The 1980s in Iran, coinciding with the establishment of the Islamic Republic and the imposed war, constituted a period of redefinition for women's social identity, during which numerous competing models for the "Muslim woman" emerged. This study, aiming to identify the historical roots of contemporary gender policies and to map the identity-based contestations of that era, addresses what competing paradigms regarding the role of the Muslim woman were proposed during the 1980s, and how these approaches were defined in opposition both to one another and to preceding frameworks. Employing qualitative content analysis with a non-selective reading technique, this research examined all issues of three prominent women-oriented periodicals—Zan-e Rooz (official revolutionary), Payam-e Hajar (religious reformist), and Zanan dar Mobarezeh (Marxist left)—from 1978 to 1988. Findings indicate each publication advanced a distinct model of the "ideal woman": Zan-e Rooz promulgated the "revolutionary woman," emphasizing her educative role and conditional social participation; Payam-e Hajar advocated the "awakened Muslim woman," centered on self-fashioning of identity, conscious choice, and socio-political agency; and Zanan dar Mobarezeh championed the "class-conscious militant woman" within an anti-imperialist framework. A feminist approach—both secular and Islamic—largely marginalized yet traceable within Zan-e Rooz, underscored autonomy, legal equality, and reinterpretation of religious texts. The most significant finding illuminates the disjuncture between the initial dominant approach—universal women's participation—and its gradual transformation toward promoting motherhood as the axis of female identity by the mid-decade, a transition accompanied by selective representation, conditionalizing questions, and progressive elimination of competing perspectives.