Persepolis Gender Roles Essay

Women in our society have been treated as a sideline, not included, and muted across our generations. In the graphic novel Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi shows religion and authority to portray that women in the text are marginalized, excluded, and silenced. This graphic novel takes place in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, which influenced a lot of how women were treated. The women in Persepolis are marginalized, excluded, and silenced by restricted communication, forbidden to wear what they want, and not always having control of their actions.

During the Islamic Revolution in the Iranian Country, education was essential to the people. They were forcing people to do what they don’t want to do to form the government. The female was also forced to wear the veil. Being educated must be encourage by the people, in our societies. Education has been brought success and the independent in Maryjane’s life. Being educated enables her to find the condemnation in the Iranian government, and to voice out her mind. When Marjane got married to the Reza, she could not with stand the marriage because of the criticism of the women right and freedom. She was a strong and independent woman. Marjane found out that the reason while the She learns how to adjust herself in the Iran society, especially when she came back to her country from Vienna. As an educated woman, Maryjane could speak up her mind, on what it is good for her and the Iranian women’s. when Marjane was summoned by the Islamic commission in the school. She made a good sketch in her drawing before designed the girls school uniform.

In Euripides' Medea, the protagonist abandoned the gender roles of ancient Greek society. Medea defied perceptions of gender by exhibiting both "male" and "female" tendencies. She was able to detach herself from her "womanly" emotions at times and perform acts that society did not see women capable of doing. However, Medea did not fully abandon her role as a woman and did express many female emotions throughout the play.

“In 1980, after the downfall of the Shah and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, the Islamic regime introduced compulsory veiling, using police and para-military police to enforce the new rule. Despite the popularity of the regime, it faced stiff resistance from women (including some veiled women) on the grounds that such a law compromised the democratic rights of women…The fact is that both rejection of the Shah’s Eurocentric vision and the resistance to the compulsory veil represents women’s actiec struggles against the imposed gender role envisaged for women by the Iranian state.” (Hoodfar,

The idea of gender effects humanity tremendously, it is the underlying factor that shapes society as a whole. The gender of a person defines who they are for the rest of their lives. Their roles in society is shaped by their gender, it even establishes how a person views others, and humanity as a whole. Literature such as Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Side of Darkness and Marjane Satrapi’s The Complete Persepolis tries to tackle the tough subject that is gender-identification. Gender expectations and stereotypes hinder many individuals, especially women from reaching their full potential. This issue can only be resolved by educating the general populous by showing them a culture that has gender-equality through proper moral ethics.

Freedom is a concept held in high regards by many countries in this world. Iran was once among those nations in which liberty was supported. However, after the Iranian Revolution in the late 1970’s, a new theocracy was formed, and it deprived the Iranian women of their precious freedom. In the memoir Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi and the graphic novel Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi, the lives of the Iranian women after the Iranian Revolution are illustrated to inform people of what they are going through. The text and the graphic novel both reveal vividly that they are living a terrible life due to the laws their new government passed that control the conduct of women. In the text, Nafisi begins to show this by demonstrating, with

Gender roles have always been an important part of every individuals lives and have changed throughout the centuries. At one point in time only men were considered superior in social classes, politics, the economy, etc. Now in the twenty first century, women have been recognized just as equally as men are. Correspondingly, gender roles have been perceived in the novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Marjane, a young girl, learns how the society portrays the differences in men and women.

To be caught between the opposing ideas of Iran’s fundamentalist mentality, which restricts gender equality and liberty, and the western ideas of freedom and gender equality, become a turning point that fragments Marji’s sense of identity. Marji emphatically states that “I really don’t know what to think about the veil, deep down, I was very religious, but as a family, we were modern and avant-garde” (p. 6). The life that is influenced by Marji’s ideological perspectives, developed through eastern and western values, creates a binary division between those values. The internal conflict that is precipitated by being caught in-between Islamic values and western values, deeply divides Marji’s cultural identity.

In American Born Chinese and in Persepolis, both protagonists hate their nationality and wish they were normal. Being a minority can be difficult at times. Sometimes, minorities are looked down upon and just wish that they could be normal like the rest of the people they are surrounded by. In Persepolis, Satrapi was asked what race she was and lied in response to gain others respect and to be seen as an equal. In the graphic novel, the panel used at this time shows tense emotions by the action lines seen and the facial expressions. When she lies, the entire background is black and she looks sad. Satrapi does not maintain eye contact when she lied because she was embarrassed and knew she made a mistake. With the gutters between the scenes, we can assume how she is feeling after lying. Occasionally, ignorant people will assume that you are just like your race. In Satrapi’s case, people would see her as a terrorist. Satrapi lied so that the boy she liked would view her as a normal person, not just some terrorist. In American Born Chinese, Jin Wang also denied his nationality to be seen as normal by society. When Wang was introduced to class, a boy made a joke saying, “Don’t you people eat dogs?”. Racism due to being a minority can affect how much one wants to express their culture. If people are intolerant of others, they have a tendency to hide their culture. Wang was also classmates with a another Asian girl, which he never talked to because his classmates would make racist jokes about arranged marriages. When another Asian boy was introduced to the class, Wang wanted to hit him because he fit the stereotypes of the Asian culture. He was depicted wearing glasses, dressing in horrendous clothing, having an accent, and having squinty eyes. Wang did not want to associate with the new kid. When the new kid spoke the Chinese language, Wang was mad. His eyebrows were squinted and he told him “You’re in America. Speak English.” In general, both the protagonist from the stories hid their nationalism so that they would not be picked on. They both need to accept their nationalism in order to mature. In both graphic novels, both protagonists, Wang and Satrapi, want to fit in with white America. Satrapi spends a good

“True equality means holding everyone accountable in the same way regardless of religion or gender”.(Monica Crowley)As Monica Crowley states, everyone shall be equal but only when all is truly equal from every aspect including religion and gender. In Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi, Marjane writes about her life and all that she’s learned through her experiences about how gender plays a role along with religion. In addition, in “The Gender Game”, by Bella forrest, she talks about the struggles of being a women in the life compared to a man. Proven by both sources, gender and religion play a big role in lives and separation for some in the lives of others.

The novel itself is a tribute to how Marji’s life as a woman if affected by the Revolution in Iran. Everything from laws, to social norms are disturbed by the new thought that women are lesser than men and do not deserve to be treated in the same way. Marji is an incredibly determined young girl and much of that determination is because of her role as a female in her society. She is aware

In the beginning, it is made evident what role Iranian women are expected to play. They reside in a strict and highly prohibitable atmosphere maintained by the Regime. In 1980, the new Regime makes it mandatory for women to wear a veil. Marjane, the protagonist, makes it clear that she and the other children do not like wearing the veil. In the first chapter, the veil is first introduced by her and her friends mocking the clothing by making claims such as; “It’s too hot out,”(Satrapi 3) “give me my veil back,” (Satrapi 3) and “I am the monster of darkness!” (Satrapi 3). These playful statements demonstrate the children’s little understanding of the veil. “We didn't really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn't understand why we had to” (Satrapi 3). This ultimately states that, despite the girl's opinion of the veil, all women are obligated to wear it. This is seemingly a measure to limit a woman's freedom. Even at a young age, girls in the novel are not permitted to express themselves through clothing and hairstyles and are not given a reason as to why. Women are expected to play a compliant role by doing as they are told. The regime forces the veil upon women despite their opinion against it - thus causing a

In graphic novels the placement and dialogue of characters is rarely an accident. This is true for Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel, Persepolis. This story follows a young girl growing up during the Iranian revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. The revolutionaries were pushing for a more fundamentalist Islamic republic. Under this new government, gender roles were enhanced. Women and men were separated in schools and women were forced to wear the veil. Men were given power or indoctrinated and sent off to fight in war. In her book, Persepolis, Satrapi represents men and boys in positions of power in order to illustrate the power structure and her experience as a woman in Iran.

Marjane grows up during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which is known as the Islamic Revolution. Under the Revolution, stern Islamic law is applied to all sectors of society. Before this time, Marjane is ten years old, attending a French non-religious school where boys and girls attend classes together. In the early 1980’s strict Islamic law begins to impact daily life. Under Islamic law, westernized schools close down, and boys and girl separated are from each other in schools. The girls are forced to wear veils and to confirm to strict Islamic behavioral guidelines: “Everywhere in the street there were demonstrations for and against the veil” (5). Although Marjane and her family are religious, they are also a modern family. Marjane’s family history has a big influence on her and her feelings about her culture. Marjane’s family experience conflict

In a patriarchal society were the father or the man of the household decides for the family, women are quite often forced into prescribed gender roles. This is true for the women in Iran’s contemporary culture. For this purpose, the veil, which is worn by Iran women, is often identified as a symbol of obedience, respect or modesty which is otherwise an example of an oppressed patriarchal society. Author Marjane Satrapi’s novel Persepolis, exposes the regime behind this oppression of the Iran woman and compares western cultural expectations to that of Iranian culture. Yet, even behind the confinements of the veil many women are finding ways to rebel against the Iranian society oppression and find their own individual identities under strict conformities. By design the veil is meant to dictate to women their limited freedoms and rights in a culture that is historically male dominated. However, because the contributions of a strict regime has forced the woman of Iran to subscribe to these strict cultural gender expectations, many Iranian women are finding small ways to emerge from under their veils and find a voice against gender segregations and shape a new revolutionary way of thinking.