My Take on Persepolis

I was astonished when I opened up Persepolis for the first time due to the novelty of an Iolani required reading book in the form of a comic book!! After the initial shock wore off, to be honest, I began to worry because history is not my favorite subject not to mention Iran's is little known to me at all. However Marjane Satrapi's childhood innocence pulled me in because it came off ironic (due to the children not realizing their new restrictions). This book reminded me that freedom does not come free and that in other places in the world, people have to live with so many hindrances, with their whole lives being dictated to them practically. From a spoiled American perspective I think all those rules, especially the general bulk aimed at strangling all of Iranian women's independence and choice, are forms of intolerable injustice. I say "from a spoiled American view" because personally I believe such rules to be unjust, but somewhere in the back of my mind I know I cannot totally and willfully condemn a culture because our own American society and culture are not "the best" despite our blown up egos. If their culture was merely strict to everyone equally I would think they must have hard lives, but it would be easier to swallow compared to the degradation of women to a seeming lesser status in which men blame women for seducing them. I agree with Satrapi that it is not just women's responsibility to abstain. Plus, after reading about all the hardships Satrapi went through, I am now very grateful for the peace and independence I am allowed. If so many of my friends and family were executed, my life layed out precisely, and my life always in danger of some kind, I'd be either depressed or so angry I'd get myself killed. I'm so glad her life story is out for the public to see; it feels like a testimony and a triumph for her still standing not to mention succeeding! Persepolis is truly an eye-opening book with a lot of hard truths.