 1966
Mitra Nikanpour (L) - 1966
Mitra Nikanpour - 1966
Mitra Nikanpour - 1966
Mitra Nikanpour - 1966
Mitra Nikanpour - 1966
Mitra Nikanpour - 1966
Mitra Nikanpour in Chicago - 1966
Miss Iran Finalists - 1966
Miss Iran Finalists - 1966
Sima Izadjou - 1965
Sima Izadjou - 1965
Sima Izadjou - 1965
Miss Iran Logo
The Miss Iran Pageant was formally started by Zan-e Rooz Magazine in 1965. The teen beauty pageant was scrapped after the revolution for obvious reasons. The former regime aimed at portraying Iran as a modern state and open to the world even though most Iranians were traditonal, conservative and resistant to change. The beauty pageants and the women's sports program were part of the emancipation process. It was a very small step but many teenage girls and women benefited from these programs. The government created safe havens in some areas of the biggest cities (i.e northern Tehran, affluent suburbs of Shiraz etc.) and encouraged modernity.
Young women mimicked the clothing and hairstyles of Farah Pahlavi. She herself was made up and posed to look like Audrey Hepburn. Foreign press was permitted only to make reports about this segment of the society. Of course, this was neither a complete nor a true picture of Iranian society.
The "Dokhtar-e Khoshfekr Iran" pageant started by Ettela'at Banovan Weekly
The "Dokhtar-e Khoshfekr Iran" - Ettela'at Banovan Weekly
The "Dokhtar-e Khoshfekr Iran" - Ettela'at Banovan Weekly
The "Dokhtar-e Khoshfekr Iran" - Ettela'at Banovan Weekly
The "Dokhtar-e Khoshfekr Iran" - Ettela'at Banovan Weekly
The "Dokhtaran Darya" pageant started by Ettela'at Banovan Weekly
Parvin Dabiri winner of a local beauty pageant - Ettela'at Banovan Weekly 1960
Actress Irene participating in an international beauty pageant - 1960
Mitra Shashani - Miss George Washington U., 1960
Sepideh, Aylin, Shourangiz, Dinamik and Googoosh winners of people's choice awards - 1970s
Ferdowsi Weekly critical of beauty pageants
Criticism of Miss Iran pageant by a website in Iran
Image Credits: All images are from Iranian newspaper & magazine clippings which are now in the public domain. Some of the images were enhanced by adjusting the color balance. The Persian Blogs (Blogfa, Blogsky, Mihan Blog, etc.) are saturated with nostalgic images of Pahlavi Era women. This type of content may not be legal but is tolerated to a great extent.
Front Page
Diaspora
