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Reading Lolita in Tehran

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Reading Lolita in Tehran
Reading Lolita in Tehran
In the memoir, Reading Lolita in Tehran, it talks about all the extreme risks the women of Iran are taking just to be able to do simple tasks, such as reading westernized literature (The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice). It documents the experiences of women in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. A very thought provoking book might I add. The men are practically free to run around and do as they please within reason. Following the revolution, everything changed…leading the opposition Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini returned to Iran establishing an Islamic Republic and he brought with him the idea that old laws should be reestablished, the women once again had to wear a chador, or long dark colored robe.
We always take for granted what we have in the United States; criticizing every little thing that doesn’t go our way… the women in Iran had everything they loved taken away. We all have dreams of being able to do what we want. The first and most prominent difference Iranian women had to endure would be that they were forced to wear a chador, under all conditions no matter how unbearable the weather was. Women in Tehran had little or no freedom outside of their houses. Azar Nafisi (author) was taking a huge risk with her seven women students, she invited them into her house to discuss literature, if caught she could be put in jail because books they discussed were banned; fearing that they would cause a conspiracy. When heading to University the women would have to step aside and be checked to make sure they didn’t have anything ‘illegal’ on them , often making them late for class, while the men just walked right on in not a word was said. If the women attending university were not veiled they would not be allowed inside, losing their right to education (Nafisi was expelled for not wearing the veil). Mr. Bahri, a co-worker of Nafisi’s was in a meeting with one of her students and asked her why she would want to put the revolution at risk

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