Islam And Feminism In The Persepolis Film: Marjane Satrapi In Iran (Movie Review Sample)

Student’s Name; Course: Tutor: Date: Islam and feminism in the Persepolis Film Introduction Muslim women representation in a different societal domain like social-economic, political, religious, and familiar forms a baseline for a study on women position and their evolution in the current Islamic society. focusing on the Persepolis film, it is a movie based on true story of a life of a young girl named Marjane in Iran who existed during the Islamic revolution period, a very important period of the history of the Islamic countries. The film is an indication of clear discrimination and alienation of women gender in the Islamic society with unequal representation in different aspects of life. Different Islamic customs expressed throughout the film indication oppression of women in Islamic countries include practices such as polygamy, discrimination based on gender, women exclusion from religious practices like attending mosque, denied rights to inherit family properties, and property ownership, among other discriminative practices, are clearly presented in this write up. The film presents Marjane as a young girl, going from a westernized lifestyle to hide her real identity for the safety of her family. Being an Islamic country, Iraq is characterized by civil wars from neighboring countries in the fight for resources and boundary conflicts. Marjane’s parent fight against the Shah indicates they were revolutionaries. They understand the gender oppression in relation to the Islamic religion, especially with the new leadership regime. Resistance to the new regime led to violence and death of many, especially women and children. Marjane went for a boarding school at Vienna after expansion due to misbehaving to ensure her safety. The comic film portrays women on leap and bound, provoking debate on the role of women in the Islamic society. The Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis graphic film elaborates the role and position of women during and after the Islamic revolution as the author depicts her childhood up to her early adulthood in Iran with the use of black and white comic strips within the film. The film depicts a division in the Islamic classes, forming a traditional class and modern class with different values of women’s role and responsibilities in the family as well as the society. The Iranian culture valued family as among the major social institution, playing a vital role in societal development. In this case, the author Marjane Satrapi experienced both the modern and traditional lifestyle from Iran and Australia, giving her a broader perspective of life. The film provides a number of factors that reflect women marginalization in Iran experienced in the educational system, Islamic laws addressing the issue on marriage, the right for women to divorce, the dressing code and the polygamy perspectives. The initiation of the Reza Shah rule on modernization in 1930 gave a break to the traditional segregation of women in education and political representation, a period that recorded the highest number of girls students and women representation in government offices. From the author’s perspective, the position of women in Islamic countries like Iran in every cultural and custom perspective enlightened women on their potential to improve their role and responsibilities in the society. Spending a larger part of the lifetime in Iran, Marjane Satrapi brings forth a true picture of the Iran society depicting all the different aspects of life. The film Persepolis draws the autobiography of her people’s culture and custom in relation to women position. The Islamic revolution as depicted in the film brings about chaos and turmoil in the lives of Iranian people as they struggle to resist bad leadership characterized by discrimination and violation of women rights. In this film, Marjane assumes the imposition of the veil as an oppressive cloth for the women to wear. The elucidation of the veil garment as a resistance site for the challenging authoritarian leadership....