Abstract

Historically in Iran, household labor, including various unpaid works, from culinary tasks to producing commodities like carpets, was considered women's responsibility. As women had to carry out this labor inside their homes, these works acquired domestic attributes and labor seamlessly merged with their daily lives. This labor order formed part of a broader patriarchal system against which Iranian women have devised various strategies, among them singing while working. Bound by the confines of patriarchy, Iranian women found no place to express their innermost feelings but to sing at home during daily work/life. Accordingly, studying these songs as women’s emotional archives offers a clearer understanding of women's domestic life and their inner anxieties. The present study explores four categories of these songs, including lullabies, work songs for weaving carpets, work songs for milking livestock, and work songs for mashkazani, with the objective of portraying how Iranian women utilize singing as a form of resistance.