During Iran-Iraq War, there are around 500,000 Iraqi and Iranian soldiers died over the course of the war, in addition to an estimated 100,000 civilians. In Persepolis, it mentions about the brainwashing of young low-income boys in schools during the Iran-Iraq war. The school told them it was a great honor to fight for their country. Furthermore, they would say that the world after death was like heaven, with countless gold, gems, wine and women. Each boy was given a small key and told that if they died with it, they would go to heaven. In this way, they tricked many untrained boys into the war. There is no doubt that these young students can only wait to be slaughtered when faced with well-trained soldiers.  

In fact, it’s common for the military to tend to recruit low-income young men to serve in the military or to fight in wars, not only in the Iran-Iraq war. The Seattle Times reported in 2005 that “nearly half” of new recruits came “from lower-middle-class to poor households, according to new Pentagon data based on ZIP codes and census estimates of mean household income.” The same data showed that nearly two-thirds of Army recruits in 2004 “came from countries in which median household income is below the U.S. median.”  

The reason of this group of young people are targeted is that, in the absence of options, they can easily be pushed or lured to join the armed forces. The term “poverty draft” came about in the early 1980s to describe “the belief that the enlisted ranks of the military were made up of young people with limited economic opportunities,” They lack access to jobs, income, and educational alternatives in their communities, so they improve their life or get the chance to go to college by joining the army. Therefore, it is not difficult to imagine that in the context of war, those young men without power and background are more likely to join the army for various reasons, while others from better families may have more chances to avoid the draft. In the Iran-Iraq war, Iran was ruled by extreme religionism, which was very inhumane.  That causes many young men who are sent to war in such a deceitful way. 

Words Cites

Corcione, Adryan. “Why Poor Youth Are Targeted for Military Recruitment.” Teen Vogue, Adryan Corcione, 22 Jan. 2019, www.teenvogue.com/story/the-military-targets-youth-for-recruitment. 

 Martin, Nick. “The Military Views Poor Kids as Fodder for Its Forever Wars.” The New Republic, 7 Jan. 2020, newrepublic.com/article/156131/military-views-poor-kids-fodder-forever-wars. 

 Asoni, Andrea and Sanandaj, Tino. “Rich Man’s War, Poor Man’s Fight? Socioeconomic Representativeness in the Modern Military” Research Institute of Industrial Economics, 23 Dec. 2014, papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2542143 

The Iranian Revolution of 1979 was a major shift in power within the Iranian government. The Revolution was an attempt to overthrow the Shah, as many people of Iran were unhappy with the Westernization of Iran and the economic shift to the oil market, which caused many other jobs to dwindle (CrashCourse, 07:20-08:52). As the Revolution came to an end and the Shah gave up his power, a shift to the Islamic Republic was pushed by Khomeini, who participated heavily within the Revolution and received much power in the absence of the Shah. His new Republic focused heavily on Islamic Law, which in turn changed the role of women within society (Rafique and Butt, 432).

After the Shah was removed from power, women planned to celebrate their achievements on National Women’s Day, but this soon turned into a demonstration to oppose the news that veiling would become compulsory (Higgins, 477). It is believed that the reintroduction of veiling or wearing a hijab, and “accepting gender segregation” is for the “security and comfort” of women (Shaditalab, 17). Veiling was only the beginning of the shift women would face after the Iranian Revolution. Before the Revolution, the Shah put into place policies that helped women gain more rights within society (Rafique and Butt, 433). It took a turn when Khomeini took power and changed many of the policies the Shah put in place. An example is the termination of the Family Protection Law which resulted in the following, “the legal minimum age at marriage for women was lowered to thirteen; divorce was again granted to men on demand and women only under a narrow range of circumstances, and polygyny was declared legal without a first wife’s consent” (Higgins, 480). These new changes put in place by the Islamic Republic restricted women’s rights and encouraged gender inequality (Rafique and Butt, 432).

Growing up during this shift of power can be extremely difficult for young women. Many freedoms that people take for granted throughout the world like uniqueness, choices within marriage, comfortableness within the presence of men, etc. are restricted by laws for young women in Iran. This absence of choice and presence of control in many aspects of life creates a longing to be recognized and heard. When watching the film, Persepolis, it is important to keep in mind these struggles as it is highlighted through a young woman growing up and speaking out against the constructs in the Iranian Republic.

Works Cited

CrashCourse. “Iran’s Revolutions: Crash Course World History 226.” YouTube, uploaded by CrashCourse, 26 Feb. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w4Ku6l7OEI.

Higgins, Patricia J. “Women in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Legal, Social, and Ideological Changes.” Signs, vol. 10, no. 3, 1985, pp. 477–494. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3174262. Accessed 27 Feb. 2021.

Jaleh Shaditalab. “Islamization and Gender in Iran: Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty?” Signs, vol. 32,no. 1, Sept. 2006, pp.14–21. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1086/505276.

Rafique, Sadia, and Khalid Manzoor Butt. “Position of Women in Iran: An Analysis of Pre and Post Islamic Revolution 1979.”  South Asian Studies (1026-678X), vol. 32, no. 2, July 2017, pp. 431–439. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=126924375&site=eds-live&scope=site.