Abstract
The transformations brought about by the Constitutional Revolution have primarily been examined in political terms. However, the movement also led to critical social and cultural discourses concerning the lives of Iranian girls and women, bringing attention to and challenging their traditional lifestyles and issues. In this changing environment, significant efforts were made to discuss phenomena such as child marriage and early marriage publicly in newspapers, thereby challenging established norms. The establishment of women’s newspapers became an influential platform for raising the issues faced by girls and women. Some newspapers of the Constitutional era, especially women’s newspapers and female writers in women’s publications, created a critical discourse through written text and images related to the traditional lives of girls and women, viewing changes in these areas as foundations for social transformation in Iranian society. This discourse was considered highly progressive and bold for its time. This article analyzes and examines the reasons behind and approaches taken by the newspapers of the Constitutional era, particularly women’s newspapers, toward the issue of child marriage, along with its various causes and consequences. 
Keywords: Constitutional Revolution, Newspapers, Girls and Women, Child Marriage, Traditional Lifestyle of Women.
 
Introduction
The historical genealogy of child marriage reveals that this practice was a prevalent feature in the social structure of Iranian society. In the traditional and pre-modern world, despite its recognized and tangible social harms, child marriage was considered an accepted norm. The Constitutional Revolution, however, initiated critical discourses beyond the political arena. Among these was a discourse that challenged the traditional lifestyle and both the private and public lives of women in Iranian society. One example of this traditional model in the lives of Iranian women and girls during the Qajar era was the phenomenon of child marriage, which, due to various social, cultural, and economic factors, profoundly shaped the fate of young girls and led to numerous social and cultural harms. At a time when tradition, custom, and social norms still viewed this practice as accepted and normal, opposing it was seen as a form of norm-breaking and, occasionally, even as challenging certain religious and cultural standards. Newspapers and journals with a focus on men’s and women’s issues began to identify child marriage as a significant social and cultural problem in Iran, viewing awareness-raising on the subject as one of their primary responsibilities. This article’s main question is: why and how did the newspapers of the Constitutional era address the issue of child marriage, and with what objectives did they reflect on its causes and consequences?
 
Materials and Methods
Considering the influential role of newspapers and journals in raising public awareness, social harms, particularly child marriage, drew remarkable attention from certain newspapers and journals through the efforts of social and political activists of the Constitutional Era. The issue of child marriage was boldly highlighted by these activists, who, through numerous articles and commentaries, aimed to inform and draw society’s attention to this social harm. Newspapers such as Iran-e Now, Molla Nasreddin, Nameh-ye Farangestan, and Gol-e Zard, along with the women’s journals of this period like Danesh, Shekoufeh, Zaban-e Zanan, Nameh-ye Banovan, Jahan-e Zanan, Majalleh-ye Jam’iyat-e Nesvan-e Vatan-Khah, and Alam-e Nesvan, and… directly and indirectly addressed this issue.
The authors of this article not only analyze the phenomenon of child marriage as it appeared in the newspapers of the Constitutional era—especially women’s newspapers, through articles and cartoons—but also examine the causes and consequences of this phenomenon from the perspectives presented by these publications. Furthermore, to provide more substantiated information and a precise description and explanation, they gathered additional data from various documents and sources from this period, including travelogues, memoirs, and literary texts, through library research methods.
 
Discussion & Result
Child marriage is a socio-cultural phenomenon, and in this research, our focus on child marriage primarily refers to the marriage of young girls. Since child marriage remains a significant and challenging issue in contemporary society, understanding its history, causes, and consequences in previous periods of Iranian history is of great importance. Such understanding leads to better insights and more effective solutions to address and reduce this issue in today's society. Without an awareness of its social, cultural, and historical factors, effective planning to tackle it in the modern context is difficult.
This issue is even more important because the reasons that will be stated for child marriage during the Qajar period are still of interest to researchers and scholars today. In fact, even today, factors such as environmental conditions, low education, family economic hardship, and social norms are significantly associated with child marriage. In the Qajar period, in this type of marriage, the young girl, due to her age, lacked the capacity to make informed decisions, and because of the dominance of patriarchal culture in Iranian society, the selection of a spouse was effectively made by her guardian or father. In this type of marriage, not only were the girl’s preferences and interests disregarded, but her willingness or reluctance was not even questioned.
It appears that as we move from the Naseri period to the later years of the Qajar era, newspapers increasingly opposed and criticized the phenomenon of child marriage with greater clarity and boldness. Women’s publications dedicated a significant portion of their articles to criticizing the traditions and marriage practices of the Qajar era, as well as the age of marriage and the phenomenon of child marriage itself. These publications not only criticized child marriage but also discussed its causes and consequences, analyzing it from social-cultural, economic, physical, and psychological perspectives.
Among the most prominent social and cultural criticisms were those against the early marriage of girls, prevailing traditions among women in society, reliance on fortune-tellers, lack of education for girls, disregard for women’s rights and independence in marriage and childbirth, the gendered and instrumental view of women by men for "satisfying carnal desires," and the lack of familiarity before marriage. Newspapers identified the primary cause of women's misfortune in marriage as the prevalence and use of traditional marriage styles and "unfavorable marriage practices," suggesting that the only solution lay in "expanding women’s education" and "reforming marriage principles."
In examining the causes and pathology of child marriage, these newspapers also highlighted illiterate and superstitious mothers, lack of affection for daughters, national disorder, polygamy, and the absence of laws as contributing factors. It seems that all these smaller factors can be categorized under one overarching cause: patriarchy.
Another major factor contributing to early marriages for girls was economic. Poverty, lack of dowry, a father’s willingness to consent in exchange for money, and viewing daughters as assets were cited and critiqued in the magazines and newspapers of that time as factors leading to child marriage. Economic motives, following entrenched traditions and customs, were seen as significant reasons for the tendency toward child marriage.
Another factor was the absence of marriage laws during this period. The lack of legislation setting limits on the age of childhood and marriage can be considered one of the primary reasons for this phenomenon.
The consequences of child marriage and early marriage for girls were among the issues highlighted by the press of this period. These consequences can be examined in several areas: socio-cultural, physical, and psychological. One of the most significant consequences of child marriage lies in its socio-cultural impact. These effects influence not only the personal sphere but also public and social domains. The importance of this issue is amplified by the fact that its effects will also impact future generations.
The deprivation of children’s freedom and loss of childhood experiences, such as playing with peers, was one consequence noted by journalists. Another social consequence of child marriage is the backwardness of the nation. Many intellectuals and dissidents of the Qajar era used to arouse the people's sense of patriotism and patriotism to attract more attention to this issue.
 
Conclusion
The study and examination of Constitutional-era newspapers, along with the quantitative and content analysis of their articles, reveal that child marriage was recognized as a social issue and harm with destructive social and cultural consequences. Writers and activists of these newspapers identified the improvement of girls' status and the transformation of traditional lifestyle patterns as fundamental factors for social change within Iranian society. To this end, they endeavored to establish women’s newspapers at an impressive scale, aiming to build awareness that could foster a profound social transformation through changes in the traditional lives of girls. These activists rightly and with deep understanding considered social change impossible without changes in the status of women and girls, and specifically education, marriage, and doubt in the beliefs and ideas that dominate the subjective and objective space of Iranian society and the society of women and girls. Following this belief, in the Constitutional era and in the years leading up to the extinction of the Qajar dynasty, we witness the emergence of women's newspapers and the open discussion of the difficulties and issues related to women.