Persepolis Dress Code Essay

In the graphic memoir, Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi, the new regime takes power during the Islamic Revolution and creates new restrictions in women’s lives. Women in Iran, including Marjane Satrapi and her mother, are stripped of their freedom by being forced to conform to a restrictive dress code. The dress code was enacted because women were seen as very sexual human beings in the eyes of men. The government found that men finding women sexual was a disruption to society, so therefore a dress code was put into place and was enforced by law. The law stated that “women and girls who appear in public without an Islamic dressing are criminals and they must be subject to fifty dollars fine or ten days to two months in prison. Because
In “The Trip”, an encounter with enforcers can be seen when Satrapi’s mother has a few insults thrown her way by two fundamentalist “bastards”. She is told by these “bastards” that “people like her should be thrown up against a wall and fucked, and then thrown in the garbage” (74). Another example can be seen in “Kim Wilde”, when Satrapi decides to dress like a “punk” teenager, wearing jeans, a short black skirt, and a jacket with a Michael Jackson pin on the left lapel. A group of guardians of the revolution decides to approach Satrapi to get a better understanding on why she is dressed like a punk. They approach her very aggressively, saying things like “what are those punk shoes you’re wearing” and “lower your scarf you little whore”. They eventually ask her to come with them, but Satrapi finds a way to cry her way out of it (132,133,134). This whole interaction shows how vicious people are, that attack the ones who dress against the law. It also shows that people, including Satapi, have no right to express who they are as individuals. Satrapi had chosen to dress like an American girl, but was immediately shot down as an outcast to