Intro:

Today I will be focusing on the field of inquiry of Culture, Identity, and Community. The 2 Body
of Works will explore the idea that Religious ideologies negatively affect females. My first Body
of Work called “Persepolis” by author Marjane Satrapi, is a graphic novel written in the year
2000. It took stage from 1980-1989 during the Islamic revolution. This should be a memoir of
the author’s childhood which she spent in Iran. The Graphic novel was written with the aim of
giving Westerners a different outlook on Iran than the status quo. My 2nd Body of work is from
the Iranian documentary photograph Hoda Afshar collection under Western Eyes. The collection
is known for its manipulative pictures in a pop-style context. It aims like persepolis to change the
dominant western image of women in Iran..Both B.o.W show how religion affected the female's
lives in a negative context. In Persepolis, it's from personal experiences whereas The collection
from Hoda Afshar shows the negative consequences.

Bp1

Persepolis takes stage during the Islamic revolution which imposed many strict laws towards
females due to religious beliefs. On page 3 of the graphic novel Persepolis, this is shown
clearly. The page shows a stark contrast between the before the revolution and after. This is
shown between the 3rd panel in contrast to the other panels on the page. The 3rd panel taking
place in 1979 shows a unified crowd of men and women protesting. Through the use of
symbolism of all wearing the same color holding a first uo and looking up towards the
government, it makes the crowd a whole. The other panels taking place in 1980 display contrast
to the previous panels on the page. This is due to having girls be forced to wear black hijabs.
The Hijab stands out immediately due to the contrast between black and white in the panels.
These colors should represent good and bad. The author employs symbolism in correlation to
the hijab on the page. It represents a mask of oppression and it takes individualism away from
all the students in the scene wearing it. This was depicted in the other scenes as all the girls
were sitting next to each other in the same position. This shows how it takes away individualism
from the girls. The expression and body language such as the crossed hands of the girls also
show self confinement. These features are linked to the hijab and are clearly shown as a
negative symbol. This is reinforced due to the contrast between wearing the and not wearing it
at the end of the page. Without it, the girls are all having fun on the playground. This scene
shows that without the hijab the girls are fun and have regained their individualism back after
not wearing the it. This page therefore clearly displays that through the new rules of the Islamic
government, there is a negative contrast before and after the employment of the hijab. This
negatively affected their education especially as they lost their individuality and happiness when
confined to it.

Bp 1 Whole B.O.W
A group of unified people such as before the dawn of islamic government is shown throughout
the book too. This is only shown when citizens are in unison by protesting together. This draws
parallels to the previous scene throughout the book showing that in the people there is no
inequality. This shows that the disadvantages and inequality are sparked by religious ideologies
and aren't a product of the people. The theme of good and bad is continuously represented
throughout the novel. This is displayed through the use of black for figures related to the islamic
government. In contrast all the other figures in the scenes are represented in white showing a
stark contrast between the 2 polar opposite colors throughout the novel. This should clearly
always show the correlation of the Islamic government and enforcement as bad people towards
the reader. The symbolization of the hijab is further utilized in the novel. Girls are never seen
having fun when wearing it and are only depicted having fun without. This supports the idea that
the hijab is a mask which takes individuality away throughout the book. It also notably affects
the education of the main character. There is a contrast between the before and after
implementation of the hijab on the main characters' school performance. Before the main
character was a well performing student who was often outspoken on issues. Through the
religious implementations only for Females her school performance suffered and grew worse.
This shows that the imposed religious clothing negatively affects her education and her
happiness. In all of the cases the impact of religious ideologies negatively affects females,
especially their education, throughout the book.

The art collection under western clearly follows the global issue of religious ideologies
negatively affecting females like persepolis. The 4th picture of the collection has many features
supporting the Global issue. The photograph utilizes color especially well in this picture to show
the insignificance of the subject. This is achieved by having her wear a black hijab which covers
her whole body except her eyes and merges into the background. In contrast with strong colors
is the knitting she is doing. This should show a contrast through the use of colors. The black
color represents insignificance and is merely a backgro und. Whereas the bright yellow color
should immediately catch the reader's eye and be the important aspect of the picture. This is
done to show that the women wearing the black hijab are insignificant and merely a part of the
background. The bright colors of the knitting machine represent the only important thing she
does. This shows that through the imposed religious ideologies the woman is negatively
affected and has lost her value to being a mere part of the background with her work knitting
being more important than her. Hoda afshar reinforces the notion through the use of symbolism
in the picture. This is represented by the hands covering her mouth in the picture. This should
show that women don’t have a voice and that their opinion is irrelevant. This is due to the
religious ideologies in islam which limit womens free speech and opinion and should shine a
light to the viewer by displaying the injustice in a physical way. The utilization of the visible face
gives way to the direct eyes at the viewer of the photo. This should make the viewer feel
targeted and responsible for the disadvantages for females due to religious ideologies. This
should promote the reader to seek action and further interact with the picture than viewing it
only on the outside. This shows that the author employed the use of symbolisation and color
schemes to show how religious ideologies negatively affected females and the consequences of
these effects.

This is translated in the collection as a whole from hoda afshar. The black color is predominant
throughout the collection with all women wearing the dull black veil with only their faces visible.
This is always paired with strong contrasting colors in the pictures. This should again rather
draw the attention away from the women and rather put emphasis on their expression and the
use of symbolism throughout the collection. The use of symbolism in the collection is often
shown through extreme examples which should underline the issue. All of the objects are
extreme forms of emotions or situations which women face due to religion. Such as the inability
to do things due to religious ideologies. The face which is the only part of the Women which is
visible to the viewer alouds to a deeper meaning throughout the collection with similarities. All
the women in the collection wear excess forms of makeup on their faces. The over accentuate
of makeup should show how the individuality is hurt and the only way to differentiate themselves
from the rest is due to excessive makeup. This shows that because of the required use of the
hijab females individuality is affected and requires them to go to extremes to differentiate
themselves. Through the collection the second widespread consistent feature is how each
Female directly looks at the viewer. In all cases except where their eyes are covered the women
look directly at the viewer. Either by directly looking at him or having an object covering the eyes
but still targeting the viewer. This should, like in the previous analyzed picture, make the viewer
feel uncomfortable and targeted, making him delve deeper into the pictures and their content. It
should also show the discomfort the females face with the situations imposed upon them. This
clearly shows that throughout the Collection under the western eyes hoda afshar uses color and
symbolism to express the disadvantages females face due to religious Ideologies.

Both bodies of work clearly represent the chosen global issue. Both elaborate on issues which
are caused and negatively affect women. This is done by both through the use of contrasts,
symbolism and color. Persepolis goes into effect of the imposed religious ideological mandates
on the main character and the children. By creating contrasts of the same character with and
without the hijab. and They both utilize color in different aspects but with the same effect of
creating a firm contrast by the wearing of the hijab. The collection under the western eyes rather
goes into the effects of the mandates. This is done by showing multiple scenarios in the
collection each depicting effects of the religious ideologies and how they negatively affect
females. Both implore the use of Contrasts alike between the black hijab which absorbs the
character and polar opposite colors. Both bodies also utilize symbolism throughout to show how
body language or physical actions have a deeper meaning. In conclusion both B.O.W clearly
underline the Global issue and when dived into display many cases of the Global issue.