The Women Behind The Veil

Women's rights in the Middle East have always been a controversial issue. Although the rights of women have changed over the years, they have never really been equal to the rights of a man. This poses a threat on Iran because women have very limited options when it comes to labor, marriage and other aspects of their culture. I believe that equal treatment for women and men is a fundamental principal of international human rights standards. Yet, in some places like Iran, discriminatory practices against women are not only prevalent, but in some cases, required by law. In this essay I will explain to you the every day life of an every day Islamic woman living in Iran. You will be astonished by what these women have endured through the

The specific topic of this book is the oppression of women. Its overall purpose is to understand the women behind the veils and why the Muslim women take up the hijab. The purpose is also to show how

Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis introduces the Islamic veil as an attempt by the Iranian government to control women. Islamic radicals promised safety and security for those who abided by their rules. Rebels who refused to wear the headscarf were threatened with beating, rape or death. These modern women who fought against religious oppression met the minimal requirements of the government rules to safely live in the hostile environment. Through being forced to wear the veil, the control of the Islamic government drives its people to a rebellion.

Religion is a subject that affects everyone in many ways. As we have learned in this class, religion is a very controversial word and has numerous definitions, but one thing that’s known is that whatever the religion a person may practice, it will affect their daily lives in some way or another. A person’s religion makes up a huge part of their culture and influences many of their decisions. Persepolis is a film that speaks volumes about how the Islam religion and oppressive government in Iran affected children and adults during the late 1970s to the early 1990s. Throughout the movie, the main character, Marjane Satrapi (also known as Marji), has a difficult time understanding why things were the way they were in society when she was growing up during the Shah’s dictatorship and the Islamic Revolution (Scott, nytimes.com). Marjane’s rebellious, heroic, and outspoken attitude got her into trouble plenty of times, but it was because of her character that she was able to view the problems in society and other parts of the world like no other. There were plenty of symbols and themes in the movie that related to Muslim traditions from what they wore and how they acted to the different experiences they encountered. Closely analyzing the film Persepolis, the audience may see the many ways in which the Islamic religion not only influences the lives of its

In The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, the genre choice of the graphic novel vividly portrays the life-experience that Satrapi herself gone through as a youth growing up in Iran back in the 1980s. Satrapi utilizes a unique drawing style to emphasize the influence that the Islamic Republic has brought to her. The recurring action of teachers implanting Islamic values in children throughout Marjane’s education in Iran is demonstrated through a set of related images, which implicitly reflect on the destruction of childhood that is caused by a totalitarian regime. For instance, the teachers force the girls to wear veils on page1 and tells the parents that “either [girls] obey the law, or [they are] expelled” (Satrapi, 98) later on. Also, the background of these images takes place where Iran is involved in both revolution and war; it contributes to children’ miserable situation even more.

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic novel that provides insight into a young girl living in Iran during the hardship of war. Persepolis takes place during the childhood of Marjane Satrapi. It gives a background of the Islamic Revolution and the war in Iran. Satrapi attempts to guide herself in a corrupted world filled with propaganda. She tries to develop her own morality concerning religion, politics, and humanity. Satrapi was blessed enough to have high class status and parents who had an open mindset about the world around them. Thanks to her slightly alternative lifestyle, she is able to reconstruct gender norms that society has set by depicting the different ways women resist them. “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others” by Lila Abu-Lughod is an essay detailing the misconceptions surrounding the veil. Through this essay we can see how colonial feminism, the form of feminism in which western women push for a western way of living on their third world counterparts, has shined a negative light on cultures all around the world - particularly Islamic women. The essay shows how women who don’t conform to American societal structures are labeled as women who urgently require saving. Through this essay one can develop a thorough understanding of the veil itself and the many representations it holds to different entities. Although in Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood Satrapi

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic memoir that reveals the life of a woman growing up in pre and post Iran, as well as her experiences in Western countries. In this book, Marjane utilizes historical events that affect her life during her upbringing in Iran. These include the oppression of the Shah, as well as the rise and effects of the regime. These events’ integration into the story showcase how they affect Marjane and the other citizens of her country. Additionally, these events are important for the context and understanding that they grant readers unfamiliar with the text.

Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis recounts the conflicts and disillusionment as a result of living through the tyrannies of the Shah’s and the Islamic regimes. Her main motive was to keep alive the spirit of those Iranians who lost their lives in wars fought for freedom, suffered under repressive regimes or who were forced to leave their families. It highlights the daily conflict between tradition and modernity, West and East, dictatorship and individual freedom. Marjane has used several motifs, such as the veil, the mirror, background panels to emphasize on the situation in Iran and this essay focuses on how the veil becomes the dominant motif for portraying the suppression of individual freedom, knowledge

A veil is an article of clothing that is intended to cover some part of the head, face, or physical feature that may hold some significance. It is especially associated with women and sacred objects. Not only does it conceal a person’s physical appearance, but it contributes to stifling one’s individuality. In Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis, Marjane, the main character, lives in Iran and is required, by fear of punishment, to wear a veil that only leaves her face uncovered. The veil becomes an important symbol and throughout the novel, the reader can see the lasting impact the veil has on Satrapi. It begins as something foreign and detestable to young Marjane; a simple piece of clothing that deprived her of her free will,

Marjane Satrapi, in Persepolis writes about a memoir of a little girl growing in Iran. She refers to a secular pre-revolutionary time through contrast, the oppressive characteristics of the fundamentalist government upon women in specifics. In comparison, her work is very similar to Margaret Atwood’s, A Handmaid’s Tale, in which the central character, Offred, reflects upon her former life’s freedom, cherishing her former name and in doing so, emphasizes the isolated and enslaved live that she must now endure. Although Both Margaret Atwood and Marjane Satrapi show how a totalitarian state oppresses women in different ways by

After the empowerment of the Islamic Regime, the treatment of women turned tables in Iran. Before the Regime, Iranian women were much like the average American woman during that time. They were able to dress in modern clothes, associate with male counterparts, and have a role in society. But most of this was drastically changed, especially the dress code. Around 1980, the women of Iran were forced into the wearing of a veil. A veil is a piece of cloth used to cover the hair and part of the face. Many women were against the veil and took to the streets to protest. After many protests, the women were still forced to wear the veil. In the graphic novel Persepolis, Marji goes the store and bought some modern clothes. She decided to wear them out to go buy tapes. In the last frame, Marji is approached by two women wearing chadors: “They were the Guardians of the Revolution, the women's branch. This group had been added in 1982, to arrest women who were improperly

Women’s rights in Iran or the Middle East has always been an arguable issue. Although there rights have been changed throughout the centuries they were never really compared equal to men or noone really accepted them. Specially for women in Iran, they barely had any rights in culture, marriage or other aspects of their lives. In the following essay you will read about the everday lives of Middle Eastern women.

One of the most controversial topics concerning Muslim women’s rights is the idea of the veil. It is believed by some Muslims that the veil is an Islamic obligation that all Muslim women must adhere to. But nowadays, the veil can have different meanings that are not necessarily religious. In her article “Reinventing the Veil,” Leila Ahmed addresses some of the different meanings that the veil can have. Marjane Satrapi explores one of those meanings in her animated autobiography Persepolis (2008). In Persepolis, Marjane tells the story of her rebellion against the Iranian Islamist regime that takes over Iran, oppresses women, and forces them to wear the veil. What was interesting to me was seeing Marjane wear the veil without being oppressed, although she does not believe in it, and is being forced to wear it. In Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi escapes being a subject to the Iranian Islamist ideology by establishing her individual identity through transforming the veil from a means of oppression into a means of feminist rebellion.

Most people have seen a woman walking down the street or in a mall clad in what appears to be scarves wrapped around her head, covering her hair, ears, and neck. In some situations these women even have a veil covering up most of their face. This is becoming a common occurrence in the United States as the Islamic population grows. Some may view this as a way to make these women subservient, making it seem like they don’t have an identity or a voice. This leaves many to wonder why they would wear such a thing in modern America where women are treated as equals and do have a voice. The truth behind the headscarf does

In Persepolis, the Islamic state makes the wearing of veils compulsory, under the assertion that it is a symbol of both Iranian culture and Islamic religious law. While Marjane accepts the veil as part of her life, she rebels against the ideology it represents. When Iran begins to enforce stricter dress codes to ensure modesty, Marjane sees that the veil is a form of controlling the female population, a form of suppression. She rejects the double standard that allows Iranian men more freedom: “You don’t hesitate to comment on us, but our brothers present here have all shapes and sizes of haircuts and clothes. Sometimes, they wear clothes so tight that we can see everything” (299).