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Persepolis: The Makeup

Towards the end of Persepolis, Marjane is making increased efforts to look better to her new husband, Reza. While wearing makeup for this very purpose at a local bazaar, she notices that the Guardians of the Revolution have gathered for a raid. In an attempt to distract them, she claims that a man on a set of steps was harassing her. (The majority of this occurs on pages 283 and 284). On the first panel of page 283, she explains her whole reasoning for doing this, and I believe that it was a very selfish act, as one individual wearing makeup in public would make so little of a change and a statement to the Islamic government that the avoidance of possibly having a man tortured or killed was not only an easy choice, but a very necessary one. Thus, Marjane's scolding by her grandmother was the least the woman could have done to set the immature wife straight.

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