There's pictures that go with this paper, but too lazy to post them atm.
Darlene McCoy
Marco Martinez-Galarce
Porter 80A
12 November 2009
The Oversized Curtain of Mass Debate
Americans tend to be rather ignorant of other cultures around the world. Their ignorance is most apparent when they travel overseas to countries whose cultures are much different than American culture. A young American woman traveling to the middle-east to explore the lands may know nothing about her destination’s traditional values. She may commit an act that is offensive to the people of the land, and be completely unaware of why the people around her are offended. She may accidentally show excessive amounts of skin, shout a crude word, or simply, in the case of the country of Iran, not cover her body completely in an oversized curtain. If a police officer were to question her about her dress, what would she say? Why would the police officer be questioning her about her clothes, anyway?
In Iran, women can be arrested and whipped for not conforming to the dress codes set down by law. Since the punishment for not wearing the veil is so severe, the Islamic veil worn by Persian women has always been an extensively debated topic throughout the world. Iranian veils in particular give birth to some of the most heated arguments. These veils, better noted as hijabs, allow only a woman’s face to be seen – her hair is hidden beneath the drapes of cloth. They are accompanied by a giant shawl-like covering known as a chador. Chadors sheathe the shape of a woman’s figure and are typically black or dull in color. They cover all but the hands and ankles; however any type of decoration on those areas of uncovered skin is not permitted. Many women would be offended if asked to don this traditional form of Iranian dress, but there are those who would display their garb proudly. The hijab and chador call attention to the central question surrounding the Iranian dress code: is the veil a symbol of empowerment or a belittlement of the female gender? Through the art and story of Marjane Satrapi in Persepolis, aided with excerpts from Geraldine Brooks’ experiences in Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women, and Nafisi Azar’s reflections in Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, many different revelations are realized about the issue of the veil. Therefore, there is no absolute answer to this furiously disputed question. There is no pattern as to why women choose to or choose not to wear the veil. The way a woman perceives the veil determines the condition it places upon her, and there are many points of view to be taken. A woman can look at the veil from a political, sociological, civil, religious, or individual standpoint. Hence, the symbolic meaning of the Iranian veil can only be determined by the woman exhibiting - or not exhibiting - the garments.
In Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and Persepolis II the idea of the veil changes as Marjane matures. At first the veil is nothing but a mere toy that she and her friends play jump rope with, but in Persepolis II, Marjane redefines her feelings about the dark cloth she is forced to conceal her features in. Satrapi layers her graphic novel with much more than a “story of a childhood” and a “story of return.”
Politically, throughout Persepolis the veil is portrayed as a silencer and a conformer. Satrapi demonstrates these ideas through her artwork; a panel depicting school girls clothed in veils beating their chests in rhythm to mourn the dead reveals much more than the girls’ simple actions. The faces in the panel are all of confusion and worry. The girls learn through their daily mourning rituals that the war is not a joke: it is a thing that touches every person involved in the conflict; even if one is not physically present. The confused demeanor is caused by the fact that the girls are too young to understand what is taking place in the world: they are just simply conforming to the law of the land by wearing the veil. The girls are not allowed to ask questions, they must simply only do as they are told. They are depicted as one and the same, because they all dress in the same garb. Satrapi uses deep, dark bold lines and quite a bit of black to highlight the never-changing shape of the veil. According to Geraldine Brooks, the veil can also be perceived as a simple symbol of political affiliation. Women who don the veil because of a political view are “traditionalists”, while women who choose not to wear the veil are seen as “progressives” who welcome the new ideas of the western world. The traditionalists do not feel as if they are being muted by the veil, they instead view it as a way to express their pride in their government. Therefore, the veil is a symbol that is defined by perception.
Satrapi embedded her opinions of the veil from the sociological standpoint in Persepolis. Two panels of equal proportions illustrate what Marjane’s group of friends look like in society, and what her friends look like behind closed doors in the sanctuary known as home. The first panel paints all the women present in it in the same design. They are cloaked in their hijabs and chadors, and the only sense of individuality found in this image is the glasses on one of the young womens’ faces. Otherwise, they look to be one and the same, almost like clones of one another. Satrapi uses the same line thickness and color to further imply her message. All of the faces are drawn in a fashion so that telling the difference between one veil-donner and the next is quite the difficult task. In the panel painting Marjane’s friends out of the sight of society, the women are veil-less. Satrapi goes to great length to draw in the details of each person to show that each woman is just that – an individual, with her own physical shape, her own experiences, and her own thoughts. The lines she uses are still bold, but they are bold to separate each woman from the next. This juxtaposing of these images reveals a truth: in society, the veil eliminates the Iranian woman as an individual, as a self, and as a name. It accommodates her identity to simply “a woman.” Geraldine Brooks mentions in her novel a story of a woman whose public stature was so low that she was called by the name of one of her slaves. Her low status was an effect of the veil. She was pushed aside socially because she was seen as just another woman. Azar Nafisi describes two photos much like Satrapi does in Persepolis. In one photo, the young women of Nafisi’s secret literature study group are shown in their hijabs and chadors. In the next photo, because their concealing garb is removed, the women seem to come alive. The colors, textures, and patterns of their clothes shine through, and Nafisi is surprised at how much each one of the women depicted was her own individual. Another woman could recognize the veil as a symbol that unites her to Iran socially. It all depends on personal thought processes.
In Persepolis, Satrapi’s views on women’s civil rights in the Iranian world are discussed through her words. According to Brooks’ novel, the Koran urges both men and women to be modest about their dress, but only women are subjected to a dress code. Satrapi herself addresses this issue of women’s rights. In a panel she demands, “Why is it that I, as a woman, am expected to feel nothing when watching these men with their clothes sculpted on but they, as men, can get excited by two inches less of my head-scarf?” In Persepolis, the veil symbolizes the civil injustice served to the women of the Iranian culture. Brooks again provides additional support. In her Nine Parts of Desire she has an Iranian male friend that makes a comment of, “Even this government knows there’s a limit. You can ask a country to make many sacrifices, but expecting men to give up watching football would be pushing things too far.” Women in Iranian culture have to sacrifice comfort, a sense of individuality, and freedom for the sake of controlling man’s sexuality. They bear the integrity of Iranian men in their hijabs and chadors. Even though there are few – some women may not perceive the veil as a symbol of civil injustice. Some women’s thoughts are so petrified with fear of punishment by the government that they cannot comprehend the idea of their sacred garb being a degrading symbol to the entire gender. Perception is the eye opener of the world and every perception in the world is different. Every definition of the veil is different.
Religion plays a colossal role in Iranian culture, so it naturally plays a significant role in Persepolis. Marjane is constantly struggling with the idea of God. She casts him away after the execution of her beloved uncle Anoosh, only to reunite with the idea that a God does exist later in her life. The world she lives in is conducted according to scripture. Because the Islamic religion is betrothed to Iranian government, it is only natural for the government to set a dress code that coincides with the scriptures of Islam. Many women wear their veils proudly as a physical symbol of their devotion to their faith and country. The prophet Muhammad proclaimed the idea of curtaining women after he was involved in a scandal. Muhammad had walked in on his adopted son’s wife, Zeinab, and seen her beautiful body. His son then divorced Zeinab because he thought that Muhammad wanted to wed her. Muhammad’s marriage to Zeinab provoked a communal cry of disgust, but he settled the crowds with a new revelation: all adoptions were invalid, so Muhammad was not marrying his “son’s” wife. According to Muhammad, the hijab was necessary in a woman’s wardrobe because it would seclude women into a place where they would be free of scandal. Brooks unveils a quote in her text, “Tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms.” Religious interpretation created the veil – nowhere does this scripture demand that all hair be covered or the shape of a woman’s body is too tempting for normal men to handle. It only asks of women to be modest. The veil as a religious symbol is up for interpretation; therefore, each woman who chooses to wear it interprets the meaning in her own manner.
The sense of self the veil allows is another question Satrapi raises in Persepolis. A page in Persepolis I displays a scene at school between Marjane and the principal. The principal demands to see Marjane’s wrist to make sure there is not a bracelet decorating it. Marjane refuses, and accidentally strikes the principal. Satrapi shows us through the darkness and flowing inhuman shape of the principal’s clothing that she has no sense of individuality. She has been conformed through society through the use of the veil. The veil muffles any individuality – it does not allow women to express their personalities through colors, prints, or cuts of clothing. She cannot wear makeup or jewelry. A woman does not only express her personality through the garments she wears, but the clothes and accessories a person wears do aid in the expression of self. Some women see the veil as a united symbol of individuality. Iranian women who dress in the hijab and chador have something in common, but they stand out against the rest of the world. A woman’s personal viewpoint is the only way to define the veil.
The women of Iran do not wear the veil for mere protection from the sun. They wear their veils for many different reasons, but those reasons depend on the woman donning the veil. Because the women perceive the veil differently, if asked, “Why do you wear the veil?” Each woman, providing she is speaking from her heart, will have a different answer. The Iranian veil as a symbol can be interpreted in such numerous different regards that it is a symbol defined only by perception.
The young American woman would turn around sharply and proclaim to that police officer, “Darlin’, I’m not Islamic. I don’t need to wear a covering over my face! My face is beautiful, and I’d like to show those good-lookin’ fellas over there just how good it looks up close.” She’d pause for a moment, to catch her breath and run a hand through strands of golden blond hair, “Listen dear: I’m sorry to offend you, but the only legit reason I see for wearing that boring cloth is to show devotion to Islam. Since my devotion to Islam is nein, my devotion to making myself appear less-attractive is nein. That’s just how it is – but if you cannot control your sexual urges, I’ll put on a veil. It’ll be a symbol of yours and the rest of man’s weakness. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get to business with those fine young gentlemen. There’s a beach over yonder hill and I am down for some good old fashioned fun in the sun.” The police officer would raise an eyebrow, scratch his head, and then mutter under his breath, “Damn Americans.” He would let the young woman go on her way, and stagger away in silence and disbelief.
