HUMAN 1C Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Nail Polish, Identity Crisis
Angeni Muralidhar Spring 2018
How Can One Be Iranian? - At Home and in Exile
- Collective fight for justice and reform during the revolution
- After the revolution, there were many changes under Khomeini
- Revolutionary brothers and sisters -- became custom to refer to others as brothers and
sisters as a mode of address
- The Revolutionary guard is now in a position of power and treats Marji’s mother very
disrespectfully
- Her tears can be a response to the insult or tears of regret -- the revolution was wasted
- She challenges the rules made by the university and compares them to men
- Why should the women have to cover up for the men when the men are fairly
revealing as well
- She shows courage and asks for justification from the guards
- Her parents come to the conclusion that she is not safe there because she is
willing to stand up and contradict these people
- The Revolution erodes personal morality -- the scene where Marji and her grandma
talking and Marji gets a man in trouble for no reason
- In the wine scene, her family lies, so she thinks this is okay to evade personal
punishment
- When she goes to buy the black market tapes, she lies about her step mother
- The grandmother is upset she was lying because she lied at someone else's
expense rather than doing it to save herself
- Distract the guards from her makeup -- she thinks they would come to the
conclusion that they are not following the law
- After the Revolution, women were supposed to be modest
- No nail polish or makeup
- Morality police -- currently on the streets and can stop men and women for what
they are wearing
- Grandmother sees how her granddaughter has lost her moral anchor
- This is something Iranians face everyday
- She cannot be the source of injustice by targeting someone else
- The only thing that remains is our individual actions
- Marji is still attached to Iran but wants to fit into Austrian society
- Will still defend Iran and her family
- She speaks up against her friends because they appeal to the idea that life is meaningless
- This clashes with what she saw in Iran
- She has to cope with family and friends having to fight in the war
- Identity crisis: Am I Iranian? Who am I? Where do I fit in?
- The changes to her body did not happen all at once
