In Iran, from the late Qajar period to the end of the First Pahlavi era, modernity emerged in the form of an authoritarian, state-centered project. This project redefined social, legal, and familial structures, turning the status of women into one of the primary arenas of state intervention and modernist discourse. The main objective of this research is to explain the nature and consequences of this redefinition through an examination of the interplay among three key factors—state, class, and culture—with a particular focus on the relationship between institutional ruptures and cultural continuities in the situation of women during this transitional period. The central questions are: To what extent did state-led modernization policies bring about lasting change in the position of women? And how were these changes distributed across different social classes and geographical regions? The findings reveal that these policies did not lead to a stable or uniform transformation in the role and status of women. On a symbolic and institutional level, certain ruptures did occur—such as the emergence of women from spatial seclusion, transformations in dress, the expansion of modern education, the politicization of the "woman question," and the formation of supportive institutions. These changes created new opportunities for the urban middle class, leading to the nuclearization of the family and more individualized relationships. However, due to the top-down and authoritarian character of the state, these developments were accompanied by cultural resistance and class-based and regional inequalities, which resulted in the persistence of patriarchal structures, particularly among the lower classes and in regions outside the capital. Consequently, the achievements of modernity remained largely confined to the urban middle class and major cities, and the "new woman" often became a symbol of the state-led modernization project rather than an autonomous agent.