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Both makeup and the veil represent assimilation and conformity. Marjane begins wearing makeup not long after arriving in Vienna for school, having fled her home country of Iran to escape its oppressive regime. Her look of heavy, dark eyeliner—which her friend Julie comes up with—helps her feel like she belongs in Europe. However, while wearing makeup in Vienna is a choice that Marjane makes to help her fit in, the veil represents the way that Iran forces women to assimilate by making them all dress the same. When Marjane returns to Tehran at age 18, she and her female classmates at Islamic Azad University are forced to wear uniforms that include a long veil—a marker of modesty and submission under Iran’s Islamic fundamentalist laws. In Tehran, wearing makeup isn’t how a young woman fits in—it makes Marjane stand out, and in some situations it’s a dangerous liability. Marjane’s shifts between wearing makeup and wearing the veil, then, represent her ongoing struggle to figure out who she is and where she fits in the world.
Makeup and the Veil Quotes in Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return
The Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return quotes below all refer to the symbol of Makeup and the Veil. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Vegetable
Quotes
The harder I tried to assimilate, the more I had the feeling that I was distancing myself from my culture, betraying my parents and my origins, that I was playing a game by somebody else’s rules. Each telephone call from my parents reminded me of my cowardice and my betrayal. I was at once happy to hear their voices and ashamed to talk to them.
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If only they knew...if they knew that their daughter was made up like a punk, that she smoked joints to make a good impression, that she had seen men in their underwear while they were being bombed every day, they wouldn’t call me their dream child.
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The Convocation
Quotes
I applied myself. Designing the “model” that would please both the administration and the interested parties wasn’t easy. I made dozens of sketches.
This was the result of my research. Though subtle, these differences meant a lot to us.
This little rebellion reconciled my grandmother and me. [...] And this is how I recovered my self-esteem and my dignity. For the first time in a long time, I was happy with myself.
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The Socks
Quotes
The regime had understood that one person leaving herself while asking herself: Are my trousers long enough? Is my veil in place? Can my makeup be seen? Are they going to whip me?
No longer asks herself: Where is my freedom of thought? Where is my freedom of speech? My life, is it livable? What’s going on in the political prisons?
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I didn’t say everything I could have: that she was frustrated because she was still a virgin at twenty-seven! That she was forbidding me what was forbidden to her! That to marry someone that you don’t know, for his money, is prostitution. That despite her locks of hair and her lipstick, she was acting like the state.
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Makeup and the Veil Symbol Timeline in Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return
The timeline below shows where the symbol Makeup and the Veil appears in Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Pill
...her friends to organize a party. On the night of the party, Julie does Marjane’s makeup by drawing on thick black eyeliner. From this point on, Marjane begins wearing eyeliner like...
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...which disturbs Marjane. Guests finally leave around 4:00 a.m. As Marjane struggles to remove her makeup, she hears noises coming from the bedroom—Julie and her latest partner are having sex. Horrified,...
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The Veil
...putting her health in danger is easier than confronting her shame. Finally, Marjane dons her veil. She’s ready to go home.
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The Return
...she has any pork, alcohol, or fashion magazines. He then asks her to fix her veil. Once she’s past customs Marjane spots her parents immediately. They, however, don’t recognize her until...
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...doesn’t want her friends to know she’s back yet. In the afternoon, Marjane puts her veil on and walks around the city. It’s very different. Now, huge murals of martyrs decorate...
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Skiing
...whore. Marjane is shocked, but she realizes that her friends are traditionalists under their Western-style makeup. In their eyes, Marjane is a “decadent Western woman.”
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...buys a new wardrobe, and cuts her hair. After some more shopping and some new makeup, Marjane looks like a sophisticated woman. She begins exercising frequently and becomes an aerobics instructor....
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The Exam
...version of Michelangelo’s Pietà (the Virgin Mary holding Jesus’s body), but puts Mary in a veil and Jesus in an army uniform. It honors the martyrs.
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At Marjane’s exam, the examiner asks her whether she wore a veil in Vienna and if she knows how to pray. Marjane answers truthfully: she didn’t wear...
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The Makeup
...not being active enough, while Reza insists Marjane isn’t elegant enough and doesn’t wear enough makeup. To fix things, Marjane decides to make an effort and shows up to a date...
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The Convocation
...abroad—she can tell Marjane hasn’t been in Iran long by the way she wears her veil. To the reader, Marjane explains that arranging one’s veil is a science. She also shares...
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At this time, women gain a bit more freedom every year. Veils slowly shorten and women show increasingly more hair. Marjane learns to tell what a woman...
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...martyrs. Women must do this by wearing longer headscarves, narrower pants, and by not wearing makeup.
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Marjane speaks with the man who administered her entrance exam. He tells her that the veil is a necessary part of their religion but asks her to design uniforms for the...
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The Socks
...studios. Students used to draw nudes for figure drawing, but now, their female models wear veils. Marjane’s class thus learns how to draw drapery. Male models are easier. Though they’re clothed,...
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Though Marjane’s classmates rebel by showing a bit of hair or wearing makeup, she discovers that her classmates aren’t as rebellious as they seem. One day, she drops...
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...up a party. The female partygoers pour alcohol down the toilet and pull on their veils as fast as they can. Male guests run to the roof and sprint away across...
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The End
...her appointment with the mayor’s deputy twice for wearing an inappropriate headscarf and for wearing makeup. When Marjane finally gets to present their project, the deputy points out that half of...
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