Persepolis is an autobiography by Marjane Satrapi that portrays her life growing up in Iran and Austria during the Islamic Revolution. Marjane’s parents are depicted as educated and politically active revolutionaries. After the fall of Shah, the Islamic Republic takes over in Iran. This time is more oppressive and the family lives under Islamic law while in public. Behind closed doors though, the family continues to live modern lives partaking westernized culture. When Marjane became older and more outspoken the family was financially capable of sending her to live in Austria. The socioeconomic status of the family gives opportunities to Marjane that would not be available to a young girl from a less well-off family.
“Oppression is the experience of repeated, widespread, and systematic injustice. It need not be extreme and involve the legal system (as in slavery, apartheid, or the lack of a right to vote) nor violent (as in tyrannical societies)” (Deutsch 2006: 10). Even in oppressed societies there are different levels of privileges and oppressions that affect all people. After the Revolution in Iran, militias supported by the Islamic Republican Party heavily suppressed Western cultural influence and enacted a religious rule. Janet Afary describes “The Family Protection Act (significantly amened in 1975), which provide further guarantees and rights to women in marriage was declared void, and mosque-based revolutionary bands known as komitehs patrolled streets enforcing Islamic codes of dress and behavior…” (Afary). These laws heavily oppressed the freedoms of women; often targeting leftist and educated women. These women had multiple facets of their identity working against them. This phenomenon is a theory called Intersectionality. It describes how a person can be a part of multiple marginalized groups that all contribute to different identities of a singular person. The complexity of a single person’s identity can be made up of their gender, race, disabilities, class, and even sexuality.
Often when discussing privileges people forget how powerful class privilege is. Social class can be defined as “one’s position in the economic hierarchy in society that arises from combination of annual income, education attainment, and occupation prestige” (Alder). Class is more than just economic position. The class a person belongs to can control their access to basic human needs, education, and opportunities. It further molds an individual psychological habits including perceptions of oneself. Classes are a consequence of inequalities of power, resources, and rights. All of these things translate to how successful an individual can be. Understanding intersectionality and class is essential when considering how different people can be affected in an oppressed group.
Deutsch, M. (2006). A framework for thinking about oppression and its change. Social Justice Research, 19(1), 7- 41.
Afary, Janet. “Iranian Revolution [1978–1979].” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 23 June 2009, https://www.britannica.com/event/Iranian-Revolution/Aftermath.
Kraus, M. W., & Keltner, D. (2013). Social class rank, essentialism, and punitive judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105(2), 247–261.
I love how you pointed out how much of a driving force class privilege is. I think that this can easily be tied back to many of the topics that we’ve discussed, including othering as well as the subaltern. In the terms of othering, we see those in the highest socioeconomic status diminishing those below them because their power comes from a material status, so the more you have the closer to the top you are. This, in turn, makes a cascading effect where each group then below the top is othering the group below them until it reaches the bottom. At that point, there is a creation of a subaltern group where they no longer have a voice. I think that the example of socioeconomic status has many facets into who is the one and who is the other along with who has so much taken from them that they become the subaltern. This can also be seen in Persepolis as Marjane travels from place to place and deals with new societal norms that differs the definition of the one, the other, and the subaltern.
It is very true that class and intersectionality can determine how successful you are even in today’s world. For example, let’s say you grow up in an upper class family. Your parent’s probably have connections with other upper class people which can give your family more opportunities than a lower class family. You can have access to better and higher education like going to a private school and attending a prestigious college. You are more likely to follow in your parent’s footsteps and have your future family be in the upper class. Intersectionality also plays a role in your life. Even though you are in the upper class and can have better opportunities, you will still face your own discrimination and oppression due to Intersectionality. You may receive backlash for your religious beliefs or be discriminated in the work force because you are a women.
I like how you talk about how class is more than economic position. I feel like when we think about our own identity, we think about our race and gender first, even though class is also very important. I remember taking a privilege test once and majority of the questions were asking about how often do I have to worry about ( insert some basic necessity of life). It made me realize that even though I am not a part of the upper class, I do have more resources than others and that effects my identity. Those resources can effect the jobs I may have or the education I can receive. Class is definitely as important as all the other factors of identity.
I really liked how you incorporated how important class privilege can be. I also like how you talked about how class position is much more than economic position. I feel that when most people think of social classes, they automatically refer to economic status, when social class goes much further than that. Classes don’t always mean money, it can be resources, connections to others, or power one may hold. For example, my cousin could be the mayor of my town and I can have a major direct effect of certain policies in my city, but economically be in a lower class compared to the rest. Another example could be my connections to higher up social classes or people who work higher in a company that could help me get a great job compared to others. Overall, social classes aren’t just based on economic position and I think your comparison to this and intersexuality was a great point for the class to consider.
I appreciate the examples and depth you went into about oppression and how even living in oppression they have their own form and level of privileges. The social class of a person dictating where they are going to go and what they are going to do with their lives, because of the fact that they don’t always get to have the same opportunities as those in a higher social class is a huge factor in so many peoples lives. Women overall have faced such a large oppression and still are continuing to break that mold today and demand equality and social status.
I agree that class has a lot to do with privilege and arguably the most important thing that determines someones privilege. Usually class has to do with wealth and wealthier individuals or families are able to provide for themselves better whether this means they wear better clothes, have bigger homes, or in Marjane’s case, receive a better education. These traits that determine someone’s class can affect how somebody is treated in society. When people are in a high class, they are usually better respected than those who are in a low class. In addition, with better education comes better jobs, more connections, and typically more money which then can be handed down to the next generation in a family. Oppression, however, like you mentioned can affect people of all different classes like we’ve seen throughout history, such as with women, African Americans, and Jewish people during the Holocaust.
I liked how you included the theory of Intersectionality in your blog and applied it to the autobiography. I am actually learning about this theory in my Social Psychology class this semester. We learned that people may consider their identities of their multiple forms of discrimination to be closely linked. We also learned that the way these people view the relationship between their identities can impact how they interact with their environment. It’s really good to keep this in mind when reading the autobiography.
I completely agree with you that class privilege determines how successful you become in society. I also agree with the notion that the term privilege does not just pertain to your family’s financial status, it means so much more. Privilege also has to do with your gender, race, ethnicity, among several other factors. Under the new fundamentalist regime, Marjane and her family were forced to follow many strict laws and customs. Because her family was well off, Marjane was lucky enough to be able to be sent away to Vienna where she finished off her education. This reflects on the idea that she was privileged, because other people in her society would not have been able to do that if they did not have the money to do so. Yet, I also support the idea that Marjane was not privileged because she was female. Since the new government was put into place in Iran, women had very limited rights. For example, they received little opportunities in education. Therefore, she would not have had to flee the country if she were a man because her education would not have been in jeopardy.
This post demonstrates how one can be a part of multiple identities and groups, but still be considered an outlier or be oppressed by another, separate group they’re associated with. For example and in line with religious context, there are instances where individuals in the LGBTQ+ community are expelled from churches or viewed as lesser than other members who are cis or straight, regardless if they are members of the same race, class, etc. Additionally, I believe Americans tend to judge or look down on other nations or regions for the way they treat women and other marginalized communities – without acknowledging the presence of oppression in our own country. This is no way meant to dismiss the inequalities of other nations or that in Persepolis, but to point out that intersectionality exists everywhere.
I really appreciated how you said how important class privilege is. One thing that stuck out to me the most is the way the law treats woman. At the end of the day woman are human beings as well and should be allowed to do what men do. They shouldn’t be voided of anything simply because of their gender and treated like animals or even anything less than human. Depending your class status it truly affect your life later on like you said you access to basics needs.
I really like how you mention someone’s social class can make a big difference. It reminds of our last reading where the main character had a tough upbringing because of his Dad. People often do not realize how much your upbring and what you were born into affect how your life will go. In this story, she was more fortunate in what her parents had and was able to move to Austria. It’s cool that in back to back stories, we can kind of seeing the opposite aspects of it.
I agree that while there can be many groups or identities that an individual could be a part of, one of the most important in society is class. When a person has a problem with something in society and is also in poverty, they often are unable to speak about their grievances because they are focused on survival before a societal change. Without having enough money for their basic needs to be met, these people are often turned into a subaltern of sorts where they simply can’t voice their concerns or gain opportunities to improve their class while meeting their basic needs.
This is a great topic that I feel really allows people to be grateful for what they have. This idea really exemplifies “first world problems”. Having the opportunity to deal with hardships in a wealthy country like the United States is nothing is comparison to what someone in poverty in Iran will go through. We are privliged to experience our hardships and should really put that into perspective when we are not feeling content. It is important to be thankful for the opportunities that we are given and to not look down on those when we are not aware of their situation.
I really liked how you incorporated how much power you have depending on your social class. A scene from Persepolis that really stood out to me was when the family maid, Mehri, fell in love with their neighbor. From the time she was eight, she grew up being the family’s maid and never had access to an education. When people found out she was in a relationship with the neighbor, they went and told him the truth that she was the family’s maid. When he found out her social class, Hossein immediately had no interest in Mehri. This scene showed to me how much control social classes had on the society at this time and the peoples’ lives. Mehri’s whole life would be judged due to her upbringing, her career, and her social class.
I liked how the blog defined and explained class and intersectionality and its role in social hierarchies around the world let alone in an oppressed world. Class and its role in providing people unequal opportunity and resources is relevant when talking about more progressive countries, and the effects are only magnified when talking about a highly sectionalized and oppressed society such as Iran in the times of the book. The contextualization of the notions of intersectionality and class in Iran does a good job of setting the background information for the reading.
I loved the way you explained social privilege. Marginalization is a key aspect that takes over society without people realizing it. Society has divided every person into a “home” without physically stating it. I completely agree that people don’t notice social class to affect lives however hierarchy has given so many people privilege that they may or may not even deserve. And the only ones that bare the shock are the ones in the lower classes. I am curious to know if you think there’s ever going to be a way to come back from a marginalized society or if it is something that is needed.
I really liked your analysis of class privilege within Persepolis. It was my biggest takeaway from reading and it gave me a better understanding of what was really happening. This book teaches us nothing new about it, that we haven’t learned already. There is always someone above oppressing those that are beneath them. Although, it was good to see the Iranian perspective on this, compared to what we have learned elsewhere. This was a very well done analysis.
I really liked your post and I agree that class has a lot to do with privilege and the most important thing that determines someone’s privilege. I believe that class has a big impact on people’s life and things people take consider of. Many would first think of their race and gender which they both are still important but ultimately I believe the upper class/the wealthy are able to do all these things that the lower class can’t. This can heavily impact a persons life. And like you mentioned, oppression can still affect the classes.
I agree with your post that class does go hand and hand with privilege. I do think that class really does give people more privilege especially if you are more wealthy. it is crazy to see that even decades ago class and privilege still exist. While wealthier higher class people have more privilege they also face opression within their class and also face opressions from other classes and races etc.
That was a great example of intersectionality. One thing that came to mind was how systemic injustice varies based on leaders within a country and from one country to another. The United States is the most free nation in the world (not perfect) and allows more equality than other nations that don’t give personal choice. This makes me think of the issues with the US with drawing from the middle east recently. Immediately after, women and children began to be harmed again and live in danger. How can we raise the level of equality not just in our country but throughout the world?
You make excellent points about how an individual’s success is in direct correlation to their position in society and their class level in terms to others. You also made an interesting point as to how Arab women find themselves inside two oppressed groups at the same time, both as a woman and as a Muslim, and even possibly due to their social status and the family they were born to or married into. In this region, there is definitely an inherent culture of overlapping intersectionalities, and the focus of success is always revolved around one’s natural status in society (their class). Someone’s class usually is determined by the history of the family they are associated with or the amount of wealth (money and assets) their current family has. As you mentioned, the higher someone’s class is, the more privileged they become and in turn the less oppression they will face in contrast to someone in a lower class who will be faced with quite the number of limitations.
I like how you explained oppression with an example using Apartheid during the slavery era. Apartheid was one of the biggest systematic oppressions that was used against people of color. The Apartheid system was used to keep white supremacy and oppress people of color. For example, in South Africa the population was divided into 4 races and people were restricted what residence they could live in based on their race. People of color were stripped of there right to vote. During Apartheid the Bantu Education system was designed to turn Africans into low skill manual workers and servants. All amenities and facilities such as hospitals, post offices, buses, park benches, and beaches etc. were segregated by race.