Iranian Stereotypes In Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

Luftia Rabbani Foundation, 1988. Print. This book examines the reasoning behind some of the stereotypes regarding Arabs and how they have become so popular. It shows how only certain information is used when forming the image of Arabs while others are not taken into context.

Stereotypes about Ukraine: positive and negative aspects To start with short introduction, first of all I would like to describe briefly how I understand this word – “stereotypes”. Stereotypes are common beliefs which are supported by majority of people towards something or someone. Actually, stereotypes can exist towards culture, race, behavior, sex… And no matter: is these facts right or wrong, because if majority believes them – they always will be. Why I decided to choose this topic?

Stereotypes are simple images or beliefs over the attributes assigned to a particular social group, are models of behavior that become schemes deeply rooted in our mentalities to the point that we adopt them as part of human naturalness. Stereotypes can be racial, religious, sexual and social. These could be the caused of a known incident or attitude years earlier, or simply the result of frequent rumors. Stereotypes can affect different spheres of society. These assumptions can filter into many aspects of life.

According to Lippmann, “stereotypes are ‘pictures in our heads’ that we use to apprehend the world around us” (16). Stereotypes can be formed due to effects of media, as Wood describes media as pervasive, powerful and influential (31). Hence, stereotypes can be defined as inaccurate perceptions towards a group of people or community that is strongly influenced by the media. Whether positive or negative, stereotypes are usually false as they are formed based on personal judgments, which are biased or exaggerated. When stereotypes are consistently portrayed in media platforms, they subconsciously form and maintain assumed identities for the stereotyped groups.

A rebel is an individual who stands up for their own opinions despite what anyone else says. They stand up for what they have faith in is right, not in contradiction of what is right. It does not have to be smoking, drinking or beating anyone that crosses your path. Rebels are individuals that do not compromise their individuality or personal opinion for anyone even if they might get out casted by the society, straightforward and honest. Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis portrays her growing up process in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.

Stereotypes are a way to make sweeping judgments about a person or a group based not on first-hand experience or legitimate research, but rather solely on their race, their religious beliefs, their sexual preferences, and so on. “All the ‘isms’- racism, sexism, ageism, et al. - are founded on and fueled by the stereotype and the cliché” (Ericsson, p.3). For example, people who commit racial stereotyping believe that all Asian people cannot drive, but are good at doing mathematics; and all black people commit crimes, yet are good in sports activities. To stereotype based on religious preference, one would claim that all Muslims are terrorists and that they hate Americans; or that all Jews are cheap with their money. Sexual stereotyping includes the belief that all women

In today’s society, individuals and groups are labeled with either positive or negative stereotypes. People encounter stereotypes everyday and everywhere. It is the picture people paint in their minds when approaching a group or individual when in fact it may be different in reality. Stereotypes affect a person’s way of living and thinking either in a negative or positive way. Stereotypes are based on truth but in an exaggerated way, while misconceptions are formed from having stereotypes.

Imagine if everyone had a pre-determined negative image about you? This is what life was like for Marji, the protagonist of the novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. The book is set in the year 1980, in Iran where Islam was a major religion at the time. This is also the time for the Islamic Revolution which kicked the Shau out of office and made Iran a theocracy. In Persepolis, Satrapi challenges negative stereotypes about Iranians through important characters who oppose the Islamic Regime.

Children are constantly learning about themselves and the world around them. As they grow up, their world expands from their home to peers and, eventually, to people and places they know about. Children should learn about themselves and develop a positive self-image if they have to be successful citizens in society. They must learn how different they are as well how alike they are in relation to others. Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis is the story of Satrapi’s childhood growing up in a tumultuous post-revolutionary Iran.

Stereotyping is a crucial tool towards human beings. People can be much attached to the idea of stereotypes, because they tend to gather and back up their stories from their own experiences. And people are all guilty for creating a single story, whether it’s on purpose or not. How would people see the world if there was no such thing as a “single story”? In her speech, “The Danger of a Single Story”, Chimamanda Ngozi Achidie, is a writer from Nigeria, and she defines herself as a storyteller.

Stereotypes have a pernicious effect. They stress upon the dissimilarities between people as religion, ethnicity, gender and race. For instance, The American journalists always report Muslims as a totally different religious group. Moreover, They function as tools for proving, keeping and reinforcing social orders as they are made by a given society’ members to maintain their social standing by grouping themselves as “us” and exclude the others under the label “them”( Schonemann 30). Furthermore, Stereotypes inform us what the people of a given social group are like and what their behaviours are ( Schonemann 30).

Stereotypes are not born but formed and such opinions are much made by the media. Nowadays, un-welcomed stereotypes about the Arabs have been made. The media has often projected Arabs in a negative way. They have been presented as terrorists, extremist and dishonest people that creates a distorted and unrealistic image in people’s minds.

Can you judge a book by its cover ? Stereotype is a belief or idea of what a particular type of person or things like. Stereotype are often unfair or untrue. Any time you grouping races or individuals together and make a judgment about them without knowing them, this is an example of stereotypes. Racial remarks, sexual remarks, and gender remarks are biggest stereotypes.

Throughout history, many gender roles have been placed upon women. Women are told to be wives and mothers and to take care of the home. Women are shown to be nurturing and are told to be “good” girls or else they would be punished. All of these, plus others like, being inferior, passive, less intelligent, emotional, weak, and maintaining a lower social position are all stereotypes. By definition a stereotype ”is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of

Thus, showing the effect stereotypes can have on self performance and self image. Although this piece targets the effect identified as a “Stereotype Threat” there are many more involved. Such as attributional ambiguity, self-fulfilling prophecy, and self-stereotyping. All which have a negative impact on the person receiving the