As revealed in Azar Nafisi's book Reading Lolita in Tehran, Iran's radical religious and political views are the driving force behind the domination and maltreatment of the country's people. Throughout the book there are many examples of this oppressive treatment which is enforced because of strict religious convictions. Nafisi compares the oppression happening during a tense period of revolution with various works of fiction that mirrors what is becoming life in Iran. The tyrannical treatment of Iranian people can be analyzed by uncovering themes found throughout Nafisi's book.
There are many examples throughout the text that specifically focus on the overbearing treatment of women. During the country's revolution there is a shift to extremely conservative religious conviction that force women to cover themselves head to toe while in public. Ultimately, Nafisi refuses to wear a veil while teaching at the University of Tehran which leads to her expulsion. These examples presented throughout the text along with various outside sources, can be a tool to interpret and scrutinize the oppressive treatment of people in unjust societies like that of Iran's.
The book, as described in its' title is a “Memoir in Books” chronicling Azar Nafisi experiences while teaching in the Islamic Republic of Iran during the revolution occurring from 1978 to 1981 and her life there until leaving for America in 1997. Much of the book focuses on Nafisi as a professor at the University of Tehran, and after her expulsion from there, the Allameh Tabatabaii University. The main focus of the text is the formation of a book club with young female students that she had instructed at the universities from 1995 until 1997. The young women meet week...
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...st rights should be greatly appreciated, and a deep sense of guilt should be felt if these blessings of freedom, not had by Iranian people, are ever taken for granted.
Works Cited
Andoni, Lamis. "Iran's new activists seek life for women beyond the veil. (cover story)." Christian Science Monitor 28 Mar. 1995: 1. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
Nafisi, Azar. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books. New York: Random House, 2003. Print.
Nafisi, Azar. "THE VEILED THREAT. (Cover Story)." New Republic 220.8 (1999): 24-29. Academic Search Premier. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
"The Status Of Women In Iran Worsening." Women's International Network News 21.1 (1995): 62. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
"Writing For Rights: An Interview With Iranian Dissident Azar Nafisi." Futurist 44.3 (2010): 32-33. Academic Search Premier. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
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The religion of Islam was imposed upon Iranians, whether they liked it or not. Marjane and her classmates “...didn’t like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to”(Satrapi 3). The young girls were against wearing the veil because they were not practicing
Since the September Eleventh attacks by Islamic extremists at the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, Islamic culture has come under scrutiny by Americans more so than at any other period in the history of the ancient religion. One area that is often criticized by the American main stream media is the role of women in Islamic culture; it is almost common knowledge now that Islam subjugates women to a degree not seen since the Medieval Ages, and is backwards in all aspects of gender relations. Like many stereotypes, this one is overblown, exaggerated, and often completely incorrect. Women have been a fundamental part of Islamic culture since the founding of the Muslim faith. Women have had tremendous influence in all areas of Islamic culture including education, politics, economic concerns, and religious interpretation; by examining each of these four areas, it become clear that women have tremendous opportunities within mainstream Islam. Of course, certain hardline regimes like the one currently holding power in Iran will always oppress women, as well as gays and other minorities. It is important to not focus on the few areas where Islamic culture is practiced and women are subjugated, but to look at the broader Islamic culture where women are a critical component.
To understand the changing role of women starting during the Islamic Revolution, it is important to briefly review the lives of Iranian women and the role of Islam during the final years of the secular regime of the Shah. Mohammad Reza Shah was disliked by the majority of Iranian population, but his secular and prominent Western attitude allowed for some reforms of women’s rights in Iran. For example, in 1963 he created a reform program which would eventually be known as the “White Revolution,” which included suffrage for women (Beck and Nashat 114). This decision led to a violent reaction, especially from strong Islamic leaders such as Ayatollah Khomeini, whom would eventually play a pivotal role in the revolution and women’s rights. Although the Shah allowed for women’s reform, he was popularly known as a dictator and appeared to be in complete favor of maintaining a traditional patriarchal society.
2. The rhetoric of these two authors is very alike in that their use of media form is used to describe and covey their feels with great detail. Author Nafisi uses first-hand accounts and compares how Sanaz changes her behaviors while being inside out of view and outside when in view of the police. Author Satrapi uses the pictures to help the reader form an image of what these women go through.
Are revolutions always good and beneficial for the general population? Marjane Sotrapi’s chapter “The Veil”, from Persepolis, demonstrates the extreme oppression of the Iranian people due to the Islamic and Cultural Revolution. The Author Marjane Sotrapi distinctively shows the intense feelings of the Iranian individuals through facial expressions, the eerie blank background, the stark black and white colors, and the way she makes readers identify with the story.
Azar Nafisi wrote, Reading Lolita in Tehran: a Memoir in Books, a book about her life as a teacher in Iran. Nafisi decided to teach an all- female class in her home. Nafisi quotes one of her students who explains why she had to lie to her father about taking the class,
Perhaps the main reason I liked this book was the unfaltering courage of the author in the face of such torture as hurts one even to read, let alone have to experience first-hand. Where men give in, this woman perseveres, and, eventually, emerges a stronger person, if that is even possible. The book’s main appeal is emotional, although sound logical arguments are also used. This book is also interesting as it shows us another face of Nasir – the so-called “champion of Arab nationalism” – who is also the enemy of pan-Islamism. The book is also proof of history repeating itself in modern-day Egypt.
Okin states that a culture “endorses and facilitates the control of men over women in various ways of life” (12). There are several rituals, matrimonial cultures, and property ownership that make it nearly impossible for women to live independently. Although certain cultures have myths that justify control over women, or “to blame and punish them for men’s difficulty in controlling their own sexual impulses,” (14) several global cultures do not suppress women. Okin does not provide readers with the women’s perspective on their supposable suppression through their culture. An example of how Okin’s claim is incorrect pertains to Middle Eastern women that participate in Islamic culture. Women are required to wear the Muslim headdress, also known as the hijab. Although most individuals would assume that women wearing the hijab are oppressed, treated poorer than Muslim men, and are a symbol of modesty, when in fact the Muslim women wear the hijab to affirm personal identity. Leila Ahmed, author of the Veil debate- Again, interviewed different American Muslim college students regarding whether they personally believe the hijab is required in the Qur’an or not and their personal feelings towards it. A particular opinion from a woman states that wearing the hijab “is a way of affirming my community and identity,” (153) and another women states, “I believe it’s a choice not an obligation. I wear it for the same reason that