COLOR, CLASS, AND GENDER: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF WOMEN AND BEYOND IN ASGHAR FARHADI CINEMA

Abstract

This study interrogates the films of Asghar Farhadi, who contributed to the international prominence of Iranian cinema, with a mixed-method approach in terms of women's representation. Quantitative data based on content analysis were deepened by textual analysis to negotiate the positive and negative meanings attributed to femininity in Asghar Farhadi's films. The research disclosed that all the female lead characters in the films are portrayed as passive characters who spends her days doing chores within the framework of the power relations determined by the patriarchal social structure. The social position of Iranian women in the patriarchal order was questioned by representing the female characters as economically and emotionally dependent on the males. It is discovered that the female lead characters wearing light-colored costumes are depicted as "honorable women", whereas the female lead characters wearing dark-colored costumes are depicted as "immoral women". These results demonstrated that the roles traditionally attributed to women in Iranian society were reinforced through the color tones.