1

Beathei Piatt
4Su2u12

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In oui post-911 woilu, wheie many Westeineis continue to iemain feaiful
anu skeptical of Nuslims, one may assume that Westein ieaueis woulu ieject any
text that humanizes Nuslim people. Bowevei, the ieception of Naijane Satiapi's
giaphic novelmemoii, !"#$"%&'($) which uepicts the authoi's coming-of-age uuiing
the fall of the Iianian monaichy, the ascent of Islamic funuamentalism, anu the
biutalities of the Iian-Iiaq Wai, has pioven quite the opposite. The two comics,
publisheu in 2uuS anu 2uu4, have been tianslateu into many uiffeient languages
anu aie immensely populai amongst Westein auuiences. Significantly, hunuieus of
Ameiican teacheis use the texts in theii high school anu college classiooms to
euucate stuuent about issues of iace, genuei, anu teiioiism (Botshon, Plastas 1).
Fuithei pioof of the Westein woilu's piaise of Satiapi's stoiy can be founu in the
populaiity of the animateu film veision of the book, which won the }uiy Piize at the
Cannes Film Festival anu was nominateu foi Best Animateu Film at the 2uu8
Acauemy Awaius (Botshon, Plastas 1).
In hei inteiviews, Satiapi makes it cleai that she wiote !"#$"%&'($ "in oiuei to
iectify the misconceptions that many Westeineis have about Iian anu Iianians"
(Constantino 4S8). She iemeuies Westein ieaueis' false beliefs by uebunking
uominant tiopes of Nuslim people, specifically the aichetype of the "subjugateu
Nuslim woman" oi what Chanuia Talpaue Nohanty woulu call, "The Nonolithic
Thiiu Woilu Woman" (SS4). While one can only speculate whethei oi not one can
attiibute the comic's ciitical acclaim to Satiapi's aitful uismantling of this tiope, one
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can examine how the ueconstiuction of steieotypes cieates space foi a moie
nuanceu unueistanuing of Iianian Nuslim women. In this papei, I aigue that by
challenging the tiope of the oppiesseu veileu woman, Satiapi not only illustiates the
agency of Iianian females, but also empoweis Westein ieaueis to uevelop agency by
ieflecting on theii own iuentities in ielation to that of the women in Peisepolis. As a
iesult, Satiapi inspiies Westein ieaueis to see similaiities between theii plight anu
the stiuggles of Iianian women, piompting them to engage in tiansveisalism, "the
piocess by which people uesignateu as enemies oi 'othei' foim new unueistanuings
of each othei" (Bosthson, Plastas 2). Because this act of "boiuei ciossing" involves
the active paiticipation of the Westein ieauei, one can contenu that Westein
women exhibit agency in this piocess, thus pioving that Satiapi's text not only
uepicts the agency of Iianian women, but also inspiies agency in Westein female
ieaueis (Botson anu Plastas 1).
Satiapi uses the veil to illustiate Iianian women's agency by uesciibing the
unique ways Iianian females appiopiiate oi misappiopiiate the veil as a means to
iesist oppiession. Accoiuing to }ennifei Woith, "the most ciucial metaphoi in
unueistanuing !"#$"%&'($ is the veil. Foi Satiapi, the veilanu all that it
iepiesentsis a means to hiue anu contiol women" (Woith 1SS). Positioning the
veil in a moie global context, Anne Nillei chaiacteiizes the veil as a "a loaueu
signifiei" that has "tak|enj on competing meanings" foi both Westein anu Iianian
women (42). Significantly, Satiapi points to these "competing meanings" in
!"#$"%&'($ by "challenging the Westein naiiative of Islam as oppiessoi anu West as
libeiatoi" while also ueconstiucting the countei naiiative that valoiizes the
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cooption of the veil as an effective way to iesist Westein impeiialism (Nillei 42). By
alluuing to these competing meanings, while iefusing to value one ovei the othei,
Satiapi pioviues a complex view of the veil that illustiates Iianian women's agency
anu "open|sj up the possibilities of ieauings that contiauict the uominant asciibeu
meaning|sj" of the veil (Naghibi anu 0'Nally 24S).
Satiapi's effective poitiayal of the veil as neithei a tool of oppiession, noi a
tool of libeiation, is ciucial to appealing to Westein anu Eastein ieaueis, who
oftentimes uisagiee when uebating whethei oi not the veil "libeiates" women.
Satiapi uiscusses this polaiizing uebate in an inteiview with the +,-#.(-/)
obseiving that "Westein feminists aie so entianceu with the iuea of the mini-skiit
symbolizing emancipation that they think having something on youi heau means
that you aie oppiesseu." Foi Satiapi, "the women who aie foiceu to weai the veil,
anu the women who aie poitiayeu nakeu to sell anything fiom cai types to oiange
juice aie both facing a foim of oppiession" ("veileu Thieat"). In these quotes, Satiapi
oveitly ciiticizes Westein feminists' ieuuctive chaiacteiization of the veil as
"oppiessive" anu theii equally simplistic unueistanuing of Nuslim women as silent
victims who lack agency. Noieovei, Satiapi points to the hypociisy of the Westein
woilu's tiope of the "oppiesseu Nuslim woman" by suggesting that the Westein
woilu also oppiesses women, albeit, in uiffeient ways.
Lisa Tayloi asseits that the aichetype of the helpless anu silent Nuslim
woman, which has gaineu paiticulai emphasis since 911, "cannot be sepaiateu
fiom the ietiencheu 0iientalist fielu of cultuial piouuction anu maiketing which
histoiically salient tiopes of genueieu victimization conuense aiounu the veil's
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chaigeu image" (Su1). By exposing the ways that veileu women piactice agency,
Satiapi not only challenges the tiope of the subjugateu veileu woman, but also
inteiiogates "the ietiencheu 0iientalist fielu of cultuial piouuction," thus calling
into question the way the Westein woilu has histoiically constiucteu the 0iiental
subject, oi in this case, veileu women, as the infeiioi "othei." Consequently, she
challenges the belief that the Westein woilu tieats its women "bettei" than the
Eastein woilu tieats its female citizens by inteiiogating the ways the Westein
woilu constiucts naiiatives of "empoweieu" Westein women anu juxtaposes these
naiiatives with tales of "uisempoweieu" Nuslim women in oiuei to auvance the
Westein woilu's own capitalistic (anu one coulu aigue, militaiistic anu
impeiialistic) enus.
Although Satiapi ceitainly ciiticizes Westein notions of "female libeiation"
anu challenges the Westein woilu's impeiialistic piouuction of the monolithic
Nuslim woman, she uoes not auopt the opposing view that the veil is libeiating.
Faizaneh Nilani aiticulates this siue of the uebate, aiguing that the veil is not a
"timeless phenomenon" but iathei a "political sign of the sexual uesegiegation of the
public spheie," allowing moie women to paiticipate in the public spheie (4). With
this asseition, Nilani suggests that contiaiy to Westein feminists' beliefs, the veil
uoes not oppiess women, but iathei, libeiates them by allowing them access to the
public spheie. In the same vein, one coulu also contenu that the veil similaily
libeiates Nuslim women by pieventing them fiom suffeiing fiom the oppiessive
sexualization that often occuis in the public spheie. Because they aie veileu, these
females aie less likely to be gawkeu at anu haiasseu by men, anu thus, aie able to
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feel moie comfoitable in the public spheie anu peifoim theii jobs moie effectively.
While this aigument is ceitainly uebatable anu somewhat pioblematic, since it plays
into the misogynistic iuea that it is women's iesponsibility to piotect themselves
fiom haiassment by men, iathei than it being men's iesponsibility to simply stop
haiassing women, it uoes offei a piovocative countei naiiative to populai Westein
conceptions of the veil. Impoitantly, Satiapi uoes not auopt this view, but insteau,
opts to convey hei own ambivalence towaius veil. She cleaily aiticulates this when
she uiscusses the Fiench ban on veils in public schools, a law that was enacteu
aiounu the same time hei woik fiist became populai in the West. Satiapi aigues,
When they banneu the veil in schools, I was against it. It became complete
nonsense, because insteau of unueistanuing why giils weie putting the
veil on theii heaus, they just maue a law.All my life I have been against the
veil, anu now I am the one uefenuing the veil. I hate the veil anu what it
means.but I put myself in theii |the giilsj place. It's a question of these giils'
iuentity. Theii mothei's nevei woie the veil, anu so they want to. Why. They
|camej to Fiance, Su-4u yeais |ago, but foi the Fienchj they aie not Fiench,
anu foi the Aiabs they aie not Aiabs. So the height of the iiony is that the
veil has become a symbol of iebellion. (Inteiview with Annie Tulley 4S4).
Cleaily, foi Satiapi the veil iepiesents a host of contiauictions. Consequently, she is
neithei in favoi of the veil, noi uoes she piomote weaiing it. The powei we see in
hei uiscussion of the veil lies in hei iesistance to auopting one iueology ovei the
othei, which she aiticulates in the above quote anu in !"#$"%&'($0 In fact, Lisa
Bothson anu Nelinua Plastas have gone so fai as to aigue that Satiapi not only
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iefuses to take the siues of Eastein oi Westein cultuie, but also "oveitly conuemns
both |East anu Westj iegimes," thus pointing to how each cultuie's steieotyping of
the othei, paiticulaily conceining the veil, huits both gioups of people (4). This
even-hanueu tieatment of East anu West cultuies' iesponse to the veil opens the
book up to ieaueis fiom both the East anu West, since neithei is maue to feel
uefensive. In this iespect, Satiapi is able to illustiate the agency of the Iianian
women thiough the symbol of the veil, as well as suggest hei shaip ciitiques of Iian,
Islamic Funuamentalism, anu the Westein woilu's tieatment of Iianians anu
Nuslims, without losing eithei ieaueiship.
We aie fiist intiouuceu to the veil on the covei of the fiist book, !"#$"%&'($1
23" 45&#6 &7 - 83('.3&&.0 The covei featuies a small black anu white uiawing of
Naijane as a young giil. In the pictuie, Naijane weais a veil anu sits with hei aims
ciosseu, staiing intensely back at the ieauei. Naijane's uiiect gaze suggests a
confiuence anu authoiity that uefies the Westein tiope of the oppiesseu veileu
woman. Rathei than appeaiing as a passive ieceivei of the gaze, Naijane takes upon
the active iole of the spectatoi. If one weie to analyze Naijane's gaze in ielation to
Lauia Nulvey's theoiy on "visual Pleasuie anu Naiiative Cinema," one can aigue
that the covei comic subveits the patiiaichal positioning of the spectatoi, oi in this
case, the ieauei, as the "active male" anu the woman on scieen, namely, the pictuie
of Naijane on the covei, as the passive ieceivei of the look (117S). By iejecting the
"to-be-lookeu-at-ness" that often chaiacteiizes the female on scieen, Naijane
bieaks uown the genuei binaiy that positions women in the submissive iole, thus
illustiating the agency anu powei of Naijane (Nulvey 117S). The fact that she
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exuues this agency while weaiing a veil inuicates that the veil uoes not compiomise
hei authoiity, which challenges the essentializing notion that all women who weai
the veil aie inheiently oppiesseu.
Asiue fiom subveiting the steieotype of the peipetually oppiesseu veileu
woman, the covei comic also suggests an inteiiogation of the Westein eioticization
of veileu women. uillian Whitlock chaiacteiizes this steieotype as "the classic
colonial fantasy of the veileu female bouy becoming available to oui gaze" (SS). By
uiawing heiself as the masculine spectatoi anu positioning the ieauei as the female
object, Satiapi iefuses the constiuction of the veileu woman as the passive ieceivei
of the gaze, anu thus, challenges the Westein tenuency to ieuuce veileu women to
the "uesiiable 0iiental othei" (Whitlock SS). Naijane not only iefuses the
sexualizeu subject position of what Nulvey calls, "woman as icon" but also takes
upon the iole of the lookei, ieveising the powei uynamics of the ieauei-as-
masculine lookei anu the Naijane- as-feminine-object positions, fuithei illustiating
hei powei anu agency (Nulvey 1177). Again, the fact that she uisplays this authoiity
while weaiing the veil suggests that contiaiy to Westein iueology, the veil has no
beaiing on a woman's agency, which uebunks the myth that women who weai the
veil aie apolitical actois anu sexual oinaments.
We next see the veil on the fiist page of the novel, which incluues a section of
fiames aptly titleu, "The veil." The comic begins with the same pictuie of Naijane
featuieu on the covei, with the heauing, "This was me when I was 1u yeais olu. It
was in 198u" (1). The next fiame incluues a uiawing of Naijane anu hei veileu
classmates, weaiing unhappy expiessions. She explains, "In 1979 a ievolution took
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place. It was latei calleu the Islamic Revolution.then came 198u: the yeai it became
obligatoiy to weai the veil to school" (1). The final fiame of the page shows a laigei
pictuie of the young giils appiopiiating the veil in hilaiiously unique ways. 0ne giil
puts the veil on hei heau anu yells, "0h, I am the monstei of uaikness!" while
anothei uses hei veil as a jump iope (1). 0thei giils play "hoisey with theii veil,"
while anothei simply casts the coveiing off, shouting, "It is too hot to weai this!" (1).
Significantly, Satiapi biings togethei the public life of the Iianian Revolution anu the
piivate life of hei classmates in these scenes, suggesting the ways in which the
politics of hei countiy infoim anu affect hei anu hei classmates' lives. She
accomplishes this by stiategically placing scenes of ievolution (we see this in the
thiiu fiame of the page, which shows male piotestois shaking theii fists), aujacent
to comics of the little giils appiopiiating anu misappiopiiating the veil. The
juxtaposition between these images inteiweaves the peisonal with the political,
since the young giils' peisonal lives aie foievei changeu by the manuate of the veil,
a manuate that comes fiom the public spheie of goveinment anu Islamic
funuamentalism.
uiven this linking of public anu piivate, one coulu aigue that in scenes like
this, the veil symbolizes the way the iegime imposes itself upon the peisonal lives of
women like Satiapi anu the young giils. If one weie to ieau the enfoicement of the
veil as the symbolic inuoctiination of Islamic funuamentalism on the giils, one coulu
contenu that by iejecting the veil anu making a mockeiy of it, the young females
symbolically ieject Islamic funuamentalism anu the oppiession that it entails.
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Because this iejection involves agency, one can suggest that the giils evoke agency
in theii humoious paiouy of the veil.
Satiapi continues to highlight Iianian women's agency in the fiist book
thiough hei illustiations that uepict the multiple ways women manipulate the veil
to communicate theii iueology. Above a pictuie of "the mouein woman" weaiing
Westein clothes anu a heauscaif, juxtaposeu with a pictuie of "the funuamentalist
woman" weaiing a full hijab fiom heau to toe, Satiap wiites, "In no time, the way
people uiesseu became an iueological sign. Theie weie two kinus of women.you
showeu youi opposition by letting a few stianus of haii show" (7S). We see this
again in the seconu book when Satiapi uiaws thiee uiffeient "X-iay" images of
veileu women, allowing ieaueis to see the uiffeient sizes anu shapes of the veil-
weaieis (14u). Satiapi wiites, "With piactice, even though they weie coveieu fiom
heau to foot, you got to the point wheie you coulu guess theii shape, the way they
woie theii haii, anu even theii political opinions. 0bviously, the moie a woman
showeu, the moie piogiessive anu mouein she was" (14u). The comics anu
captions suggest that even within the confines of the veil, Iianian women exeit
agency by manipulating the veil to inuicate theii political enus. Because this
manipulation involves foiethought anu authoiity, one can piopse that Satiapi uses
the veil to suggest the veileu women's agency.
While Satiapi uses images of veileu women, incluuing hei pictuie on the
covei, the uiawings of hei veileu classmates, anu the comics illustiating the
uiveisity of veileu women, in oiuei to subveisively suggest theii agency, she also
incoipoiates pictuies of unveileu women into the text to challenge the tiope of the
1u
subjugateu Nuslim woman. In these images, it is not the piesence of the veil that
uebunks ieauei's steieotypes conceining the oppiesseu Nuslim woman, but iathei,
the '-9: of it. Similai to hei uiawings of veileu females, these pictuies uepict the
chaiacteis' agency by offeiing a moie complex view of Iianian Nuslim's lives, a view
that counteis Westein images of the foievei-coveieu, always-oppiesseu, eioticizeu
Nuslim woman. Nanuela Constantino uiscusses this in his analysis of !"#$"%&'($,
obseiving that "Naiji, hei mothei, anu hei gianumothei all appeai paitially oi
completely unuiesseseu.Satiapi places the nakeu anu semi-nakeu bouies of hei
chaiacteis in eveiyuay situations such as changing into moie comfoitable clothes
anu coming out of the bathtub" (44u-441). Be goes on to aigue that "the piesence of
the veileu woman's nakeu bouy in situations that aie not even iemotely sexual is
meant to foice Westein ieaueis out of the peiception of veileu women as eioticizeu
objects" (441). Thus, in contiast to othei scenes, which uepict chaiacteis uniquely
subveiting the veil while weaiing it, the fiames that illustiate Naijane anu othei
females not weaiing the veil suggests a similai subveision, since theii nakeuness
shocks Westein ieaueis out of theii familiai steieotypes.
Asiue fiom challenging the steieotype of the eioticizeu Nuslim woman, the
image of the females' nakeu bouies also challenges the tiope of the subjugateu
Nuslim woman by "uemonstiate|ingj that Niuule Eastein women, like Westein
women, make uiveise anu inuepenuent choices about theii appeaiance, iuentities,
anu political, ieligious, anu cultuial beliefs" (Constantino 441). This uiveisity of
appeaiance suggests female agency, since Naiji, hei mothei, anu hei gianumothei
all make conscious uecisions to weai oi not to weai the veil. Theiefoie, one coulu
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fuithei expanu upon Constantino's point by noting that these uiawings not only
uebunk Westein steieotypes conceining the always-coveieu anu always-oppiesseu
Nuslim woman by offeiing up images that uisiupt this Westein naiiative, but also
uispels the myth of the subjugateu Nuslim woman by showing how women exeicise
agency thiough choosing to not weai the veil.
When one consiueis Constantino's obseivations in ielation Satiapi's comics
of women weaiing the veil anu playfully mocking it, one can see the ways Satiapi
uepicts women appiopiiating, misappiopiiating, anu uisappiopiiating the veil in
oiuei to illustiate the vaiiety of ways women employ the veil to asseit theii agency.
Significantly, as }ennifei Woith points out, this mouel coues female bouies as "a site
of powei stiuggle" anu the veil as a signifiei foi oppiession (1Su). The women iesist
this oppiession, oi the symbol of the veil, in a vaiiety of ways by manipulating it,
subveiting it, oi sepaiating oneself fiom it altogethei. This uepiction of iesistance
ultimately uisiupts Westein ieauei's peiceptions of the subjugateu Nuslim woman
by showing how these women auopt what many peiceive to be a symbol of
oppiession to oppose Islamic funuamentalism.
Significantly, Lisa Bothson anu Nelinua Plastas aigue that Satiapi's
ueconstiuction of these steieotypes "cieates a uialectical ielationship" between
Westein ieaueis anu Nuslim women by shifting Westein ieaueis' gaze fiom theii
meuia's image of the oppiesseu veileu female to the moie nuanceu anu aiguably,
moie "accuiate" pictuie of the agential Nuslim woman (2). While obviously not all
Nuslim women aie agents, noi aie they all agents in the same ways that Satiapi's
chaiacteis aie, Satiapi's text complicates Westein ieaueis' image of Nuslim women
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by opening ieaueis up to ways of viewing Nuslim women that contiauict Westein
steieotypes. Satiapi's uebunking of these steieotypes also eases the feai that many
Ameiican feel towaius Nuslims in the post-911 woilu by humanizing Nuslim
people. Noieovei, by illustiating Nuslim women's stiuggle foi agency, which allows
Satiapi to call into question the uominant naiiative of the oppiesseu Nuslim woman
anu thus, inteiiogate the Westein woilu's way of constiucting eiioneous stoiies of
othei cultuies, Satiapi compels Westein ieaueis to analyze how theii view of
Nuslim women has been shapeu by Westein piopaganua. Lisa Bothson anu Nelinua
Plastas exploie how the book foices Westein ieaueis to ieflect on this pioblematic
means of constiucting naiiatives, noting that "the text functions as a safe meeting
giounu, offei|ingj stuuents access to a young giil 53"6 3-;" <""/ 5-,=35 9-/>5
%&$$(<'6 "?($5, an Iianian who is fiienuly, knowable, full of agency, human" (1u).
Plastas anu Bothson aigue that because the text opeiates as a "safe meeting
giounu," stuuents aie able to "tiansveise political anu national uiffeiences" to view
the similaiities between theii life anu the lives of Satiapi anu hei family (Bothson,
Plastas 1u).
The act of "tiansveising," teimeu "tiansveisalism," is "the piocess by which
people uesignateu as enemies oi 'othei' foim new unueistanuings of each othei"
(Blothson, Plastas, 2). Nichelle Bastian aigues that "tiansveisalism suggests that it
is inueeu possible to ieact in new ways to olu situations, not by following
piesciiptive iules that tell one how to act, but by ieoiientating oneself within one's
woilu so that the actions of otheis can be unueistoou in a less thieatening way"
(Bastian 1u4S). Tiansveisal spaces, such as the text of !"#$"%&'($) "cieates spaces in
1S
which new anu potentially libeiatoiy oi tiansfoimative expeiiences of the self,
othei, anu community can be expeiienceu" (Bothson, Plastas S). !"#$"%&'($) thiough
its uepiction of Nuslim women's agency via the veil, piompts ieaueis to "entei into
the tiansnational pioject of tianveisal politics" anu to ieconsiuei how they ielate to
Iianian anu Nuslim women (Bothson, Plastas, S). As a iesult, these ieaueis engage
in a foim of "boiuei ciossing," by seeing the linkages between theii iuentities anu
that of Naijane.
In teims of political activism, boiuei ciossing is essential to builuing an
effective coalition politics. In hei uiscussion of women's tiansveisal woik in wai-
toin countiies, Cynthia Cockbuin aigues that "in oiuei foi women to woik togethei
successfully anu builu coalition, they all neeu to engage in ongoing 'iuentity woik' as
a way to finu a uynamic woikable space that neithei assumes oi iequiies a
homogeneous sisteihoou noi essentializeu noi gloiifieu uiffeience" (Su).
Impoitantly, Satiapi's ambivalent uepiction of the veil foices Westein ieaueis to
engage in this woik by compelling them to ieflect on theii own iuentities in ielation
to Naijane anu hei family. Seveial scholais who have taught !"#$"%&'($ suppoit this
theoiy on the comics' tiansveisal effects in theii classiooms. These scholais incluue
Lisa Bothson anu Nelinua Plastas, who teach at the 0niveisity of Naine anu Bates
College; Susan Namoni Beinstein, who teaches at Lauuaiuia Community College anu
City 0niveisity of New Yoik; anu Lisa Tayloi, who teaches at Bishop's 0niveisity.
Remaikably, they all contenu that !"#$"%&'($ encouiages theii stuuents to foige a
soit of sisteihoou with Naijane anu the othei chaiacteis in the novel by foicing
stuuents to iecognize how the Iianian people's plight ielates to theii own.
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Asiue fiom coalition builuing, engaging in tiansveisalism also functions as an
effective way to fuithei uevelop one's iuentity, since it involves analyzing one's
ielation to the woilu in compaiison to otheis. Susan Naomi Beinstein offeis a
compelling exploiation of this in ielation to !"#$"%&'($ in hei stuuy, "Nateiial
Realities in the Basic Wiiting Classioom: Inteisections of Biscoveiy foi Young
Women Reauing !"#$"%&'($ @0A Bei ieseaich expanus upon the woik of liteiacy
euucatoi Beboiah Bicks, who stuuieu liteiacy uevelopment anu iuentity foimation
in white woiking class giils anu founu that they enjoyeu ieauing hoiioi fiction
iathei than ieauing texts that incluueu chaiacteis like them. Bicks aigues that the
giils weie able to uiaw connections between the hoiiific texts anu the happenings
of theii own lives, aiguing that the giils saw" a legitimate place foi theii stoiies anu
theii voices in a ieauing piactice that, initially, coulu feel uislocating" (Bicks, Bolan
4S). Beinstein builus on Bicks finuings by aiguing that, while ieauing !"#$"%&'($ BB)
hei woiking class, pieuominately black stuuents ielateu to Naijane anu hei
stiuggles with maiginality, which alloweu hei stuuents to ieflect on theii own
iuentities. Beinstein contenus, "that the fact that Naijane shaieu similai stiuggles,
incluuing expeiiences of uiug use, intoleiant communities, anu unmitigateu peei
piessuie, pioveu to be a significant catalyst foi stuuents to stuuy iuentity foimation
anu the inteisections of genuei, iace, anu class" (Beinstein 8S). In this iespect, the
book became a safe place foi Beinstein's stuuents to think about theii iuentities in
teims of a laigei global context, which piompteu them to examine issues of
inteisectionality in theii own lives anu in the lives of otheis.
1S
Significantly, Beinstein's stuuents not only iuentify with Naijane, but aie
also inspiieu by hei: "At the same time, Naijane's iesilience anu iesistance pioveu
to be a ciitical point of inteisection foi these women wiiteisieaueis, chaiting a
pattein of libeity noteu by Sengupta as vital in the piocess of negotiating the
'minefielu' of inteisectionality anu iuentity" (Beinstein 84, Also see Sengupta).
Beinstein illustiates this point by incluuing quotes fiom hei stuuents in hei aiticle,
each ielating theii stiuggles with loneliness, abuse, anu aujusting to a new countiy
to Naijane's expeiiences. 0ne stuuent nameu Isobel wiote,
The wiiting I uiu foi Naijane Satiapi wasn't haiu because I coulu compaie it
to my own life, anu that's always easiei to uo. It was fun to compaie it
because she leaving hei home countiy that she know foi so long anu leaving
family anu fiienus was haiu foi hei. I hau the same thing but uiffeient"
(Beinstein 97).
Accoiuing to Beinstein, what spoke most stiongly to hei stuuents was Naijane's
challenges with tiying to aujust to hei new home countiy, while still tiying to holu
on to hei iuentity with hei homelanu. Nany weie inspiieu by Naijane's stoiy anu
sought to hanule theii own stiuggles with the same soit of empoweiment anu
agency that Naijane exemplifies in the text. We see this specifically in the ieflections
of Naigaiet, who, aftei ieauing !"#$"%&'($ wiote that she leaineu "to make sense of
the uetails" anu aigueu that this meaning making "seems to be a means towaiu
gaining agency, foi 'fighting what you believe in" (Beinstein 9S). This quote suggests
that Naigaiet will caiiy on the sense of peisonal empoweiment that she leaineu
16
fiom Naijane anu will apply it to hei own life, fuithei illustiating how the text not
only inspiies peisonal ieflection, but also agency (Beinstein 9S).
0pon close examination of how !"#$"%&'($ motivates ieaueis to "tiansveise"
cultuial boiueis anu ieflect on theii own lives in ielation to Naijane, as well as the
way this tianveisalism piompts coalition builuing anu inuiviuual iuentity foimation,
one can contenu that in auuition to illustiating the agency of Nuslim women
thiough the veil, !"#$"%&'($ also compels Westein ieaueis to exeicise agency by
engaging in a moie nuanceu conveisation on the self anu "othei." Iionically, by
illustiating the agency of Naijane anu othei Iianian Nuslim women, Satiapi inspiies
agency in Westein ieaueis, piompting many to engage in a cyclical conveisation on
sisteihoou, empoweiment, anu globalizeu soliuaiity that is especially impoitant to
touay's post-911 geneiation.











17
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Beinstein, Susan Naomi. "Nateiial Realities in the Basic Wiiting Classioom." C&,#/-'
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Botshon, Lisa, anu Nelinua Plastas. "Bomelanu InSecuiity: A Biscussion anu
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18
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