Iranian Women

I often take for granted the freedom I have as a female teenager in the United States. I never really even thought about what life would be like if I woke up every morning and covered up my hair in a scarf before I leave to school, or if I could be severely punished if I spoke out, or if I couldn't even attend the concert of my favorite singer, John Mayer. I have a Muslim friend at Lynbrook High, and even though she wears a veil and always wears longs sleeves and pants, she definitely has more equality in America than women have in Iran. (Though, she is from Pakistan, not Iran.)

Nicole and Vivian's presentation on Iranian women made me realize how fortunate I am. They presented an article from the New York Times, "Courageous Women of Iran," which highlighted the equalities and rights women are stripped of. Iranian women are required to wear a scarf to cover their hair, are reprimanded for "rebellious" behavior, and even need the permission of a man to get a higher education in college (Nicole). However, through all the adversity, women are "ready to fight for their equality and rights" (Nicole). It is exciting to see how women in Iran are challenging the the Fundamentalist ideas, just like how Marji often spoke out against the textbook in school, and just like Marji, Iranian women are challenging the veil (Nicole). Many women are also running away from home, escaping to other countries, especially the U.S., to gain a college education (Vivian). Iranian women are on the track to gaining more rights and equality and hopefully one day soon I will not feel like I am at an advantage to Iranian women, but we will be equals.

Irreconcilable Differences

Torture.
Pain has been a part of the human race for as long as human interaction has existed, whether we are the torturers or it is inflicted upon us . It seems that power and competition is something innate to the mind, and this power is what drives us to want to inflict such pain. For the common people and their everyday lives, the pain is not so extreme, but on the international, religious and cultural level, pain will equate to torture. And torture is not humane.



I was shocked to learn that such a civilized country, the United States, held a prison camp in Guantanamo Bay. Rachmawi's presentation made me aware that prisoners in Guantanamo Bay detention camp are often of Islamic backgrounds, who are suspected terrorists, and they undoubtedly "received similar tortures like the [torture we read about] in Persepolis" (Rachmawi). In Iran, torture involved excruciating physical pain, and some prisoners were ultimately cut into several pieces (Satrapi 51). When I think about how the United States' torture, which goes as far as only allowing religious prisoners to pray in cages, while soldiers kick them in the back, I start doubting how far we come from history and how much we really learn. It's extremely comforting to know that our new President, Barack Obama is planning to close Guantanamo Bay and to restore morale and cease ignorance of human rights laws (Rachmawi).


I agree with Melisa when she says that Marjane Satrapi wrote Persepolis to create awareness , and so that we do not repeat history. However, the world and its people of every ethnicity...all of humanity still has a long way to go and huge opportunites to improve.

This is Goodbye

126-end

I admire Marjane for staying true to herself as she matured. She still looked up to popular culture icons, Iron Maiden, Kim Wilde, and Michael Jackson, wore retro Nike sneakers and a denim jacket (Satrapi 131). Then, even after she is harassed on the streets by "guardians of the revolution," fundamentalist women, and accused of being a punk, she returns home and calms down to a rock 'n roll tape (Satrapi 134). Keeping to their true selves and interests must have been hard for Iranian teenagers, considering the very conservative ideas the Fundamentalists were trying to impose onto society. It's great the Marji was able to see past the blatant control government was attempting to keep and instead allowed herself to be completely comfortable in her own home, whereas many teenagers were not even able to find comfort at home.

"Persepolis [Punk Is Not Ded]"

This video is the scene from the film that shows Marjane buying tapes from the street and getting condoned by the Fundamentalist women.

I was touched by the parental love and how visible it is when Marjane's parents decide to send the only daughter to live in Austria so that she can have a better life/education. I appreciate the way Marjane's father's confesses that he feels "it's better for [Marjane] to be far away and happy than close by and miserable" (Satrapi 148). It definitely shows how bad life in Iran was getting and that even if it meant being out of touch for a while, sending Marji away would be worth it in the long run. I could imagine how hard it would be for me to send my only child away if I were a mom. I guess this is how my parents are going to feel in less than a year when I'm leaving to start a new life in college. Since forever, I've wanted to just get out of San Jose and go to Southern California or even the East Coast, but after seeing Marjane's mother faint from overwhelming grief of sending Marji away, I wonder if I will soon be giving my parents that same feeling. I hope not...but if it does, then I'll definitely be staying in touch more than I previously would have planned to (Satrapi 153).

Where the Heart Lies

94-125

Marjane and her family seldom let the craziness of the outside world negatively affect their lives; they held weekly parties, drank alcohol and celebrated friendship in the comfort of their own home (Satrapi 105-106). The family's bravery in hosting social get-togethers is off the wall considering the trouble it could have gotten into. Even owning "banned items" such as records and tapes, cards and board games were condoned, and earned Tinoosh 75 whip lashes (Satrapi 105). But throughout all the hardships outside, Marjane's family continued with the parties because "without them it wouldn't be psychologically bearable," while carrying on with all the "illegal," westernized things including music, wine, and games (Satrapi 106). Unfortunately, parties were often crashed by police guards (Satrapi 108). However, these guards were often very young, and I was astonished how Marji's dad bought off the investigation of a guard simply because "their faith has nothing to do with idology" (Satrapi 110). This shows how corrupted society had become with the religious leaders in charge, because though the religious leaders were obeyed by some people, these same people did not actually accept the ideas imposed on them. I just wish that all these citizens would not let government brainwash them, and instead take their own stands on issues, because together, they make up a large population and had they spoken out together, Iran may be in a better place than it is in today.


"Cultural propaganda|Alcohol in Iran"
This is a great video that shows instances that resulted from liquor bans in Chicago and from the Persepolis film.

Looks can be Deceiving

VS
Today in class, Indra enlightened us with a Time magazine article and his take on the matter. It is common for people to refer to Persepolis by its label, graphic novel AKA comic book--I certainly lose the critical meaning sometimes, too. Indra pointed out that it is a misconception and maybe somewhat shameful for Persepolis and other serious works to be put in the same category as lighter cartoons, such as Little Lulu. Admittedly, on obvious terms, Persepolis can definitely be called a comic because the drawings of all comic novels, both serious and light, are similar (Indra). But what Indra emphasizes is the difference in drawing methods and portrayal of childish cartoons and graphic memoirs. He exemplifies the argument with a cartoon like Lulu, which is meant for laughs and silliness for children, while Persepolis, which Indra likened to Japanese Anime, is drawn to build "deeper and serious" complex stories; therefore these two different kinds of comics cannot be called the same (Indra). I thought Indra did a phenomenal job at presenting this perspective on different types of comics, and his comparisons and arguments were very strong. I also liked how he showed us visual examples (Youtube videos) of both titles. His take on the contrast of graphic novels provided me with a perspective I had not considered before, and he probably influenced the views of all his classmates, too. Good job, Indra! :)

Inevitable

(62-93)
First of all, I was disappointed that Marjane got angry with God because she felt He "let" Anoosh get killed (70). I was under the impression that being with God was the "only place she felt safe" (Satrapi 53). And now, instead of seeking comfort in the one who has always been by her side, she is blaming him and never wants to see Him again (Satrapi 70). But anyways...

If Anoosh were still alive, I would totally want to tell him, "I told you so." He was completely mistaken when he says the religious rule was "just a transitional period" (Satrapi 65). It only seemed that the revolution would have been a huge success with the downfall of the Shah, but it's disappointing to see how it took Iran only one step forward and two steps back. Life in Iran dramatically changed with the religious leaders taking charge. Universities closed so books could be rewritten in ideology and women were enforced to wear veils. Honestly, I'm quite culturally uninformed so I talked a little about the issue of the veil with one of my best friends, Saba. She is Pakistani and wears a veil, though she told me most of the countries don't enforce it as strictly as Iran does. Saba even said that "Iran is like a taboo" in other countries such as Pakistan.

"War always takes you by surprise" (Satrapi 81). Iran was definitely in an unfortunate condition, involved in both inner and outer struggles, with the religious leaders in charge and the bombing of Iraq (Satrapi 81). In spite of all this, I really respect Marjane's family for their loyalty to Iran and choosing to stay there even in such difficult situations, rather than escaping to the U.S. (Satrapi 84).

Heroes

(40-61)
Reading this part of the story has made me really frustrated with both Marjane and her family and people in general. The Shah was finally taken down and the revolutionaries appeared to have "won" the struggle in Iran (Satrapi 42). Sure, they might have achieved another goal and taken one step closer to complete success. But, they didn't seem to have a clear, strong plan for after defeating the Shah, which later obviously lead them down a rocky road.

It's easily recognizable that the society children grow up in have such effects on their perceptions. I found an interesting contrast between Marji's childhood and those of American kids. While Americans are enjoying bedtime stories consisting of princesses and castles, Marji sleeps peacefully after joyfully listening to horrible stories of torture and prison (Satrapi 61). Anoosh, the ex-prisoner uncle that Marjane instantly connects with, soothes Marji's disappointment in having no "heroes" in her family. The ingenue she is, Marjane believes only prisoners can be heroes and is angry for not being related to any. In Marjane's mind, her own father, though he is an active revolutionary, is not a hero because he hasn't been locked up in prison (Satrapi 54). Marjane and her friends even spent playtime scheming games involving "torturing prisoners," though of course, in their young minds, playing the prisoner would be honorable (Satrapi 53).

Monochromatic Memoirs

Summary of Pedro & Me (by Judd Winick)

This graphic memoir chronicles the friendship between Pedro Zamora and Judd Winick, made possible by MTV's The Real World: San Francisco. Judd wrote this memoir to remember and honor Pedro, an openly gay HIV/AIDS activist. Pedro traveled around the country to spread AIDS awareness and ways to prevent the incurable disease from spreading. Judd found himself an unlikely roommate, Pedro in the MTV reality TV series. As they partake in their time together, Pedro opens Judd's eyes to see the significance in life. On some occasions, Judd visited Pedro during his lectures with the youth, and saw how greatly Pedro interacted with the audience and the positive responses from the crowd. As their friendship grows, Judd becomes emotionally attached to Pedro as Pedro's health deteriorates over the months. After Pedro loses his battle to AIDS, Judd sees Pedro's impact as a young AIDS activist and how many people he encouraged/impacted. After Pedro's death, Judd feels the responsibility in continuing Pedro's work in spreading AIDS awareness through lectures. (Winick)




Connections to Persepolis:

First off, both Persepolis and Pedro and Me stray away from the traditional composure of thoughts; their message is conveyed through the art of pictures. Typically, such a comic book would have an intended audience consisting of children, but in this case these books carry a much deeper meaning and complex form of reality. Both stories contain messages that have been ignored by the general public. And the general public often has preconceived biases toward the topics in both stories without any true knowledge or background of the controversial ideas presented.

Both Pedro and Marjane endure hardships and are struggling to win their own fights. But through all the negativity, they continue to present a positive attitude toward the situation. In Marjane's case, she revolts against the Shah, she doesn't let the problems outside her house affect her relationship with her parents, as they continue to play board games and hold parties (Satrapi 38, 106). Pedro also copes with his hardships by refusing to give in and let the disease overtake his life. Rather he insists on simply being a person living with AIDS as opposed to being a helpless AIDS patient (Winick 113).

Naive Beginnings

(1-39)
I like how Marjane was a big dreamer as a child. When she was six, she was sure she was a prophet, and she had written her own book of rules (Satrapi 6). I admire the way little Marjane desired to be a prophet, wanting "to be justice, love and the wrath of God all in one" (Satrapi 9). She obviously cared about others, forbidding seniors to suffer and allowing social classes to join together. She lightly addresses that she conversed often with God (Satrapi 8). This part caught my eye because I personally believe that all children, no matter what religion, at some point in their childhood naively strike up conversations with God, whether it is to ask for a favor or just to have a casual conversation. I remember when I was a kid, I would sometimes imagine that God was taking time out of his busy schedule to ask me how my day was, even though I've been agnostic all my life.

I noticed that Marjane was an extremely inquisitive child. She was always excited by the idea of partaking in demonstrations (Satrapi 17). She even believed that she bore resemblance to Che Guevara, Latin American revolutionary (Satrapi 16). I found it astonishing when Marjane stayed in a bathtub full of water for a long time to understand her grandfather's hardships as a prisoner (Satrapi 25). She stood by her own beliefs, even at such a young age. She defied rules, writing letters for her maid and going to a real demonstration on the disastrous day that came to be known as Black Friday (Satrapi 35-39). Marjane really understands what is going on around her in such a horrible time, and instead of hiding from it, like other children, she stands up for what she believes is right. All in all, from what is apparent on the pages of this book, Marjane was a pretty amazing child.

Introducing Marjane & Persepolis

Marjane Satrapi allows her childhood memoirs to come to life in pictures on the pages of Persepolis. She captivates readers with a childish charm by allowing the voice of an opinionated, naive young girl to describe to readers the conditions she grew up with in Iran. I love the way Marjane conveys the seriousness of the history of the Islamic Revolution through simple black and white pictures. (It's interesting how she uses comics to tell the childhood story because comics are often associated with kids.) Through a lovable little girl, Marjane communicates with readers a radical change in Iranian history that left the country where it is today. Today in class, Ninva shared a lot of her personal insights and experiences as a girl growing up in Iran. Because of the Islamic Revolution, schools were separated and women had to wear veils--the society drastically changed. Ninva also said that school textbooks are constantly changing, especially with regard to the religious aspects taught to children. The things Marjane and her family accomplished allow me to have great respect for them, because they did not allow government to take over their own lives.