'Selections From Reading Lolita In Tehran And The Naked Citadel'?

Cultures throughout the world encompass a diverse array of lifestyles by which societies are led by. These cultures, in a typical sense, are created by the subset of a population that follows a particular set of morals and ideals. An individual’s own identity, as a result, is dependent on many varying factors of their lifestyle in these culturally regulated regions. In the stories, “Selections from Reading Lolita in Tehran,” by Azar Nafisi, and “The Naked Citadel,” by Susan Faludi, the authors depict the impact made on an individual’s identity by male-dominated communities prejudiced against women. The discriminations described in these stories contribute to the creation of cultures that oppose the idea of seeing women as equals to men. Hence,

For example, the compulsion to mistreat women is a common mindset shared by the cadets in The Citadel. In reference to this behavior Ron Vergnolle, a Citadel graduate, mentioned a specific anecdote about a cadet, “There was also a cadet who boasted widely that, as vengeance against an uncooperative young woman, he smashed the head of her cat against a window as she watched in horror. ‘The cat story,’ Vergnolle noted, ‘that was this guy’s calling card’ ” (Faludi 89). In the typical sense, a calling card is what an individual wishes to be identified by, therefore in this context, the use of the term “calling card” gives presumption to the existence of a competition between the cadets in which they would try to prove their masculinity over each other. However, meaning of the word “masculinity” is very subjective, and to the cadet in this anecdote it refers to the capacity of one’s aggressive and sexist behaviors. Thus, the cadets who could prove their masculinity in the best fashion, which they do by abusing women, would gain respect from the community of Citadel students. The cadet’s need to boast widely about his abuse story also demonstrates the vastly different group mentality on gender roles these cadets share as compared to normal society where such an occurrence is

Faludi described an instance where a very small and limited community is run by the immoral understanding of masculinity that is created by biases against women and the need to become a more powerful authority figure. On the other hand, Nafisi expresses the bearings of a population in a much larger scale, being that of Tehran, Iran. She goes into the details of her culture that is dominated by male supremacy attitudes and many other unconventional standards, such as not being able to leave women by themselves. These attitudes result mainly from the belief that there is a societal hierarchy that places men above women. Both of these environments, however, manage to create a society that is highly impacted by the beliefs of others and the continual spread of these beliefs to those who are exposed to the