Ideology and Persepolis

It occurs to me that I should take a more active role in this class, but I have been fairly tied up by life and its various obligations. (It seems that I am distracted far too easily now a days). But I need to focus on the task at hand and analyze ideology and Persepolis. From what “Practices of Looking” tells me, ideology itself is “a shared set of values and beliefs that exist within a given society and through which individuals live out their relations to social institutions and structures.”

In the society within Persepolis this system of values and beliefs are made readily apparent. It is a traditional, rigid, muslin society. The women wear head scarves and are looked down upon by the dominant male forces that have elevated themselves as superiors. It is all a system of control and the head scarves indicate a place within the system, albeit a low place full of guilt and threats. The head scarves are symbols or repression, they cover up a woman's hair which is akin to covering up their freedom, liberty and sexuality. Yet I find it interesting that the main character, a teenage girl in this system, is able to assert herself as an individual and demonstrate some of the behaviors that this society frowns upon.

The main idea that this society seems to look down upon is the influence and or intrusion of western culture. The particular focus seems to be American music (be careful, it will corrupt you...). In a bold move, the girl goes out wearing a jacket with “punk is not dead” emblazoned on her back and tennis shoes. She is also looking to buy an Iron Maiden tape which I find amusing. Two older women grab her suddenly and threaten to report her for the revolutionary style she is walking around in, which takes courage to wear but also stupidity. It is a society where you have to compromise who you are in exchange for your survival. Conform or a very literal death awaits you. But some level of conformity exists everywhere, just to very different extremes. We may not face death for a lack of conformity here in this corner of the U.S, but for some individuals (I use that term loosely) fitting in becomes a priority. In reality we should be embracing the freedom to be ourselves, we have the ability to do so, so why not take advantage of it?