In her memoir Lipstick Jihad, Azadeh Moaveni presents her reader with a striking
picture of Iran circa the year 2000, and explains how while living in Iran, she is caught between
the fundamentalist Islamic government and the secular youth culture. She describes in detail the
daily clashes between the hard-line, religious rule and the Tehrani youth movement—a
movement defined above all else by its dedication to being “modern”. Moaveni uses the word
“modern” to mean numerous things—at times contemporary, trendy, socially permissive,
secular, Western--but there is always one element that remains constant: modern is not the
Islamic Republic. “Modern”, then, encompasses all the efforts at rebellion against the Islamic
Republic. Modernity, to Moaveni, represents Iranians’ attempts at reclaiming their freedoms
from an oppressive and unwanted regime.
To many Iranian women in the memoir, to be “modern” is to conform to certain
standards of beauty and fashion. Speaking of the waves of Iranian women getting plastic surgery
at the time, Moaveni uses “modern” in this way. She says:
It was an investment in feeling modern, in the midst of the seventh-century
atmosphere the mullahs were trying to create. It assuaged so many urges at
once—to look better, to self-express, to show that you could afford it, to appear
Westernized. The compulsion to work these interior issues out through one’s
appearance was a curious phenomenon unique to revolutionary Iran. In a way, it
was dysfunctional—picking the scab of a right you didn’t have. (Moaveni 164)
Here, “modern” means several things: vain, Western, individualist, but on a deeper level it
represents taking control of one’s own life. It represents a rejection of the physical modesty that
the mullahs force onto women in the form of the veil and hijab. The religious zealots may be
able to choose what the women wear, but they cannot choose how they look. Though each
Iranian woman may have her own reasons for changing the way she looks, every plastic surgery,
every display of Western vanity, is an act of rebellion against a state hell-bent on micromanaging
her life.
Like the Iranian women, the youth in Tehran also express themselves through attempts at
modernity, and these attempts often manifest themselves as imitation or acceptance American
cultural phenomena. But to Moaveni, the relationship between the drive to be “modern” that
permeates Iranian society and Western culture is close, but complicated. She describes young
Tehranis’ lust for American commercial institutions like fast food and Victoria’s Secret, and
...ted based on their physical appearance and not their education, beliefs, or actions. In the East it is a similar situation, women still wear veils to cover themselves which as stated earlier grants them freedom from persecution from other women because they are all equal no matter what their physical appearance. Similarly, it is still permitted for men in the Arab world to take more than one wife, which is still socially unacceptable and illegal in most parts of the West. Frith's essay shows that even with medical advancements social constraints will determine the way people are received and treated in life.
2003 "The Conservative-Reformist Conflict Over Women's Rights in Iran." In International Journal of Politics, Culture & Society 16.1. Pp. 39-51.
“The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant,” written by W.D. Wetherell, tells the story of a fourteen-year-old boy and the summer in which he met Sheila Mant. After weeks of failed attempts and longing for the older woman who seemed just out of his reach, the boy worked
Sometimes when decisions are made, they result in the most inconsidered consequence. In “The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant”, the main character, a fishing fanatic, finally reels in a date with Sheila Mant, otherwise known as the woman of his dreams, who is uninterested with fishing. During the date, the main character rows Sheila down the river in a boat, where she states, “I think fishing is dumb, it’s boring and all, it’s just dumb.” (Wetherall 3). Meanwhile, an astronomical-sized fish is tugging on the main character’s line.
It also pressures women to constantly try and strive towards this ‘beauty myth’ the media have constructed and make men’s expectations of women’s beauty unattainable, however this is how the media has represented women as for years, Bodyshockers and 10 Years Younger, are just two examples of this. To this extent cosmetic surgery could be considered to be an obligation rather than a choice due to how the media has represented this now normalized technology of science.
Marjane Satrapi in her memoir, “The Complete Persepolis” enlightens readers with the reality of living in Iran, as she tells her journey through her life of becoming a woman during the Islamic Revolution. Iran similar to other countries has made different prescribed roles for their women and men based on their cultures religious and traditional set of laws. Society to them was a depiction of what their people were expected to look, and act like when in public. When trying to understand the importance of gender along with their roles in society, it’s crucial to acknowledge outside factors, for instance things like culture and social class. The characters throughout her memoir illustrate how their
Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel, Persepolis, makes important strides toward altering how Western audiences perceive Iranian women. Satrapi endeavors to display the intersection of the lives of some Westerners with her life as an Iranian, who spent some time in the West. Satrapi, dissatisfied with representations she saw of Iranian women in France, decided to challenge them. In her words, “From the time I came to France in 1994, I was always telling stories about life in Iran to my friends. We’d see pieces about Iran on television, but they didn’t represent my experience at all. I had to keep saying, ‘No, it’s not like that there.’ I’ve been justifying why it isn’t negative to be an Iranian for almost twenty years. How strange when it isn’t something I did or chose to be?” (Satrapi, “Why I Wrote Persepolis” 10). In acknowledging both Eastern and Western feminism, Satrapi’s novel humanizes the female Iranian perspective in a way that can easily digested by Western audiences.
I am reading “The Bass, the River, and Shelia Mant” by W.D. Wetherell, The story is about a young boy trying to choose between a beautiful girl and his passion of fishing. In this journal, I will be questioning and evaluating.
Beck, Lois, and Guity Nashat. Women in Iran from 1800 to the Islamic Republic. Urbana:
To elaborate, after the narrator asks Sheila on a date, he brings his fishing rod because he never went anywhere that summer "without a fishing rod" revealing that fishing is what he likes to do and is important to him. He adds when he wasn't trying to impress Sheila Mant, he "was fishing the river for bass" explaining that he spends a lot of time fishing and he enjoys it very much. Before Sheila Mant, fishing has been his true passion. Nonetheless, the narrator becomes torn between Sheila and fishing. During the date, as the narrator discusses fish, Sheila pronounces that she believes "fishing's dumb" which created a dilemma with the narrator because fishing is what he cherished as extremely as Sheila. His rash desire masks his true passion and provokes the narrator to hide his passion from Sheila. Furthermore, the narrator hooks the largest fish he has seen inside his fishing pole and realizes that "Sheila must not know" because he would have given anything not to "appear dumb in [her] eyes." His superficial values and hunger for Sheila cause him to hide his passion in exchange for the possibility of Sheila's love. His desire for Sheila forces him to try to seem sufficient enough Sheila's love even if it means endangering his passion. Instantly, the tug of Sheila was too great for him and he extracted a knife and "cut the line in half" forcing his passion
I'm not going to deny one important feature of my trip to Iran. Learning of the Iranians' appetite for plastic surgery was a definite highlight and certainly sparked ideas for my own. Although I admit I feel I should be saying something more profound right now. It doesn't quite fit does it, the reflection upon a biological reunion and I'm assessing the likelihood of going under the knife. But profound in my world was having cosmetic surgery, namely a nose job. Until visiting Tehran I'd never been to a place where rhinoplasty was not only a commonality but also a commodity. I wish you could see it for yourself if you haven't already, it's rampant. What amazes me is how certain aspects within a country can be internally dominant yet virtually unknown on the international stage. We associate plastic surgery with Los Angeles not Tehran. I certainly hadn't heard of this phenomena nor did anyone I know.
Despite the fact that Marjane is born and raised in Tehran, Iran, she is as much a product of Western customs as of Middle Eastern customs. The younger Marjane showed how the Iranian Revolution affected her life. The Iranian Revolution was the exiling of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and its concluding substitution with an Islamic republic under the Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the revolution, supported by a mixture of leftist and Islamic organizations. The new government became more suppressive by enforcing Islamic laws into the constitution and prohibiting westerner influence of any kind. On the contrary Marjane is raised by Marxist parents, who believe in freedom and tend to adapt to a more westernized upbringing. Marjane is similar to any other teenager, she starts to grow up and rebel against her elders and her traditions. Her revolt takes the form of a better awareness of and interaction with western culture. Marjane have many items ...
Since the September Eleventh attacks by Islamic extremists at the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, Islamic culture has come under scrutiny by Americans more so than at any other period in the history of the ancient religion. One area that is often criticized by the American main stream media is the role of women in Islamic culture; it is almost common knowledge now that Islam subjugates women to a degree not seen since the Medieval Ages, and is backwards in all aspects of gender relations. Like many stereotypes, this one is overblown, exaggerated, and often completely incorrect. Women have been a fundamental part of Islamic culture since the founding of the Muslim faith. Women have had tremendous influence in all areas of Islamic culture including education, politics, economic concerns, and religious interpretation; by examining each of these four areas, it become clear that women have tremendous opportunities within mainstream Islam. Of course, certain hardline regimes like the one currently holding power in Iran will always oppress women, as well as gays and other minorities. It is important to not focus on the few areas where Islamic culture is practiced and women are subjugated, but to look at the broader Islamic culture where women are a critical component.
Physical appearance of the body has become a fundamental part of identity. To gain social acceptance in society, women feel pressured to meet the standards of what society recalls as beauty. Women have tried to get a liposuction or reconstruct their face to try and attain their significant other's attention and follow what the media depicts as appealing. By eliminating their own individuality, women try to attain this invalid image to feel more confident and feel more accepted. As society becomes more accepting to plastic/cosmetic surgery, women in society will no longer look unique and will become a master race that will eventually brainwash society as individuality will become extinct. This is a result of a woman’s motive to try to obtain the ideals of beauty within society. As John Mason has said, "You were born an original. Don't die a copy" (Mason, 1993).
In recent modern times, the Islamic faith and culture has been scarred by bad publicity and criticism worldwide concerning terrorism, fanaticism, and the treatment of women. All these issues have existed in most religions throughout time, but the treatment of women is different in which most other cultures and religions have minimized the issues and Islam, under its attempts to also end it, has failed to create a society in which the treatment of women is equal to that of men. The treatment of women, beginning from the time when they are born, to the time of their marriage, to the moment of their death, has not been equal to that of men despite the actions taken to end the injustice.