Women In Persepolis

In history, women had stood behind men as companions or supporters. Women were treated as if they were politically and socially inferior. They were seen as men’s property. In the last hundred years, women’s rights in Iran or the Middle East had always been a controversial issue. In the book Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, women played an essential role in the society. Throughout the book, Marjane showed how the Iranian Revolution had affected women and how the women around her changed her life. The book displayed the vital role women around Marjane have in developing her character and becoming the woman she is today in the Iran strictly feminine society.

There are many women characters in the book that have influenced Marjane’s life. Such as Marjane’s mother, her teachers, her grandma, the maid, the neighbors, and the guardian of the revolution. Each woman plays a designated role in the story. Marjane’s mother’s role was to support her. Her mother was there whenever Marjane wanted to expression her feelings and she made sure her

daughter was well off in her strive. Marjane’s grandmother’s role in the book was to support her as well and also gave her words of wisdom, and the right direction to move on. Unlike her grandma, her mother was more strict and direct with her. The maid played the role to give care of Marjane when she was little. The maid was not allowed to date a boy from a different social class. She showed the readers the social class difference exists during that time. Marjane’s teacher’s role were higher than the maid’s role, the teachers were supposed to educate the students and had to make sure the female students attended to school. Also, to make sure they wore their veils all the times, if they did not wear the veil, the students would get arrested by the guardian of the revolution. Marjane’s role was to show the readers how the revolution had changed her life and society of Iran.
Women’s role in the society of Iran before the revolution allowed for freedom and independence.

However, after the revolution this changed by women being forced into the strictly feminine role by the society. Some women had managed to rebel against the rules. There were many examples that women in Iran rebelled. Before the revolution, women were not forced to wear the veil. When Marjane was about ten, Iran started the rule that every woman had to wear the veil. In the first page of the book, there was a picture that showed the teacher giving the students veil and telling them to wear it all the times. The girls didn’t know what the veil was for, and they were against wearing it. A girl used the veil covered her head playing around, “Ooh, I’m the monster of the darkness,” she didn’t take the veil seriously (Satrapi page 3). The girls had no respect of the veil, and they were playing jumping ropes with the

veil.
Facing the feminist discrimination society, Marjane had her own thoughts of what kind of woman she wanted to be. She wanted to became a prophet, she wanted everyone was treated equal and the world to be justice. Marjane’s teacher and her parents thought this was unrealistic idea because her age, gender and beliefs. While Marjane’s told her grandma about her prophet dream, Marjane’s grandma supported her, she encouraged her and comforted her. Also, Marjane’s grandma gave Marjane spiritual supports, she said Marjane will be her first disciple. During the revolution, it was dangerous for women to protesting, they could be killed, but they protested for their beliefs. Marjane’s mother was one of the protesters because veil took women’s’ liberation away.
Women were affected by the war, women were treated as less human. Even women had the privilege to attend school; the teachers were told to promote the Revolution in the way the government wanted it said. The Iranian schools brainwashed students. Once, the guardian of revolution caught Marjane because she was wearing “western” jacket and shoes that her parents got for her from Turkey, they saw it as being dressed up improperly. They were going to arrest her, but she used her intelligence and wit to save herself from the dangerous situation.
Women played the important role in the society. Women can have the power as men do, women and men should have the equal rights. The women around Marjane had impacted her to become who she is today. Throughout the novel, the main variables are women. All the women played critical roles in Marjane’s childhood. Women used their wisdom to save themselves from dangerous situations. Women around Marjane had given her significant influence throughout her life.