The Death of Individualism in Persepolis
In Marjane Satrapi’s graphic memoir, Persepolis, the reader is presented with the ideal of oppression through examples that are composed of actions made by both progressive and fundamental individuals. These examples vary from the strictness of the fundamentalists’ point of view and the individualistic beliefs that lie within the progressive perspective. Although Satrapi disagrees with the regime, this does not mean she is wholeheartedly against the Iranian way of life. With the promotion of the progressive lifestyle in the streets, Satrapi conveys to her audience that not all Iranian citizens wish to live a fundamentalist lifestyle and instead, promote the progressive lifestyle where the morals and…show more content… Focusing on stereotyping, Satrapi mentions two types of civilians which include the fundamentalists and the progressives. The fundamentalists are the types of individuals’ who follow the orders and requests of the regime whereas the progressive type of individuals’ focus more on their personal lives, including their families, and themselves. Although there are two distinct types of individuals within this society, there are differences that occur between the sexes. For example, on page 75, Satrapi includes an illustration that compares and contrasts women who are fundamentalists and women who are progressives and also men who are fundamentalists and men who are progressives. For example, fundamentalist women are required to wear a veil at all times and are only allowed to show their faces. However, progressive women wear certain veils in which a portion of hair is shown, and they are allowed to show their hands. In a similar situation, the fundamentalist men differ from the progressive with how they dress themselves. Fundamentalist men grow a full beard and have their shirts untucked, whereas the progressive men keep well-groomed with only a mustache and have tucked in shirts for their…show more content… One example in which women are treated differently would include the instance where two men insulted Satrapi’s mother by stating that, because she lacked a veil, she “should be pushed up against a wall and fucked. And then thrown in the garbage….and that if I didn’t want that to happen, I should wear the veil….” (74). What this ultimately translates to is the understanding that women who did not want to wear the veil would be more apt to be raped at any moment when outside in the public community compared to women who wore their veil. Another example in which affected the women within in this Islamic society would be the riots that occurred at feminist movements put on by the progressive beings. In many instances, the only options that were presented to the women were to wear “the scarf or [receive] a beating” (76). Due to the promotion of feminism and the expression of oneself, many women would be ridiculed, beaten, or stabbed for not obeying the superior ideals that were acceptable within an Islamic