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  • Essay / A review of the oppression of women in the works of Marjane Satrapi

    A society cannot prosper without its women. The strongest and most developed societies in the world value women and, conversely, the weakest societies in the world do not value women. Almost all developed countries grant women freedom and protection under the law. However, even the strongest societies have sexist values. In Marjane Satrapi's memoirs, Persepolis and Persepolis 2, this social model is prevalent both in the Iranian culture in which she grew up and in the Austrian society in which she has been a guest for several years. In Iran, the government systematically oppresses women through strict laws and policies, and the country is plagued by unrest. In Austria, women are much more valued and the country is peaceful, but Satrapi's Austrian peers still face sexism. Additionally, a new form of oppression controls Satrapi's life when she is taken out of her home where everyone looks like her and moved to a place where her skin color and culture are shamed. While it seems at first glance that women in developed countries do not live under hatred and oppression, Persepolis and Persepolis 2 debunk this myth by showing an inside view of a woman's life in Iran and Austria. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In Persepolis, the veil that women were forced to wear was highly controversial and secretly oppressive. Marjane, when she was 10 years old in 1980, during the time of the Islamic Revolution, was forced to wear the veil when in public or at school, along with the rest of her classmates. These girls were not explained the importance of this, which led them to “not like wearing the veil, especially since they did not understand why they had to do it”. (Persepolis, page 3). Riots broke out in the streets between Iranian men and women over whether or not wearing the veil was morally correct (Persepolis, page 5). Thus, a division was created among the Iranian people. There were the fundamentalists, who wore full veils and long dresses, and the modern people, who “showed their opposition to the regime by revealing a few locks of hair” (Persepolis, page 75). The oppression of women in Iran goes much deeper than clothing, but these outfits made a social statement as accurate visual representations of what women should and should not be. A few strands of hair sticking out from under a veil show rebellion and send a message of negativity to anyone who sees them, even though this could easily happen by mistake. But the problem is bigger than the veil. You could say that it is just a piece of fabric and it is not difficult to wear it. However, oppression begins to apply when a government dictates what a certain group of people can or cannot wear, implying that this reflects on the person's worth in society. Marjane recounts the grief and feeling of helplessness (Persepolis, page 134) among her people, especially the women, in Persepolis. Iranian women wore this sadness tied around their chin. Social values ​​towards women change, although neither better nor worse, when Marjane goes to Austria in Persepolis 2. Marjane is no longer required to wear the veil in public and she generally notices more respect for women . She is allowed to live her definition of a "real independent adult life", going out in public without her veil and going shopping.