Julian 1

Julian Watson
Professor Jillian Trebtoske
Honors English 11
November 4, 2014
Common Task Three
Oppression is the prolonged unjust treatment of a segment of the population. It takes
many forms such as slavery, religious domination, or even psychological control. Examples of
some adverse byproducts of oppressive acts such as prejudice and stereotyping in Persepolis, I
Want a Wife and Diary of a Pakistani schoolgirl show how these things can limit our society
by creating a smaller talent pool for certain privileges and declining our societys potential to
succeed.
The book, Persepolis, by Majane Satrapi, describes an Iranian society that was affected
harshly by the new orders and rules of the upcoming Islamic Empire. After being affected from
the new laws the people of Iran quickly understood that they were basically controlled, and
although how unfair it mightve been, those were the new laws for that empire.. The bbc said
there were 400 victims. The shah said that a group of religious fanatics perpetrated the massacre,
but the people knew that it was Shahs fault!! (Satrapi). When describing what happened at the
Rex Cinema, the main character Marjane shows an example of what the Shah did to others who
didnt necessarily believe in his views, even if they really didnt do anything to him. These
opinions held from the Marjane showed how this societys potential to succeed was limited from
the controlled efforts of the emperor, Shah, since people werent allowed to express their opinion

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towards the religion and if they werent to do exactly what the Shah said, they were soon to be
exiled
The article, I want a Wife, by Judy Brady, explains the stereotype towards women that
their role in life is more to support the male since they are not capable to do the jobs a male does.
This stereotype, being a byproduct of injustice, limits womens potential for success on their own
by doing little to help motivate them toward whatever they would want to do in life. I want a
wife to go along when our family takes a vacation so that someone can continue to care for me
and my children when I need a rest and change of scene (Brady). This quote from Judy Brady
shows the selfishness of a male to want that when he can do all of that on his own, and shows
how this current want for this certain type of wife needs to end and women need to live their
lives like how men do and strive for the best life they can achieve. Overall, since we follow the
general principle that women and men are equal, we can deduct that they both can do the same
things in life and apply it to this case of how women dont need to be just a supporter for
someone.
Imagine living in a society where a talent pool was shrunken for a certain privilege like
education. Not only would certain people become smarter than others because they have the
opportunity to keep learning, but the group that wasnt allowed to be educated would be limited
to learning as much as they could on their own and would probably be confined to their native
land since they didnt learn through the system that wouldve helped raised them to be a great
worker and provider for their family. Malala Yousafzai shows her life as a young Pakistani
schoolgirl who recently was stopped from going to school due to the banning of girls education
in her story, Diary of a Pakistani schoolgirl. Only 11 students attended the class out of 27
(Yousafzai). This showed how this society was limited since a smaller talent pool was created for

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this necessary privilege and how the women who now cant go to school have it harder on them
to become successful. Presidents and other leaders around this nation have recommended that in
order for a society to fully strive, all products in that society must be given equal treatment and
not favor one over the other.
One view of how oppression and injustices could possibly help benefit our world could
be how fast things could get done under controlled acts. For example, slaving people in a certain
area could help that areas economy since the slaves are working exactly towards what needs to
get done. But, although this is getting things done quicker, it is going against peoples rights and
is taking control of what does not belong to you which at the end of the day is wrong.
Examples of some adverse byproducts of oppressive acts such as prejudice and
stereotyping in Persepolis, I Want a Wife and Diary of a Pakistani schoolgirl show how
these things can limit our society by creating a smaller talent pool for certain privileges and
declining our societys potential to succeed. In order for our society to fully achieve as a nation,
oppression and injustice, and the byproducts from that cant occur, and each society must strive
to prosper the correct and equal way.