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Ever since the Islamic Republic was set up in 1979, the Iranian state has been faced with the challenge of inventing a form of coherent modernization within the framework of the principles of orthodox Shiite Islam – particularly as far as gender relationships are concerned. Drawing on a body of official texts published between 2002 and 2010, we will show how the conservative doxa is confronted with a dilemma: on the one hand, there is a transformation of lifestyles and gender representations that goes beyond the religious doxa and calls for constant adjustments, on the other hand this religious doxa must constantly adapt to these transformations if it wants to maintain its project of providing the theological framework for this modernization.