“Tantalizing . . . Bold, bewitchingly humorous and politically astute . . . A cheeky and knowing peek at the loves, sexual histories and marital secrets of . . . these beautiful and seductive women.”
—Elle
“Endearing . . . A wicked read.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Embroideries is as funny, opinionated, controversial and surprising as any good comic or conversation should be.”
—Time.com
—Elle
“Endearing . . . A wicked read.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Embroideries is as funny, opinionated, controversial and surprising as any good comic or conversation should be.”
—Time.com
Summary
This book is a fun and entertaining look into the sex lives of Iranian women. It centers around Marjane's grandmother, mother, aunt, and their friends and neighbors for an afternoon of drinking tea and chatting. The topics range from love, to sex and men. The go deep, into sharing their secrets, regrets, and their crazy stories like how to escape an arranged marriage to plastic surgery. Their lives and stories are on a personal level, told through graphic novel format, that will be both familiar and different from our own experiences. It is an enlighting look into lives of women that we don't get always get to see. And in turn learn something about them and realize we are all women.
(I recommend for older girls due to mature topics and language)
(I recommend for older girls due to mature topics and language)
My Thoughts
After reading Embroideries I agree with Elle, Los Angeles Times and Time. This book was wildly entertaining and humorous You feel like you are sitting right there with them gossiping about your lives, telling them your dirty little secrets. I felt it was very culturally relevant because it takes place in modern day Iran, with women who live there, and told right from their perspectives, so no judgment of the author. The story is written by an author who was present during this afternoon, so she heard the stories first hand and is of the culture she is writing about. You really see the discrimination that is placed against women; how they have to marry who their parents say or who comes to pay for her hand in marriage. The traditions of marriage are revealed and what is expected. The women are expected to obey the men, perhaps calling them by their last name to show respect. Many times the women are in their teens and their husband is well into their 40s-60's, something that is hardly heard of in America. The culture is represented throughout the book, with traditions such as the samovar, the traditional after dinner tea that has to be prepared very specifically.To the traditions of the wedding where the gifts are mainly for the bride. The characters are illustrated in a realistic manner, their pictures don't make them look stereotypical. They are illustrated in black and white, so no color can stereotype them or negatively portray them. Some have black hair and some blonde, showing that they are all Iranian but each look unique. At Grandma Satrapi's house this is a no judgement circle, and every woman is there for each other. "One should accept what one does" (94).
Empathy is also promoted instead of pity. They don't feel bad for each other but instead, feel for each other. Each woman experiences something different with men and love, but can all together relate their experiences together. Each time a story is told, they have advice for one another and another story to make the other feel better about themselves The notion of "one of us" over "one of them" is implied. The women are like a sisterhood, there for each other to talk about things they wouldn't otherwise be able to,especially the men. Like losing their virginity before marriage, which is disgraceful in their culture. Virginity is looked upon as pure. They guide each other when they reveal that they were not virgins before marriage and the lengths that one will go through just to become one again. Hence the name embroideries: making oneself virgin status agin through plastic surgery. It was not only honor to oneself but honor to your family. Many women married for wealth, making them look shallow, and were not always able to marry for love. "You must pay close attention when choosing your future husband. Don't marry with your heart but with your brain" (23).
The only negative I found was that these women were marrying men outside of their own country. They longed to meet a man from a place like Switzerland, because they had MTV. These women also felt the need to conform to certain ways in order to get a man. Like when the grandmother tell Marji that she can get men better with half open eyes, looking seductive. In this culture the parents and elders have a sort of control over the younger generation, which should be explained that this is not true everywhere. At the same time it is important to realize just how lucky we are to have such freedom living in America. They have to dress to please the man.One women also suggests that being the mistress to a married man is better than being the wife, which is a bad influence on readers to think that is acceptable. Also men are cheating on their wives constantly, which shows the women's side on how they feel. Although this book is intended for girls, if boys were to read it I wouldn't want them to get any ideas on how to treat women.
I wouldn't use this in a school setting because of the intimate language. It talks about private moments with the women in depth. Therefore I would make it available in upper high school, where they might be mature about the topics and material. It is very culturally relevant, and a good look inside how the women of Iran feel personally and the hardships and struggles they go through. There are not many books out there that are true stories, written from the perspective of someone who was there at that time. This book really goes into their personalities and view and you feel like you are there listening with them. Even though every woman has a different story they can all relate to each other and I feel that the readers can relate to them too, for similar struggles through love.
Empathy is also promoted instead of pity. They don't feel bad for each other but instead, feel for each other. Each woman experiences something different with men and love, but can all together relate their experiences together. Each time a story is told, they have advice for one another and another story to make the other feel better about themselves The notion of "one of us" over "one of them" is implied. The women are like a sisterhood, there for each other to talk about things they wouldn't otherwise be able to,especially the men. Like losing their virginity before marriage, which is disgraceful in their culture. Virginity is looked upon as pure. They guide each other when they reveal that they were not virgins before marriage and the lengths that one will go through just to become one again. Hence the name embroideries: making oneself virgin status agin through plastic surgery. It was not only honor to oneself but honor to your family. Many women married for wealth, making them look shallow, and were not always able to marry for love. "You must pay close attention when choosing your future husband. Don't marry with your heart but with your brain" (23).
The only negative I found was that these women were marrying men outside of their own country. They longed to meet a man from a place like Switzerland, because they had MTV. These women also felt the need to conform to certain ways in order to get a man. Like when the grandmother tell Marji that she can get men better with half open eyes, looking seductive. In this culture the parents and elders have a sort of control over the younger generation, which should be explained that this is not true everywhere. At the same time it is important to realize just how lucky we are to have such freedom living in America. They have to dress to please the man.One women also suggests that being the mistress to a married man is better than being the wife, which is a bad influence on readers to think that is acceptable. Also men are cheating on their wives constantly, which shows the women's side on how they feel. Although this book is intended for girls, if boys were to read it I wouldn't want them to get any ideas on how to treat women.
I wouldn't use this in a school setting because of the intimate language. It talks about private moments with the women in depth. Therefore I would make it available in upper high school, where they might be mature about the topics and material. It is very culturally relevant, and a good look inside how the women of Iran feel personally and the hardships and struggles they go through. There are not many books out there that are true stories, written from the perspective of someone who was there at that time. This book really goes into their personalities and view and you feel like you are there listening with them. Even though every woman has a different story they can all relate to each other and I feel that the readers can relate to them too, for similar struggles through love.
Review From Time
Stitchin' and Bitchin' By Andrew D. Arnold
As graphic novels have blossomed into a mainstream media, the author Marjane Satrapi became the most unexpected of those successes stories. Her first two books, "Persepolis" and "Persepolis 2," were both critical and commercial successes, defying expectations. Originally written in French, they focused on the author's story of growing up in revolutionary Iran and eventually becoming an expatriate in Europe. Even in the more expansive, but still male-dominated world of hi-end comix, the Persepolis books stood out. Satrapi's newest book, "Embroideries" (Pantheon; 112 pages; $17) continues her fascinating, entertaining examination of women's lives using the simple, compelling techniques that have become her style.
"Embroideries" depicts Satrapi and a klatch of her female friends and relatives engaged in an after-dinner bull session. The men, naturally, have all gone off to take a nap while the women clean up and settle down to tea. The place is Iran and the time is 1991, when Satrapi was 20. The dominant character is the grandmother, who Satrapi depicts as a highly independent, worldly woman who goes from bad-tempered ogre to mild and caring "grandma" only after having her morning tea with a bit of opium mixed in. After the dishes are done, she presides over more tea as the women exchange juicy gossip and confession in a process best described by the grandmother. "Speaking behind other's backs ventilates the heart." Briefly liberated from the constraints of their male-dominated culture the women speak freely and frankly of love, sex and relationships in the context of a defiantly traditional culture lurching into the 21st century.
Chiefly the ladies have Man Trouble, a subject most women will relate to and most men will find chilling in its bluntness. The ladies exchange one fascinating horror story after another of deadbeats, cheaters, grifters, psychopaths and dirty old men. While these woeful tales will elicit international sympathy, western readers will find some of the problems unfamiliar. Cultural institutions such as arranged marriages, even for girls of 13, and the premium on female virginity only add to the women's problems. In one shocking discussion, the women debate the merits of "embroidery," the Iranian euphemism for suturing the vaginal opening to "restore" virginity. Bringing us such glimpses of an unfamiliar world continues to be the hallmark of Satrapi's work.
The women of "Embroideries" console a distraught member in Marjane Satrapi's new graphic novel
She also excels at recreating vibrant characters and situations out of what would be hazy memories for most other people. The narrative bounces easily from the women in the room to flashbacks illustrating their tales of woe, and back again to the present as others add critical commentary. The older generation, surprisingly, comes across as the most liberated. One "Auntie" argues persuasively for taking a married lover, explaining that, "...his bad breath, his hemorrhoid attacks, his flues," etc. are all for the wife while for the mistress, "he's always bleached and ironed, his teeth sparkle, his breath is like perfume," etc. Another older woman discusses the surgery that took fat from her rear and applied it to her bosom the better to keep her husband's attention. "Of course," she says, "this idiot doesn't know that every time he kisses my breasts, it's actually my ass he's kissing."
What emerges over the course of this slim novella is a sort of chamber work on the way women talk to each other and experience their place in the world. Satrapi reflects the way the conversations dovetail with each by having the images do the same. Eschewing panels altogether, most pages contain only two or three images or one full-page image, removing the rigid linearity of a grid layout. Even with the greater amount of space this affords her, Satrapi sticks with the simple illustrative style of her previous works. Clearly something of a "make-do" cartoonist, her artwork nevertheless has enough personality to be instantly recognizable.
With "Embroideries" Marjane Satrapi has created a great "woman's" comic, and I mean that without the slightest hint of derision. It focuses exclusively on female characters, examining the way they talk and the aspects of their lives unique to their sex, and then presents their stories in a way that reflects the ebb and flow of women's talk. Yet, unlike what would be labeled a "men's comic," it feels inclusive rather than alienating. "Embroideries" is as funny, opinionated, controversial and surprising as any good comic or conversation should be.
http://www.time.com/time/columnist/printout/0,8816,1049566,00.html
As graphic novels have blossomed into a mainstream media, the author Marjane Satrapi became the most unexpected of those successes stories. Her first two books, "Persepolis" and "Persepolis 2," were both critical and commercial successes, defying expectations. Originally written in French, they focused on the author's story of growing up in revolutionary Iran and eventually becoming an expatriate in Europe. Even in the more expansive, but still male-dominated world of hi-end comix, the Persepolis books stood out. Satrapi's newest book, "Embroideries" (Pantheon; 112 pages; $17) continues her fascinating, entertaining examination of women's lives using the simple, compelling techniques that have become her style.
"Embroideries" depicts Satrapi and a klatch of her female friends and relatives engaged in an after-dinner bull session. The men, naturally, have all gone off to take a nap while the women clean up and settle down to tea. The place is Iran and the time is 1991, when Satrapi was 20. The dominant character is the grandmother, who Satrapi depicts as a highly independent, worldly woman who goes from bad-tempered ogre to mild and caring "grandma" only after having her morning tea with a bit of opium mixed in. After the dishes are done, she presides over more tea as the women exchange juicy gossip and confession in a process best described by the grandmother. "Speaking behind other's backs ventilates the heart." Briefly liberated from the constraints of their male-dominated culture the women speak freely and frankly of love, sex and relationships in the context of a defiantly traditional culture lurching into the 21st century.
Chiefly the ladies have Man Trouble, a subject most women will relate to and most men will find chilling in its bluntness. The ladies exchange one fascinating horror story after another of deadbeats, cheaters, grifters, psychopaths and dirty old men. While these woeful tales will elicit international sympathy, western readers will find some of the problems unfamiliar. Cultural institutions such as arranged marriages, even for girls of 13, and the premium on female virginity only add to the women's problems. In one shocking discussion, the women debate the merits of "embroidery," the Iranian euphemism for suturing the vaginal opening to "restore" virginity. Bringing us such glimpses of an unfamiliar world continues to be the hallmark of Satrapi's work.
The women of "Embroideries" console a distraught member in Marjane Satrapi's new graphic novel
She also excels at recreating vibrant characters and situations out of what would be hazy memories for most other people. The narrative bounces easily from the women in the room to flashbacks illustrating their tales of woe, and back again to the present as others add critical commentary. The older generation, surprisingly, comes across as the most liberated. One "Auntie" argues persuasively for taking a married lover, explaining that, "...his bad breath, his hemorrhoid attacks, his flues," etc. are all for the wife while for the mistress, "he's always bleached and ironed, his teeth sparkle, his breath is like perfume," etc. Another older woman discusses the surgery that took fat from her rear and applied it to her bosom the better to keep her husband's attention. "Of course," she says, "this idiot doesn't know that every time he kisses my breasts, it's actually my ass he's kissing."
What emerges over the course of this slim novella is a sort of chamber work on the way women talk to each other and experience their place in the world. Satrapi reflects the way the conversations dovetail with each by having the images do the same. Eschewing panels altogether, most pages contain only two or three images or one full-page image, removing the rigid linearity of a grid layout. Even with the greater amount of space this affords her, Satrapi sticks with the simple illustrative style of her previous works. Clearly something of a "make-do" cartoonist, her artwork nevertheless has enough personality to be instantly recognizable.
With "Embroideries" Marjane Satrapi has created a great "woman's" comic, and I mean that without the slightest hint of derision. It focuses exclusively on female characters, examining the way they talk and the aspects of their lives unique to their sex, and then presents their stories in a way that reflects the ebb and flow of women's talk. Yet, unlike what would be labeled a "men's comic," it feels inclusive rather than alienating. "Embroideries" is as funny, opinionated, controversial and surprising as any good comic or conversation should be.
http://www.time.com/time/columnist/printout/0,8816,1049566,00.html
Review of the Review
I like how one of the first introductions is,"The men, naturally, have all gone off to take a nap while the women clean up and settle down to tea" (Arnold). This almost kind of sets the tone for the role of men in this graphic novel. The men are the respected ones and the women are supposed to become submissive to them. "Briefly liberated from the constraints of their male-dominated culture the women speak freely and frankly of love, sex and relationships in the context of a defiantly traditional culture lurching into the 21st century" (Arnold). Women do not have the power in this masculine culture, so for them to get together and share their heart breaks and triumphs is refreshing. I agree that women everywhere have men problems and this is something that readers will be able to relate to. But will learn about problems that pertain only of that culture; restoring virginity, arranged marriages etc. This review is on point for how I feel, a "funny opinionated, controversial and surprising comic." The reveal how they feel about their place in the world, but I do wish that men from other cultures were not made to be the ideal, like the man from Switzerland. Their memories and motives are portrayed without judgement from anyone because it is from their mouths. I was also very surprised that the older generation is the most liberated, like the review notes, suggesting to have a married man and be his mistress. I think the pictures add to the novel and do not extract what it is trying to say, they enhance it. I also agree that the flow of the pictures portray the way that women talk; sometimes all at once, or jumping around topics.
Satrapi, M. (2005). Embroideries. New York: Pantheon Books.