In reading the Complete Persepolis, a main issue in the book
is the obligation of Marji to wear a black veil at all times due to religious
reasons. Marji battles an internal conflict in that she cannot grasp the concept of
the veil. She is a very religious person; she thinks she could become a
prophet. However, at the same time she is of a contemporary family and the last
few years it was not a requirement to wear the veil because the US-installed
government did not enforce it.
Persepolis mostly took place over thirty years ago, so today
you would think that Iranian culture may have changed and now allows free
expression from women. Below is an article
detailing how the Iranian government is doing the exact opposite.
In the last couple of
years, steps have been taken to further restrict how women can dress, and now
these regulations are also spreading to men. Beginning in 2011, the Iranian
government began deploying up to 70,000 trained forces, known as "moral police"
(think literal fashion police) to help combat the "western cultural
invasion." New guidelines that the moral police is enforcing includes a
ban on loose-fitting headscarves, tight overcoats and shortened trousers that
expose skin for women, and shorts and necklaces for men.
The fashion police monitor public areas and dole out fines
and even arrests for those wearing "bad hijab" clothing. The women
have it most rough because they must be covered head to toe, but men are now
forced to adapt to the new rule, which poses a more drastic change to how they
have traditionally dresses, especially in the hot summer months.
This shows that not only is Iran failing to take steps
toward gender equality, but they are actually going in the opposite directions
by including restrictions on men. Also, putting 70,000 fashion policemen on the
streets to enforce these rules will do nothing but cause panic and uneasiness
of Iranian citizens. We mentioned in class that women are forced to wear the
veil out of respect for them, and the veil is a symbol of reverence in that
nobody is allowed to see a woman but her husband. However, in my opinion the
best way to respect women is to give them all the freedoms that men are
offered. I suppose extending these stringent rules to men accomplishes
that, but ideally they would have equal freedoms,
not equal oppression. It is hard
to imagine the socialization process that these women go through that makes
them adhere to these rules. While currently things are on an unsavory trend,
hopefully the state of Iranian women can improve going forward.
Here is a video of Stephen Colbert giving his humorous two
cents, while also making some good points.
No comments:
Post a Comment