When reading Marjane
Satrapi’s graphic novel, The Complete
Persepolis, one theme stuck out to me more than any other. The importance of women. How important are women? Marjane feels that women are of much
importance by the way she reflects the double standard placed between men and
women. During this revolution, men can
have all different styles of hair while women cannot have hair shown at
all. It is considered a crime to have
any body part shown other than the face.
What makes women much more sacred than men? Was it because they were more sacred, or
ultimately because they were an easier target than men? In the graphic novel, men are often sent to
prison for committing war crimes while women are punished for wearing make-up,
showing hair, or wearing bright colored socks.
Marjane may have over exaggerated this double
standard. However, when looking further into
this Islamic Revolution, I realized women were truly punished for less serious
offenses than men. A large percentage of
women’s arrests came from improper wearing of the veil. While most men were arrested for crimes against the country. After looking into this harsher punishment
against women, I came to my conclusion.
Women did not have more sacredness or importance, but, the Iranian
government needed a weak target to feel more power.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Women were treated differently during the revolution compared to men. Between, their attitude, appearance and clothes they were entirely different. Why women though? I do not think it was because they were sacred, I believe it was a source of power and control for the government. Punishing women for wearing makeup or different colored socks is a way of taking away their personality and self-expression. When someone conceals another person's qualities it destroys a person's way of communicating with the public, which is why I believe it was for control of the people. I understand, every religion is different and have there own traditions and rules but when it comes to taking away confidence and voicing it is a different story. For example: "They insulted me. They said that women like me should be pushed up against a wall and fucked. And then thrown in the garbage. ...And that if I didn't want that to happen, I should wear the veil...” (Persepolis, 74) Marjane and many other women like her were faced with unjust punishment and unfair laws. Punishment such as that horrid image shown in the quote is disgusting, vulgar and uncalled for especially because of not wearing an article of clothing. Why were women treated so horribly? Why were they shown no respect if they were so sacred? Furthermore, I believe it was a way of depriving and destroying women. It was a form of control.
ReplyDelete