The Controversial Princess With a Moustache
Princess Qajar a Trailblazer or a Troublemaker? The Debate Continues.
If not with historical accuracy, then at least through memes circulating on the internet, some of you must be aware of “Princess Qajar” of Iran, Tehran.
Her pictures went viral on the internet where she is shown as a Persian princess who claimed she was the epitome and incredible symbol of beauty to such an extent that many men committed suicide when she rejected their proposals for her hand in marriage.
One could say her beauty was fatal. These claims do seem a tad bit unlikely. But, who are we to judge what men were dying over in the 19th Century right?
Still, why do you not delve deeper into this princess mystery and get to the bottom of the monarch’s mustache mystery?
Meet Quintessential Qajar
Princess Qajar or Zahra Khanom Tadjeh es Sultana was born to the household of the king of Persia, Naser Ad DinShah Qajar in the year 1883. Now, I am pretty sure you must have noticed the ‘Qajar’ thing being repeated. Well, that is because this royal family was part of the Qajar Dynasty.
Now, Princess Qajar was an immensely talented and accomplished lady. She knew how to read, write, draw, paint, etc. She was also a skilled musician, an intellectual, and an activist during her time. She even conducted weekly literary sessions and was even fluent in Arabic and French along with her native tongue, Farsi.
Moreover, her memoirs are considered to be the greatest historical evidence of that time. Then, just when you think she cannot possibly be more awesome and impressive, you find out her most impressive feat.
She was the founding member of ‘Anjuman-e-Hooriyaat-e-Nisvaan’ or a group dedicated to women’s rights and advocating and championing these rights to let everyone know that women everywhere had somewhere who had their back.
In Iran at least, women could be empowered thanks to the princess. She would hold secret meetings and was such an iconic personality that she once led a women’s rights march against Iran’s constitution. She was also the first ever woman to take off her hijab in court and wear feminine clothes.
Princess Qajar quite possibly was one of the very few people fighting for change during that time in Persia. It was no hidden fact that she was quite very strictly against her father’s strict and oppressive regime.
She championed causes like equality, poverty, and women’s rights. In all, she is the perfect example of beauty with brains and for someone belonging to the privileged royal family, she was surprisingly socially sensitive.
She Got Married at 8!
Yes, as ridiculous and unlikely as that sounds, Princess Qajar’s father married her off to his defense minister’s son, Sardar Hassan Shojah Sultana. This marriage took place when the princess was only 8 years old! It seems her whole childhood was taken away from her. When she should have been out playing or having not a worry in the world, she was thrust into marriage. This caused her great pain indeed.
She became a mother to four children; 2 sons and 2 daughters before she took desperate measures. Yes, sick of the constant extramarital affairs her husband often engaged in, she divorced him.
At the time, this divorce was a huge power move on her part. Since divorce is stigmatized especially in Asian countries and a whole taboo surrounds it. However, the Princess stood strongly by her decision and lived out the rest of her days as a divorced woman with her daughter, Touran Douleh, and grandaughter, Taj Iran.
Princes Qajar was such an influence that her memoirs from that time are being studied in many feminist programs aimed at East Asian studies. She also was bold enough to criticize women being treated poorly in Persia and even wrote about the horrible treatment slaves had to face.
One could not possibly imagine how philanthropic she must have been to not be blinded by privilege and draw everyone’s attention to social issues that mattered. This makes me sad about how she was reduced to only a meme in our time! This brings me to your next point.
Bold Beauty Standards and Why The Princess Qajar Meme is Junk!
During the 19th century, androgynous features on men were considered handsome. As in, typical masculine features like mustaches were considered pretty on women but the more feminine a man was, the more handsome he seemed.
So women’s eyebrows and mustache game were pretty strong and they even chose to accentuate these features to enhance their beauty even more.
So, now you know who Princess Qajar was and you know the beauty standards of Persia too. I think that is enough material for you to form your own independent and informed opinion about the meme that has been circulating on the internet.
First, let us make this clear that although Princes Qajar sported the mustache, so did other women at the time since that was in fashion during that time.
So, even if she was beautiful she can’t be an incomparable symbol and epitome of beauty, as the meme claims. This claim undermines her other immensely impressive talent and accomplishments as this reduces her to merely a pretty face.
This plays upon your standards of beauty to only make this seem somehow more sensational than it is. The creator of this meme was clearly desperate for some likes.
Additionally, it claims that 13 men killed themselves when she rejected their proposal. Now, I ask you how can that be true when she was betrothed at 8 and married off at 13.
So, she was married, worrying over her children and plotting a divorce with her unfaithful jerk of a husband before her teenage years even ended. So, where, I ask you now, did she get the time to entertain such suitors? Unless she was getting suitors since she was born (insert skull emoji).
To top it off, the sickest clickbait was created for this just to exploit your prejudices against beauty standards of that time and make it out to be some crazy feature story, which questions the kind of stuff people could do to go viral. It is truly a bit of a discredit to Princess Qajar and history itself.
Mustache for your thoughts?
So, what do you think about Princess Qajar and her dynamic personality? Do you feel, like I do that we need to raise awareness regarding such strong and influential ideals of feminist power?
Instead of only looking at women as pretty faces and nice figures? Since this article is an example of how much a woman could achieve and accomplish, not to mention, completely on her own, and yet the world would click on articles labeled about how that woman was a beauty icon.
Do you think it is time for us to rethink our principles? Penny for your thoughts?
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