Women Without Men By Shirin Neshat: An Analysis

Shirin Neshat, an Iranian woman artist living in exile, strongly advocates that a woman represents a country. Beginning with Iran’s 1953 coup d’etat to the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and finishing with Iran’s 2009 Green Party movement. Women have been at the forefront of change. Neshat has stated, “I found the subject of Iranian woman extremely interesting. In the way that the woman of Iran historically seem to embody the political transformation (Neshat, TEDWomen).” Which can be seen in the film Women Without Men, directed by Neshat, where four women are struggling and transforming with the political change in Iran. Furthermore, in Neshat’s art Women of Allah, Neshat portrays how the Revolution of 1979 has affected the veiled portrayal of
This can be seen throughout the movie Women Without Men. This film is inspired by the novel of the same name written by Shahrnush Parispur. In the original, the novel followed the story of five women. However, due to the surrealism aspect of the book, one character had to be taken out. Therefore, the story follows the lives of four women. In a sense, the film is a compilation of four short stories combined together where each character is affected by politics and find refuge in a garden. “The women come from very different backgrounds, representing the different strata of Iranian society (Bresheeth,
An escape from society. Also, as a place of exile. The garden is historically significant: from the Christian aspect, the garden of Eden was a place of peace and perfection. “A place devoid of illness, ageing, suffering or death, a sanctuary of life of all kinds (Bresheeth, 2010).” Originally the garden is just a place exile: separated from Iran and its politics. “In Iranian culture, the garden has also been regarded in political terms, suggesting ideas of ‘exile’, ‘independence’ and ‘freedom’ (Neshat, Azari 2009).” Later on, after Fakhri buys the orchard/garden, it becomes a refuge for the women. From the initial four women only three actually decide to stay in the house, located inside the garden. For Fakhri the garden is seen as independence: a place of self-restore after separating herself from her husband. For Faezeh it is exile: shockingly, through a twist of events Faezeh loses her virginity through a gang-rape. Since she is no longer considered “pure” and is too ashamed to go home, she goes to the garden to find shelter. Lastly, Zarin sees the garden as freedom: like Faezeh, Zarin goes to the garden to find shelter. It is also a freedom because she has escaped her life of prostitution. For both Faezeh and Zarin, the garden is also a place for new beginnings where Zarin can live a life where she is no longer being used but instead taken cared for; Faezeh finally finds her self-worth in who she is,