A Comparison Of Iran And American Pop Culture

As discussed earlier, Ataturk broke traditional Islamic tradition by commissioning a translation of the Quran from Arabic to Turkish and ordering all daily prayers to be played in Turkish. This received an enormous negative response from the rest of the Islamic world, but this sought to encourage the national identity of Turkey and its people. Turkey also sought to work against the modesty which was resent in its country. In order to do this, Turkey encouraged women to remove veils form their everyday outfits. Ataturk’s desire was for his people to dress in a more European way. Turkey also began to introduce ideas, such as beauty pageants, which were not present in the modest culture prior. Reza Shah also wished to reduce the prevalence of religion within Iran. One major piece of resistance to religion was the outlaw of the head veil in Iran. Reza Shah did not want people to outwardly reflect their religious beliefs in their everyday lives. This also included men. Men were forced to dress in European dress, which included the wearing of a

Both Iranian art and Iranian politics have undergone many drastic transformations during the 20th and 21th centuries. In the early 20th century, Iranian modern art was born. Reza Pahlavi took power, ending the Qajar dynasty. The new Pahlavi dynasty would only last 54 years, but under Reza Shah, Iran began the process towards westernization. The conflict between this rapid modernization and Iran’s strong cultural tradition affected the art of the period- visual culture blended western styles with Persian and Islamic imagery. The 1979 revolution brought a wave of traditionalism and Islamization to Iran, and art reflected this trend. Western influence was shunned, and more and more political and religious themes began to appear. During the turn

Although in Iran it’s different. The first chapter of Persepolis entitled “the veil” opens up to how women in Iran was obligated to wear the veil meaning they don’t have no choice but rather to obey. If one disobeys this obligation they face consequences and this is shown in the chapter entitled “Kim Wilde” where Marjane goes out in public wearing modernized clothes such as punk shoes, leather jackets, tight jeans, and a Michael Jackson pin which the guardians of the revolution symbolized as a decadence called her out to be sent to the committee for dressing inappropriately. Unlike in America, if one woman decides to wear tight jeans and a crop top that shows her belly, no one would call her out as Americans have all the freedom to wear what they

The Iranian government forced its control on children by forcing segregating the schools and making girls wear the Iranian headscarf. Wearing the scarf represents the concealment of childhood in Iran for Marjane and her friends. Reformation in Iran comes with the protests, violence and eventually war which disguise the chance of childhood for the youth of the country. Marjane says, “we found ourselves veiled and separated from our friends” (4). Concealing these children from the childhood they deserved left them to deal with fear, anger, loss and death. Her story highlights the lack of stability children need to grow into responsible adults. Marjane’s story represents the thousands of children in Iran who are lacking the proper elements for child development because of the revolution.

In the late 1970's, the world was hit with the events of the Iranian Revolution, a movement in which the Shah was overthrown in replacement with Ayatollah Khomeini. Causes for this movement included the economic, political, and socio-economic conditions in Iran before the Revolution. Economically, the Shah's hopes for the country ended up being their downfalls while politically, the Shah's ruling as a dictator prohibited the freedom of the Iranians. Socio-economically, the Shah didn't place much emphasis on religion, angering the majority of the population. The overthrow of the Shah led to the uprise of a religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, a figure supported by many. Unlike advice

Popular culture is consumed through interaction in the social media that includes television programs, movie theaters and virtual social networks. From the media, interests lie in the political developments and discussion concerning governance. These media satisfy appetite for political information while guiding an understanding on the national issues and choices made.

The exporting of American pop culture has been going on ever since America has become a big world power along with other countries. Sometimes we don’t know how westernized we are since it’s all around us. There are some positives to this export to other countries, but there is also negatives. Some negatives to the exportation of American pop culture are the misrepresentation of other societies, teachings of extreme beliefs, and the erasing of other cultures around us.

The complexity of America’s relationship with Iran increased steadily beginning in 1908, when Iran struck oil. The Shah, the king or emperor of Iran, after taking the place of his young predecessor Reza Shah Pahlavi with the help of the CIA, led Iran into a period of extreme wealth and prosperity, the likes of which the Iranian people had never experienced. However, with the growth of wealth in Iran came the growth of Iranian resentment towards the West, specifically the United States. The Iranian’s resented the uneven distribution of wealth that they felt existed and the United State’s influence in “westernizing” their society. In 1963, this growing hatred led to a conflict with the Islamic clergy. The conflict was quickly settled by the Shah, but he was unaware that this dispute was the beginning

While often mistaken for the Iranian revolution, the cultural revolution is far different. The only real similarity they share is the fact that Ayatollah Khomeini played an important role in both. The Iranian Revolution lasted from January 1977 to February 1979 (Afary). Iran was in a sense trading in its monarchy for an Islamic republic (“e-Publications@Marquette”). The Shah was overthrown and the exiled cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile to Iran to lead the new republic (Reinbold). The cultural revolution however, was the period following the Iranian revolution where schools closed down to rid education of any and all Western and non-Islamic influences(“Iran Shuts Down Higher Education”). Although the differences between the Iranian Revolution and the Iranian Cultural Revolution were very distinctive, they are directly connected to each other.

Of course, when anime first came over to America, it had to be edited to go over well with the popular audience. Television stations would go through and remove excessively violent scenes, alter translations, and even change whole plots just to make the shows more suitable for American audiences, (Ladd & Deneroff, 2009). Of course, it didn’t help that Americans viewed anime in general as children’s cartoons when it wasn’t created to be that way.

It was a bright and sunny day in the streets of Tehran, where my father would walk along side by side with the love of his life. He was dressed like any gentleman in the blistering summer’s heat would, but the real sight to him was his girlfriend. She was wearing a bright colored dress and her hair was swaying with the cool wind. They felt vigorous and young to be able to show their affection so freely. Despite that, times have changed in Iran and to practice that type of freedom would result in brutal consequences from the government. At first glance, one would say modern day Iran juxtaposes the United States. However, that was not always the case. According to my informant, my father, Iran was once a country very much like the United States

There are many ways in which Iranian cultural expectations are different from the western cultural expectations. They are different in regards to citizens’ rights and gender norms.

In America, the Islamic Revolution means absolutely nothing to a ten year old child, but in Iran it’s like a plague that’s draped across their entire world as they know it. Most Iranian children are unlike the children of the United States, which have no restrictions on dress or schools, even freedom. Iranian children live in a country controlled by their government that prohibits simple pleasures and freedoms because this government forbids Iranian families the ability to control their own lives. Iranian’s live in a country that demands they have obedience to their religious culture at all times or pay the consequences.

Iranians deeply value their social and cultural traditions. The Persian revolution formed the basis through which the country evolved and foundation upon which its empires were established. The Islamic regime practiced by the country formed the basis through which the country’s sophisticated institutions were built. Shah seemed to champion for secularization and westernization (Axworthy,

In Tehran, Iran, over thirty college students were lashed ninety-nine times because they were at a graduation party with both men and women. The women were “half naked,” meaning they were not wearing their Islamic coverings. In different cultures, words have different meanings. Half naked in Iran has a completely different definition than in America. It demonstrates how in Iran, religion is tightly tied with its culture, as the law there is based off the religion of Islam. Also, it appears that everyone has to follow these Islamic norms, even if you do not identify as Islam, free will is prohibited. In Iran, mixed-gender parties are illegal, and as the problem has increased lashes have become a punishment in order to teach a lesson. The fact that Iran resorts to lashes as a punishment instead of bail or jail is harrowing as it juxtaposes the criminal punishments in America and Iran. Iran uses torture as punishment because that is how their religion, Islam, teaches. In addition to that one incident, Tehran bloggers were arrested, while actors and actresses were given warnings about abiding by the Islamic dress code. In Iran, Judges “have broad freedoms to interpret Islamic law,” allowing them to convict anyone that appears as a threat to “Islamic behavior.” Islam has taken over their entire livelihood, as famous people must