Marjane Satrapi: punk feminism in comics

"You've already figured out that Purpur loves comics!" said our head of podcasts, who wrote for us about the comics artist Marjane Satrapi.

"Satrapi's comics are about women in Iran, her family's history and her own life. They're about teenage rebellion in an Islamic republic, about love that didn't win approval, and about what Iranian women talk about over tea, far from men's eyes. And those are very curious conversations!

Marjane Satrapi was born in Iran in 1969, at the height of secular Iran. When Marjane was 10, the Islamic Revolution began. Women and girls were banned from appearing in public without a headscarf. The main school subjects became the teachings of Islam, the Quran and Sharia. Marjane's uncle was executed for his communist views. This was the beginning of the Iran we know from news reports. Satrapi's parents sent her to Austria to get a European education, and there Marjane fully experienced the spirit of freedom. But all that time she didn't feel part of the local community and missed her family and Iran. After finishing school in Vienna, Satrapi returned to Iran. Marjane, who had spent her youth in free Europe, wasn't afraid to stand up for female students' right to wear the wider trousers that were fashionable at the time. That's real punk feminism in 1980s Iran!

Marjane Satrapi's comics are steeped in humour set against terrible events. Her family and loved ones are astonishingly vivid characters with incredible stories that are fascinating to read about. Her great-uncle Fereydoun declared the independence of the Iranian province of Azerbaijan, for which he was executed by the Shah's soldiers. Marjane's grandmother was never at a loss for words. She loved women's gossip over tea with opium (Purpur recommends not repeating this) and putting jasmine flowers in her bra in the morning for the scent (Purpur recommends trying this)."