The roles of women in Middle Eastern culture have varied over the decades, from being delicate creatures in need of protection to that of blind soldiers suddenly devoted to a deceptive cause. This is particularly illustrated in the graphic novel Persepolis, in which the author Marjane Satrapi illustrates her own memories while evoking certain events from her childhood. As demonstrated in Persepolis and in an article by Rola El-Husseini on radical Islam titled Radical Islam's War on Women, women in the Middle East are marginalized by policies such as forced veiling, being barred from obtaining a decent income, education and being manipulated into committing acts of terror, all because Islamic extremists and fundamentalists want to use women as instruments for whatever cause or philosophy they they deem appropriate during this period. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Firstly, women in the Middle East are forced to wear the veil to cover themselves when in public. For example, when Marjane Satrapi was arrested as a teenager by the Revolutionary Guards, she explained that the job of this fundamentalist female branch was to “arrest improperly veiled women” like herself (Satrapi 132). For the Satrapi family as well as some other progressive Iranians, the veil can be seen as a symbol of female limitations and restrictions in their country. The veil imposed on them is used to constantly remind women that they are neither free nor equal and that they must be protected and dependent on men as well as the government, ultimately giving even more power to the male-dominated society. men. In another case, Marjane's mother recounts a traumatic event in which two fundamentalist men "said that women like [her] should be pushed against a wall and fucked and then thrown in the trash." » (Satrapi 74). This horrible experience was motivated. by Marjane's mother who does not wear the veil in public, thus implementing the erroneous mentalities and the repressive nature of the policies concerning the compulsory veil. Therefore, the fact that Middle Eastern women are forced to wear the veil highlights their representation of being empty of everything. Independence and individuality, like their veils, also seem to be black voids. Additionally, the education women receive in the Middle East is either extremely biased or extremely maligned. For example, as Marjane states: “I love the king, he was chosen. by God" to her parents, she explains that she only wanted to say that because it was written in the first page of her school textbook (Satrapi 49) By indoctrinating young girls in this way, Marjane and many others were already conditioned and influenced by the government. through their studies. In this case, the propaganda is that the government desires to support the current king, and the earlier these methods infiltrate school systems, the more likely children are, later in life, to unconditionally believe other future authorities as well. Later during her schooling, Marjane questioned her religion teacher about government policy towards political prisoners, stating "how dare you lie to us like that" (Satrapi 144) after justifying it with a personal anecdote that his uncle was an exception to the professor's obvious rules. incorrect information. Although it experienced a strong fundamentalist influence during its.