Thursday, April 12, 2012

Persepolis and Modern Iran


I read in the New York Times that during the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore, the Iranian women were required by law to wear hijabs, but they were told that they could not wear them during the soccer games. They were told they could wear caps, but the caps did not cover their necks. So they were allowed to wear the caps and turtlenecks. The long disputed argument is finally being settled this year; if Iranian women can be allowed to wear their headscarves.The women wearing the headscarves were more interested in playing soccer, and some of these women were told to leave the games since they were wearing a headscarf. 
I think Marjane, as a little girl, would be surprised that women and especially young girls are proud to wear their headscarves. In Persepolis, not only did Marjane hate wearing the headscarf, but her mother and grandmother did not like it either. I think the characters would find it surprising that headscarves are still a problem at all. I believe they would say that there are bigger things to worry about than whether one is wearing a headscarf or not. Marjane would definitely tell these girls to just wear the headscarf if they want to, but she wouldn’t understand. In Persepolis, I think the headscarves were viewed as unnecessary, but now, a lot of Iranian women are proud to wear them because it has become a part of them. 

3 comments:

  1. It's true that for many girls, wearing the hijab is a sign of their faith. It's also interesting to learn that, through the mandatory wearing of the veil, many of those girls felt that their identity was being robbed by the state; if it's mandatory, it loses it's original meaning and self-expression.

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  2. As a young girl who wanted to be a prophet, I believe that Marjane would wear the hijab very proudly as a sign of her strong faith. However, I do not think she would support the mandatory wearing of the veil because as Priya stated it loses its meaning and importance if its forced!

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  3. I agree with Priya and Nicole. Since she lost her faith and is forced by the Islamic regime, it becomes meaningless of wearing the veil. Nothing turns out good as you have to do it without your wish.

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