Feminist Critique of Persepolis: The Story Of A Childhood

In this blog post, I am going to provide a feminist critique of Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi. In this feminist critique I will discuss some of the sexist ideas that are reproduced in the text and how they are reinforced. I will also talk about the novel’s portrayal gender and how it changes the way we view men, women, and the gender spectrum.

            In Persepolis, there are many sexist ideas that are reproduced and reinforced in the text. However, before I go into what those ideas are and how they are reinforced, I am just going to quickly say that the author is in no way being sexist by reproducing these ideas in the text as every story in the novel is rooted in reality, so they are simply a reflection of the sexist and patriarchal nature of Iranian society. So, with the above said, one of the sexist ideas that the book reproduces is that men get to control what women wear and how they wear it. This is reinforced in the text when the author talks about how women were legally obligated to wear a veil in Iran after 1980 when the Islamic Revolution took place because it is what the male leaders of the country wanted them to do. Essentially, women never got a say in this at all even though it only affected them. Adding on to this, females (both women and girls) get into trouble for not wearing their veils correctly. This is displayed in the novel when the fundamentalist women call Marjane a “little whore” for not wearing her veil correctly and proceed to pull it over her face on page 133. Even though women were the ones policing the veil in this scenario, it is important to remember that men are the ones who came up with the rules and run the committee that these women are a part of. Another sexist idea that the book reproduces is that men get to punish women for not conforming to societal norms and expectations. This is reinforced in the book when Marjane’s mother is verbally abused on page 74 and 75 for not wearing a veil and is essentially told that she deserves to be raped by men because of it. This is also reinforced in the book on page 145 when Marjane’s mother talks about how women get sent to prison for not conforming to societal norms and when they are sent there, they are forced into marriages, raped, and then killed. A final sexist idea that the book reinforces is that women can’t be certain things because of the fact that they are women. This is reinforced in the beginning of the text when Marjane says she wants to be a prophet and is told that it won’t ever happen because she is not a man.

            Overall, the novel portrays people of different genders in a variety of ways, which changes the way the way we view men and women, but not really the gender spectrum as gender’s outside of male and female are not shown or discussed. When it comes to men, the novel essentially portrays two different kinds of men; the fundamentalists and progressives. The fundamentalists are shown to be extremely religious and conservative in their views. They are the ones who uphold the views of the regime and are discriminatory towards women. The men who insulted Marjane’s mother are an example of fundamentalists. While the progressive men are not nearly as religious as the fundamentalists, do not uphold the views of the regime and instead often protest against the regime when they do not agree with what they are trying to enforce on society. They do not oppress women and instead appear to fight for gender equality in the book. Marjane’s father is an example of a progressive man in the novel. The novel changes our views of men through the progressive men shown in the novel. When people think of men in Iran, they often think about those who fall into the fundamentalist category and never really consider that there are men in the country who are progressive and fight against the oppression of women. However, the novel shows that they do exist and that they are large in number. When it comes to women, the novel also portrays them as either being fundamentalists or progressives. Those who are fundamentalists strictly abide by the rules of the regime and enforce their views on women who they think are not conforming. The women who insulted Marjane are an example of fundamentalist women. Those who are progressive women often rebel against the laws that the regime tries to enforce on them through protesting, not wearing their veil, or openly criticizing the government. Marjane and Marjane’s mother are both examples of progressive women. As with the progressive men, the novel changes our views of women through the progressive women. When people think of women in Iran, they often think about women who are deeply religious and conform to all the misogynistic/ sexist norms that society forces on them. However, the progressive women show that there are those women in Iran who do not and instead fight for gender equality, no matter the personal cost, whether that be imprisonment or something more extreme such as death.