Breaking Barriers, Making Barriers

I'm looking forward to our discussions on Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis this coming week. I studied the first half of Persepolis in my 12th grade English class, though I'm curious to see how my analysis and understanding will change with a more focused study. One thing I found interesting was the choice of medium, namely the undetailed comic style. When I originally took the art style into consideration, the point was made that since the drawings were very simplistic, it made the story more relatable. Since non-Iranians would be reading this book, the simple drawings could allow readers to not feel like they were reading the story of an "other", someone whose experiences were fundamentally different and ergo unrelateable. However, the style also leads to an enforcement of gender stereotypes due to its simplistic nature. It is very clear which figures are meant to be men and which are meant to be women based on external characteristics, traits that are meant to be clearly read as male or female. The style does not really allow for any variance in gender; it shows only two possible points on a the amorphous ball that is gender identity.