Gender Stereotypes In Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

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Persepolis, an autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi follows her life from a childhood of witnessing the Islamic Revolution and the Iraqi invasion; to the strong adult she is today. As a child she witnessed the government drastically shift ideologies, and in turn experienced suffering and loss. After successfully taking over Iran in 1980, the Islamic Regime had to make sure the new regulations were followed. This was done by eliminating those with opposed beliefs, often in severe ways to exclude, marginalize or or silence their voices. Harsher actions were used in the exclusion and marginalising of a social group, silencing on the other hand could be through the the simple act of dedicating street names on behalf of ‘Martyrs’, or…show more content…
In ‘The Joke’ Marji thought her reunion with her childhood friends would be easier since they were the same age, however she was struck with shock when she found out her friends have changed to look like “Heroines of American TV series”. From this Marji believes that her friends are modern women, since they physically looked the part, but also discussed matters such as clubbing and sexual intercourse. When they ask Marji how nightclubs are in Vienna, she replies that she does not go that often. Her friends are shocked at her answer and explain how if there were nightclubs still in Tehran they would be there every night. However, in ‘ ‘Skiing’ when Marji tells them she has had experience with sexual intercourse with more than just one man, her friends were outraged at Marji’s ‘inappropriate’ behaviour and are rude to her for the rest of their skiing trip. Marji understands that they are making themselves up and wanting to follow western ways was an act of resistance on their part. However, the fact that they are only modern women when they feel comfortable shows that they are not fully devoted to the

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