She was forced to attend a religious school after hers was closed because of the political change in her country, and at this religious school, she was forced to wear a veil, something she was not used to doing. “[The students] didn’t really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to” (Satrapi 3). The veil in Persepolis is a symbol of the way religion was forced upon her. Even as a child, she tells how wearing the veil was more like a punishment that a religious right. The way the fundamentalism is forced on her caused a sense of rebellion in Marjane that became an important part of her personality as she grew into adulthood.
It is very apparent from the beginning that Jess and her sister have different ideas of how young women should behave, compared to their parent’s beliefs. You do not see them wearing the traditional Indian clothing. The sisters want to fit in with their British peers, and the era they are living in. Jess is not always enthusiastic about participating in some of the traditional aspects of her culture, although she understands that her parents push her to participate because it is all they know. Religion is a huge aspect presented in the film.
Kat is a very strong, independant and opinionated person who never lets her opinions go to waste, whether they are aimed at her teachers or her fellow peers. She is against dating and often "sneers at the idiocy of teenage social life". She is cynical about many things, and does not believe that she needs to be like most teenagers that she is surrounded by. She says, “You forget I don’t care what other people think”, which directly shows us that she doesn't care for others opinions on her. She strongly dislikes her sister’s eagerness to fit in at school and tells Bianca, “You don’t always have to be what other people want you to be”, which shows us that she thinks Bianca should be herself and not follow in the path that her fellow school mates take.
In Marjane Satrapi novel Persepolis the Story of a Childhood Satrapis illustrates her autobiographical character named Marji, growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Throughout the novel, Satrapis character is split between modernism and traditional ways of Islam which is shown through her use of contrasting imagery in her simplistic visual illustrations of mature and childlike behavior. I tend to connect with Marji throughout the novel in a sense that we both are very strong minded and outspoken. I notice older generations look down upon my generation as we grow with technology, and society. To this day, woman won’t receive higher paying jobs than men due to genders.
The author says, “We didn’t really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to” (3). It became compulsory for girls to wear a veil. A school is expected to introduce activities which would help develop the knowledge or the personality of it’s students but here in this school the girls were made to wear veil’s without any reasonable explanation. It was just an outcome of the cultural revolution that the girls were forced to wear veil’s even though it did not contribute to their education or personality development in any way. The girls, including the author, mocked the veil by playing around with it in various ways and not doing what they were supposed to do with it.
In spite of the way that religious upbringing is widely believed to benefit children, extensive exposure to particular aspects of religion early in life has been known to inflict pain, fear, and humiliation on the weakest, most vulnerable members of society. Many experts on child abuse, particularly those with evolutionist views, would argue that religious teachings of the doctrine of hell can emotionally scar children if they are exposed to them at an early age. However, as such views are largely unsupported by scientific evidence and remain somewhat unjustified child abuse cases involving religion are largely unexplored. On the one hand, religious exposure is greatly supported as a benefit for children. Through religious upbringing, children are raised with a sense of distinctive morals and culture.
The Talibs were devout Muslims who “misused Islam and imposed strict rules” (Joya 36). This war-torn nation constantly deprived females of their rights and freedoms. As witnessed in the novel, the education opportunities for girls evolved for the worse. Girls’schools were shut down and girls were forbidden from gaining an education. The Pachisia 2 institution of child marriage was socially acceptable and basic rights of women were compromised as the Talibs came into power.
He has a chance at redemption through his athletic prowess but finds that even that skill is being manipulated by “the Governor” in charge at the reform school he sent to. Both movies highlight the fact that personal salvation may be achieved not through success or religion but by living one’s life on one’s own terms. The experiences of the Magdalene Sisters shows how religion has always been patriarchal in nature and that the women are almost always the victims of oppression. It is judgmental on the part of both society and the Roman Catholic Church to presume that certain women need to be “redeemed”. The film shows the ones who are supposed to be servants of God are in fact the worst sinners.
As mentioned earlier, Shahnaz is one of the victims that are abused by speaking out what she wants. Shahnaz loved education - especially science and poetry. However, when she got married at the insistence of her family - her husband ordered her to stop schooling and start breeding. "You are a woman, that is your only job," he said. Nevertheless, she refused and she wanted to work for herself and enrich her mind.
Katherine battles to teach a groups of girls and encourage them to be independent and think for themselves. She tries to overcome this challenge in a society that does not value women’s independence and treats them as second class citizens; only fit to look after and serve men. Katherine’s new and strong views challenge the school traditions and bring her to the attention of the school board who instruct her only to teach the syllabus and give no other support or feedback. This can be seen as a metaphor for the treatment of women in the time where women were expected to only do as they were told. The society in this text had low expectations for women.