Describe the role of women in Reading Lolita in Tehran

Women and Gender

As a final note on a discussion with her private students about domestic violence and divorce options for women, Nafisi writes, "In our case, the law really was blind; in its mistreatment of women, it knew no religion, race, or creed" (273). Reading Lolita in Tehran focuses on the experience of women before, during, and after the Iranian Revolution, and as in this quote, often shows that regardless of education, religion, or social status, all women were negatively affected by the laws on veiling and meeting with men outside one's family, in addition to the the attacks and university closures. Nafisi fought against veiling at two universities, leading to her eventual expulsion from both, and many of her students placed themselves in the line of danger by attending protests and violating rules in small ways. Veiling should be seen not only as a religious and political issue in itself, but as a representation of the confining laws enforced upon women's bodies and identities.