Under the French mandate, Syria and Lebanon became a safe haven for the Kurdish national movement. After their attempts to liberate Kurdish territories from Turkish control failed, Kurdish elites exiled in Damascus and Beirut initiated a cultural movement. Central to that movement was the publication of magazines and newspapers namely Hawar, Ronahi, Rojanu and Ster in Kurdish and French by Celadet and Kamuran Ali Bedirkhan, brothers, in the 1930s and 1940s. Their goal was to create a standard alphabet for Kurdish, to put folk literature into writing and to educate ordinary Kurds. This presentation aims to address how the issue of masculinity was addressed and how women played a central role in presenting masculinity in the pages of the Kurdish publications at the time. Moreover, it will explain role of the French orientalist scholars in defining Kurdish women and masculinity. The Bedirkhan brothers called the Kurdish press a platform for Kurds. In fact, it was a platform for male nationalists emphasizing masculinity as the essential characteristic of the Kurdish nation and a precondition, along with science, for civilization and progress. Kurdish magazines and newspapers of the time presented two different but intertwined worlds. One is the world of documentary reality and the other one is the fictional or created world of short stories, plays, and folklore. First of all, the authors talk about social ills such as polygamy and bride-price, and necessity to educate Kurdish girls to be good mothers and wives. Kurdish female youth are given special duties. Moreover, journalistic coverage of European women during the Second World War challenges traditional gender roles. The images and stories of female workers and soldiers from the Allied countries constitute an important subject during the war years. As for the imaginary world of Kurdish folk and modern literature published on the same pages, Kurdish women seem to have already transcended traditional gender roles. We can see women in the stories and songs talking about their bodies, lovers and sexuality, fighting against the Turkish enemy, and teaching their husbands bravery and manhood. Based on an intensive and critical reading of the articles and books by the Kurdish nationalists and French orientalists, I will try to analyze the meaning of masculinity in the Kurdish national discourse in a regional and wider context of the 1930s and 1940s.