Research
project: Zahra Rahnavard
Riley Patterson
3/12/13
Eng. 1A
S. Knapp
Zahra Rahnavard, 64, a committed artist, inspired
educator and tireless equal right advocate (Ebadi). She is also the wife of Mir
Hossein Mousavi who ran for the presidency of Iran against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
in 2009. And with her husband, Rahnavard advocated fiercely for equal rights
for every Iranian, especially for women. Rahnavard’s charismatic personality
and courageous actions resembled Marjane Satrapi, the main character in Persepolis. Like Marjane Satrapi in Persepolis, Rahnavard is a brave woman
who grew up during the Iranian Revolution, broke away from the traditional
roles of Islamic women and became more embracive of different cultures. Even
more so, Rahnavard also utilized her popular presence to influence Iran’s
national policies for the better.
When Rahnavard stared her political career, she had
experience as a university dean which allowed her to express authority. This in
uncommon in Iran as women were not allowed to express themselves. Using this
experience, Rahnavard was able to assist her husband to run in the 2009
election for the presidency of Iran. Yet, Rahnavard’s involvement in her
husband’s campaign effort was not well received by the Iranian public: some
even ridiculed Mousavi for having a woman advisor in his campaign.
Unfortunately, Iranian president Ahmadinejad is one of those disapproving
voices. At one of the presidential debates, Ahmadinejad, in an attempt to
discredit Mousavi, claimed that Mousavi constantly takes orders from Rahnavard.
This public claim not only caused great embarrassment for Mousavi, but also
caused enormous trouble for the campaign.
Despite
the troubles and the embarrassment Rahnavard caused for Mousavi’s campaign,
Rahnavard was still viewed as the reason for her husband’s rise to political
power according to the New York Times. Both Rahnavard and her husband wanted
women in Iran to have equal rights and political clout since women in the
Middle East weren't allowed to speak their own minds. For example, even
Rahnavard, the wife of a powerful politician, had faced restrictions in matters
such as inheritance and court testimony because of her gender. She also had to
face opposition from Islamic traditionalists who were convinced that what Rahnavard
was doing is corrupt. A couple of examples of how Satrapi had faced the same
oppositions was when the female branch of the Guardians of the Revolution said
that Satrapi’s Nike shoes were “punk shoes” and her veil was not covering her
hair all the way (Satrapi 133). They also thought Satrapi’s denim jacket
symbolized decadence (Satrapi 133).
In Persepolis, Satrapi and her parents were supportive of the Islamic
Revolution, which overthrew the Shah and opened up Satrapi’s view on the world.
As Satrapi grew older, she started to feel that what her people were doing was
ill-advised as she began to adopt western materialism. However, the Guardians
of the Revolution’s female branch thought that what Satrapi was doing was
immoral. The guardians brought her to their headquarters to contemplate on how
to punish her, but Satrapi managed to cook up a sob story involving her family
to convince them to let her go. In Persepolis,
Satrapi said when she went with her parents to protest the veils the women had
to wear; another group of protesters that supported the scarf started to get
violent and attacked them, causing her and her parents to run away (Satrapi
76). Similarly, Rahnavard had faced opposition from tens of thousands of
Iranians when she and her husband proposed to allow the women to vote in
national elections and to eliminate discrimination based on gender roles. Rahnavard
believed that if women in Iran had equal rights as men, the women wouldn’t be
discriminated against for their upbringing. Rahnavard wanted to have Iran
become a new nation where both men and women have equal rights and are treated
like individuals. Feeling threatened by Rahnavard’s progressive policy, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad accused her for entering a graduate program without taking an
entrance exam, in an attempt to discredit her policy.
Overall,
Rahnavard and Satrapi are similar as they both broke away from tradition and
adopted new customs which allowed them to express their individuality. In the
NYT article and Persepolis, both women
explained how they wanted to express themselves in a country that didn't allow
them to think otherwise. At a rally, Rahnavard said “Make up your files, but
the file-makers will be defeated” (New York Times; Zahra Rahnavard). It meant that despite the
various political setbacks, women in Iran will have equal rights and take part
in politics. An example of how Satrapi’s actions are similar to what Rahnavard
faced is that Satrapi saw on the news that the ministry of education decreed to
have all universities be closed for two years as the leader of Iran believed
that if people went to school, it would lead them astray from the path of
Islam. Satrapi took this as an attack on her education as she wanted to learn
chemistry.
Works Cited:
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis 1st edition New
York: Pantheon, 2007. 76. Print
“Zahra Rahnavard”. New York Times 16 June 2009, n. page. Web. 9 Mar. 2013.
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