The+Veil+in+Iranian+Society+by+Olivia+Lee

===="Iranian law still favors men, but women in that country are more educated and have a more visible role in life than in many other Islamic countries... '(The) Hijab is kind of social act, I don't think that it is a big issue for women, because there are a lot of issues for women that are so important, and hijab is not a big thing.' Massoumeh Ebtekar stated in a live interview.". (Celizic). Although women in Iran are not equal they do have more freedom than other Islamic countries. In Iran, women can drive vehicles and can hold public office. Women even make up around 65% of all university students. Considering all of this, they still are being forced to wear the veil in Iran. In my research I found that most of the women really enjoy wearing the veil and feel as if it liberates them as women. In a CNN article, Rowaida Abdelaziz states her opinion towards the veil. She says, "'It represents beauty to me. My mom says a girl is like a jewel, when you have something precious, you usually hide it. You want to make sure you keep it safe until that treasure is ready to be found.'". (Blake). Throughout my research I found that there were many other stories with a similar underlying idea; that the hijab isn't a bad thing. It was actually seen as a good thing in which many girls felt as if it gave them some personal freedom. In the CNN article Sarah Hekmati, the daughter of Iranian parents, said "the hijab liberated her from teenage angst: Does my hair look good? Am I cute enough? Should I lose weight? 'It gave me a sense of identity, I really liked the purpose behind the hijab -- a woman covering herself so that a man should know her for her mind, not her body.' That purpose can be traced back to the Quran, Islam's holy text, which encourages women to dress modestly." (Blake). All of these individuals felt as if the veil gave them a purpose and made people really look on the inside and not to judge a book by its cover. In America, people may see women wearing the veil as "weird" or "strange" but many of them are proud of it and can feel like it is showing their religious independence. All these women give you an inside perspective on how they think and their reasons behind wearing the veil. "According to Rema Zawi, 16, 'You feel modest.. and you feel like you're covered up. You have more self-respect. You have more confidence in yourself that you don't need to care about (how) you look.'" (Islam For Today). Each one of these girls that you see walking around have friends that are friends with them for who they are. Not because they are attractive. It gives you a lot of freedom from the pressures of the world around you; which is what I think many of these girls realized. I believe that wearing the veil is a indicator of the girls dedication towards the religion and to herself for being a modest young lady.====

====Even with all the positive feedback from many women all over, the main character in //Persepolis// by Marjane Satrapi has a completely different opinion. This vocal young ladies name is Marji. In the book Marji takes us back to her childhood. As we get further into the book you begin to realize that she has a strong disgust towards the veil. Not towards the veil itself but towards that law that says she is required to wear the veil. The image below shows what Marjiwas thinking towards the beginning of the book. She describes herself as religious but then she looks at her major influences around her, her mom and dad. Marji then realizes that they were very against the veil and were active revolutionists that were pushing for progress and freedom. (Satrapi 6). Marji herself became very resistant to the veil and the government; which is an extremely different perspective than those of the girls I researched. Along with the many confrontations that Marji had with the veil one stood out to me; when her mother was confronted by a group of men in public. This image is when Marji's mom comes running to her and her dad and tells them all about the horrible men that harassed her. (Satrapi 74). All of the torment was from her not wearing the veil in public. I found this to be very different in comparison to our American society. In American society you may be looked at but you would never be told that harshly in public about wearing or not wearing the veil. These are just some of the similarities and differences that I found which digging deeper into why women wear the veil; and I can imagine that there is much more to come. Women wearing the headscarf today out of free will may not have freedom to express themselves in the way we may think; but they do have freedom from a lot of things that we might not of ever considered.====