Hello readers,

This week my class has been analyzing the book Persepolis by Majane Satrapi. In the graphic narrative, the main character Marji lives in Iran with her family. The graphic narrative focuses on Marji and her life during the years of both the Iranian revolution and the Iran Iraq war. As the events of the book pass we see how Islamic laws are put into effect. One important change that occurred in Marji’s life was the implementation of the veil or headscarf. The veil is a topic of great debate and has staunch advocates for and against its place in society. I wanted to focus my blog post on my experiences with the veil and other religious clothing articles in Canada.

 (Picture of Malala Yousafzai a human rights activist from Pakistan wearing a hijab)

Canada is incredibly diverse with many religions and cultures coming together to form a mosaic.  This idea of diversity is protected under our charter of rights and freedoms, however, there is an increasing amount of intolerance towards different religious symbols. My first interaction with the headscarf was when I was in elementary school. A friend of mine was around the same age as Satrapi when she started to wear her headscarf, and it was a new experience for our entire class. Most of us were oblivious to what a headscarf was so we asked her why she started wearing it. Her response was that it was part of her religion and that she liked the way that it looked. This differs to how Satrapi viewed the headscarf in both her book and in her life. In Iran Satrapi was forced to wear her headscarf or else she would have been arrested. Satrapi refers to the forceful implementation of the veil/headscarf as “an act of violence” (Satrapi 1). This is quite different to how my friend decided on her own free will to wear her headscarf.

 

As a kid, I did not understand the importance of the headscarf and I believed it was just a fashion choice. Today, however, the headscarf is priority news and played a critical role in the last Canadian Federal election. Many in Canada believe that in order to ensure that we are secular we should implement laws banning the hijab/veil in public workplaces like schools. This argument was particularly strong in Quebec. The Quebec government has had the strong influence of the Catholic Church for many decades. This has resulted in a fierce defence of keeping Quebec secular. After the impact religion has had on Quebec, they are determined to stay secular by banning the wearing of religious symbols in the public service. (However, this is not as enforced with the Christian cross) This reaction is the opposite of what Satrapi argues in her article with the guardian and with her interview with Emma Watson. She believes that governments should not force anyone to have to do something they would not do on their own free will. She believes that if the government tells people to not wear a hijab they will wear one in rebellion and if they make the hijab mandatory they will not wear it to rebel. Satrapi believes it is rather pointless to pass mandatory laws on this subject and instead she conveys the message that in a democracy people should be educated about their choices. After that education, they can make an informed decision that benefits them.

 

I have lived in Canada my whole life and reading Persepolis and reading the articles with Satrapi have provided a new insight on the hijab for me. The hijab was something I had few experiences with as a kid and seeing it invoked no reaction. This is completely different to how Satrapi interacted with the hijab as a child. This contrast outlines why we should learn more about other cultures so that we can see other perspectives and reach a greater understanding of each other.

(In my blog post headscarf, veil, and hijab have the same meaning I hope this causes no offence)

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