In Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi chronicles her journey from adolescence to adulthood amidst the backdrop of the Islamic revolution in Iran. Satrapi’s memoir-in-comic-strips details her coming of age and independence while recognising how closely intertwined her history is with that of her country’s – she bears witness on behalf of herself and others to stories of oppression and rebellion; hope and revolution; fear and despair. Alongside these themes is also that of feminism, which has been thoroughly explored by scholars such as Hillary Chute and Nancy K. Miller. Chute claims Persepolis as a “feminist graphic narrative” (93) for dealing with the themes of trauma and remembrance, while Miller suggests that “Persepolis offers a new perspective on familial legacies and feminist generations” (13). Yet, what strikes me as odd is that for all the feminist themes Persepolis purportedly contains, Satrapi herself has mentioned on multiple occasions that she is not a feminist. In an interview with Annie Tully, she states:

“You know, the feminists become very angry when I say I am not a feminist. I am a humanist. I believe in human beings. After what I have seen in the world, I don’t think women are better than the men.”

Likewise, in an interview with Emma Watson for Vogue, she states:

“But is that really the fault of men? I don’t think so. That is our responsibility, and when we blame it on men, we always put ourselves in the situation of the victim. And we are not victims. We are human beings. . .

. . .  The feminist movement for a long time has been there to cut the guy’s penis off. And this is not a good thing. We cannot make the same mistake as men did with the gentlemen’s clubs—to exclude them. We have to be more intelligent and say, We will make life together with you, we will collaborate, and let’s be together.

. . . I need a new kind of feminism where we are brighter than the stupid men of a century ago and we teach them the lessons. That is how good we can be. Let’s construct this world together. Let’s behave toward each other in a nice way, in a humanistic way, and maybe we can do something better”

Satrapi has often declared herself as a “humanist” rather than a “feminist”, as she believes. While one might argue that this makes her a feminist after all, since feminism refers to the equality of both genders. Rather, the portrayal of feminism as the idea that women are better than men has instead misconstrued her philosophy. Yet, in her interview with Tully, the following exchange occurs:

 “So do you think the definition of feminism is to define that women are better than men?

That is what I feel. When they talk about “The men ruined this, the men did that,” it is a person, and their sex comes after what they’ve done. I believe that we say too much “We the women” and “We the men,” but should say “We the human beings.” There are really two types of human being — the ones who care about environment, who want a more just society; and the other ones who care about greed and war. So it’s not a question of East and West, and American and Iranian, and women and men.”

Satrapi’s “Humanism”

And so Satrapi’s main conflict of interest with the feminist movement is how it seems to put always attach a label of sex before the discussion of equality. And it is for that reason that Satrapi instead uses the term “humanist” to describe herself and her work. When reading Persepolis, I found that Satrapi does indeed place her discussions of equality before her gender. For instance, when Satrapi describes trying to pee standing up like a man because she had read that that would change women’s “perception of life”, she found it “disgusting” and instead concludes that “before learning to pee like a man, I needed to learn to become a liberated and emancipated woman” (175). Here, rather than emphasising gender and seeing the need to be like men, Satrapi recognises the importance of liberation and emancipation instead. Indeed , a large part of Satrapi’s philosophy is that both men and women have to be educated (the panels preceding her attempt to pee like a man have her emphasising that she has to “educated [her]self”) to achieve gender equality. Satrapi described that just as there were fundamentalist men and modern women in post-revolution Iran, there were also modern men and fundamentalist women (75). The divide then was not between men and women, but between the educated progressive and the traditionalists.

Likewise, when Satrapi protests the dress code in her university, though she highlights the discrimination and hypocrisy of gender, where women have to be covered up but men do not, her first argument is an appeal to common-sense logic and practicality (297). Furthermore, her discontent with the status quo is not with the opposite gender, but rather with the school administration which holds these discriminatory and hypocritical views.

Final Thoughts

As I read about feminist themes in Persepolis with the knowledge that Satrapi herself rejects the label “feminist”, I am reminded of what Kay Schaffer and Sidonie Smith wrote about life narratives: that “stories are received and interpreted in unpredictable ways by the audiences whose attention they seek and garner” (15). Whether or not one chooses to label Satrapi and Persepolis feminist, I believe that Satrapi’s humanist philosophy of considering equality without the labels of gender will lead us to a more productive discussion. With that, I leave you with one final quote from Satrapi’s interview with Emma Watson:

“We have to bring up our kids telling them, “You are first and foremost human beings.” Your gender matters only when you are in love and when you are with your lover, yes, your gender matters. You can be a woman or a man, whatever you want to be. The rest of the time, just behave like a human being. Full stop.”

P.S. Liked this discussion on feminist identity in Persepolis? Check out Merial’s blog for a discussion on national identity in Persepolis!

Works Cited:

“Bookslut.” Bookslut | An Interview with Marjane Satrapi. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2017. <http://www.bookslut.com/features/2004_10_003261.php>.

“Emma Watson Interviews Persepolis Author Marjane Satrapi.” Vogue. Vogue, 01 Aug. 2016. Web. 13 Jan. 2017. <http://www.vogue.com/13462655/emma-watson-interviews-marjane-satrapi/>.

Chute, Hillary. “The Texture of Retracing in Marjane Satrapi’€™s Persepolis.” WSQ: Women’s Studies Quarterly 36.1-2 (2008): 92-110. Web.

Miller, Nancy K. “Out of the Family: Generations of Women in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis.” Life Writing 4.1 (2007): 13-29. Web.

Satrapi, Marjane. The Complete Persepolis. New York: Pantheon, 2007. Print.