In the past week we have finished reading “The Complete
Persepolis”. In class we have discussed what Iranian women look like, how
they behave and their place in the world of politics. All of us seemed to come
to an image that was very similar. When we were asked to describe Iranian women most
of our responses seemed to include a veil and conservative dress. We also described
Iranian women to be very dependent on men and have no political or economical power. This is our stereotypical “image”
of these Iranian women. In Satrapi’s novel, she challenges our understanding of third world women. She allows readers to rethink their opinions and stereotypes of Iranian women.
In class we talked about how gender socialization, control
of women’s bodies, intersectionality, and sexuality have been overarching
themes of the novel. During the 1979 revolution the control of women’s bodies
became very prevalent. Women had to conform to very strict dress codes and
during that time women’s rights were lost. In the novel, we see Marjane forced to wear the veil even when she didn't want to. While on BuzzFeed I came across an
article “How
Iran’s Young Women Are Using Fashion to Influence Politics”. In the article
they explain the revolution and how women’s rights were diminished during that
time but now women are taking a stand. They are expressing themselves in new, bold
ways and changing the meaning of the chador. Women wear vibrant colors in order
to defy clothing restrictions and show more skin. They are now wearing leggings instead of full length dresses and the jackets have become tighter and more fitting. Iranian women are fighting the
oppression that was once put on them through fashion. It is a simple act that
is revolutionary.
In Satrapi’s novel, she shows us how women were forced into
dress codes by having to wear a veil. It is interesting to see how far women have come since the development. They are using fashion to show that they are willing to challenge the image of Iranian women and widen their freedom.This is just the beginning of this revolution and still has a long way to go until they reach their goal but Iran’s women are
finally pushing back. “The struggle of women’s rights is central to the larger
struggle of individual rights.”- Haleh Esfandiari
In class when we discussed what the stereotypical Iranian women looked like I definitely reflected back to Satrapi’s book. She showed us what growing up was like during the harsh dress codes. I liked her story mainly because she went through a strong gender socialization period in history at such a young age, but she was very intelligent, independent and outspoken. Her distinct actions about the oppression and the wars were very unpredictable. I thought it was sad to see that she wanted to be a normal kid that wore sneakers, wore jean jackets, listened to different music and hung up posters in her room, but she was forced to be hidden under her dress and veil. Satrapi showed women body’s being controlled throughout the book. It was even eye opening to see how close her family was and how different her parents were from the typical stereotypes. I definitely agree with you that Satrapi opens her readers up to rethink how they see the Iranian women stereotypes. She definitely changed my views. It is also nice to read in the article you posted women are fighting for their rights to wear what they please. It is extremely revolutionary because women are finally fighting for the freedom that they deserve.
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