The rise of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925 coincided with a new era of gender and sexual politics in Iran, a time when a new and more educated middle class emerged whose unveiled women appeared in public on their way to school, in women's organizations, and in jobs. This educated elite was fascinated with many aspects of modernity, from Bolshevism and Fascism to Freudian psychoanalysis, gramophones, and cinema. Reza Shah's reign (1925–1941) saw changes in gender norms in four specific areas: (1) increased reforms in health and hygiene that reduced the spread of venereal and other contagious diseases; (2) educational and legal reforms that mitigated social hierarchies; (3) reforms in dress codes and the ascendancy of modern mannerisms, and (4) reforms that contributed to normative heterosexuality and attempted to outlaw male homosexuality. Many of these reforms consequently clashed with existing practices, producing ambiguity and anxiety in the realm of sexuality. Often, Western cultural and social values were forcibly grafted onto indigenous practices, creating hybrid forms in which old and new cohabited uneasily.

Resistance stemmed partly from the fact that in Shiʿi Islam, as in a number of other religions such as Zoroastrianism and Judaism, the body is a source of shame and ritual impurities. Accordingly, not only unveiling, but also modern clothing for men or women, participation in team sports, and greater socialization between the sexes violate notions of honor and centuries-old traditions of segregation.