Persepolis- Part 2

So Marjane become quite the rebel. She ends up moving in with multiple different people and ends up on the streets and becomes sick. This allows her to reconnect with her parents. She ends up getting married but then divorced. Over this period she has run ins with the "moral police" who can really do anything they want to her. But while in Iran she does any social activism she can, including making a shorter veil to wear. It is Maji's grandmother who really helps her through all of this, and even reveals that she divorced once. She encourages Marji to leave the country, though it will be hard to leave her  parents. In the end, she leaves her parents and heads to Europe. The novel ends with "Freedom had a price".
The ending was hard for me. My family means so much to me and I don't think I would ever be able to chose freedom over my parents. But I am so glad I read this because it really helps my single story. Of course, this all happened to Marjane a while ago, but women in the Middle East still discrimination. One thing that Marjane challenges her society on is dress. She was forced to wear a veil and other covering clothes, which Marjane recognizes is more that modesty; it is taking away the basic rights of women. Marjane, who becomes very interested in sex as a teenager, goes from seeing the discussion of sex as liberated by European terms, but then as "slutty" by Iranian. She, like me, got to see a comparison between two cultures on sex. I think in the US sex is now becoming a more open conversation and less about shame, but especially when discussed by women can be seen as slutty. Each story I have read so far is about these super strong women who have been oppressed by their society.
These women are incredible. They are super heroes.
The fact that they are writing about their experiences as social justice activism is so empowering. I am so amazed by these women and I am constantly inspired by them.

Persepolis- Part 1

This story begins with Marjane (Marji) who is 10 years old after the Iranian revolution. It is interesting getting another young women's perspective on the events happening around her. Of course, this graphic novel was written years after what had happened, but still is effective coming from a young adult's perspective. Marjane is very similar to Malala. Both females grew up in a culture that oppresses women. Malala was raised in a very supportive family that continued to make social justice a priority. Marjane was raised like most other people, in a family that followed the orders of society and government. Both women have also seen their community affected by violence. Marjane at one point has to live in a bomb shelter and a neighboring Jewish family is killed. Both girls are forced by their culture to wear head scarfs and act a certain way, yet both long for equal rights. Both also have an obsession with American music and pop culture. At one point Marjane buys music on the black market. Marjane grew up before Malala, but it is important to see that many young girls have been oppressed by their own culture for a very long time.

I am Malala- Part 3

I am so inspired by Malala's journey. She continued to fight for her rights to an education and free speech. Even when the Taliban was at its highest reign of power, she continued to study and inspire herself. Up to the day when she was shot, she was going to school and not wearing her burqa. So young and brilliant, she never backed down. Even after the shooting, which I probably would have stopped fighting, she is determined to spend the rest of her life helping others get the basic human rights that every human deserves. 

I think for my single story, she has really helped me see the new movement and generation of change in the Middle East. She is braver than I will probably ever be. I also needed to see how 9/11 affected her world. The Middle East is still another completely different world, but there are similarities between my world and Malala's. Both of us have seen oppression and powerful movements for human rights. We have seen the government turn their backs on us. I don't want to compare myself to Malala because she is just so brave and strong, but I think we both have recognized problems within our society and do not want to keep quiet within them. Malala has made change happen. We can make change happen.   

I am Malala- Part 2

Looking at Malala's entire life, she has always been conscious of the restrictions on her life because she is female. When she was born, very few people of the community supported her parents because they birthed a female, which is literally seen as a failure on the parents' behalf. Malala is incredibly gifted with knowledge, but she still faced oppression by her culture. She picked up the love for social justice from her father who had always supported multiple rights such as a right to education, a right to free speech, and of course women's rights.
Even at a young age Malala noticed that her culture would cite Islamic phrases to justify the oppression of women. Just like in America, her society was incredibly impacted by the 9/11 attack. The taliban had taken over and women were not allowed to get an education, were forced to wear a burqa, and were not allowed to speak out.
It is interesting to see how the 9/11 terrorist attack had affected the middle east. I only know how America was affected by the attack. I was baffled when it was revealed the Taliban had blown up a Buddha statue in the Swat Valley (where Malala and her family lived). The Taliban destroyed a sign a peace. A sign of love and belief. And then they took over so many communities. It really opened my eyes, seeing that a lot of people in the Middle East were also terrorized. I am not trying to say that 9/11 was not a terrible tragedy that affected so many people and many lives were lost from it, but in the Middle East people were enslaved and governed by the Taliban who were taking away basic rights and torturing people.

An Eye Opening TED Talk-

TED Talk
What It's Like to be Muslim in America

This TED talk really opened my eyes. Having read through two of my stories and in the middle of three others, seeing this video truly helped me. Sometimes, no matter the character, I forget that they are more than a person on paper. This is something I am still working on, especially with my single story if Middle Eastern women. My goal for myself is to recognize that these women are human, just as much as I am. Seeing this video has really helped me. While Dalia Mogahed, the woman in the video, isn't currently living in the middle east, she is from Egypt and identifies as Muslim. I would encourage anyone who does not know much about that culture (like how I was walking into this project) this video will open your eyes. Not only is it educational, it reminds you that there is hope in this world. Dalia explains what it was like being Muslim the day after 9/11 and how it has shaped the world's stereotypes towards Muslim and middle eastern people. I encourage anyone to watch this.