About book Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir Of Growing Up Iranian In America And American In Iran (2006)
I love to travel, but I hate airplanes and fear "traveler's diarrhea." I also am risk-averse, and know that, realistically, I will probably never work up the guts to travel to the more politically dangerous areas of the world even if I could scrounge up the money and vacation time to do so. It's because of this that I love books like this one, in which a knowledgeable guide takes me deeper into a place than I could ever go on my own.In a country like Iran, this is even more important -- not only because authentic Iranian voices rarely reach the U.S., but also because the "news" we receive about the Middle East is little more than propaganda and sound bytes, when we receive news at all.I'm so glad Moaveni has written about her experience living in Iran after growing up as part of the Iranian immigrant community in the United States. I wish everyone who worked for a sensationalist news outlet (not naming names) would read books like this, which provide a more nuanced and complicated picture of life in Iran. Yes, there are cumbersome rules about the wearing of the veil, but there are also women who paint their toenails, drive, and have careers. This does not in any way "soften" the reality of living under a repressive regime -- the stories Moaveni told about the "morality police," the "torture next door" and the celebrations broken up by violence were truly chilling. I cannot imagine living in a place where having your boyfriend beat when you go out together is a regular occurrence. But by sharing the conversations Iranians were having around their dining room tables, as well as those she experienced at the hands of a frequent "interrogator" of journalists, Mr. X, I could get a little closer to understanding Iran not only as a place of oppression, but also as a place that thousands still call home. This book is well written but can be dense in places, requiring a slower, more thoughtful pace. I sometimes had trouble keeping characters straight, especially when they had similar names. The book left me overall with a somewhat haunted feeling, as if I had just journeyed somewhere very far from home that will take me a long time to process. In a way, I have. That may be why I am having so much trouble articulating my reaction to this book.But it was powerful, with an ending that was as satisfying as a book about such an unsatisfactory situation could be.
Jihad and Mujahid ( one who carries out jihad) are two religious words that have been given multiple meanings. 'Jihad' is a synonym for 'holy war' - a vicious clash between the followers of different religions, each of whom believe that God is on their side and the other side is, is of Satan. The word Jihad is often used to describe a call for the muslims to fight against non-muslims in the defense of Islam. Others use this term as a synonym for struggle of any type. This reflects the origin of the word from Arabic verb 'jahada' which means to struggle or fight. "Lipstick Jihad" weaves the author Azadeh Moaveni's personal, first hand experiences in Tehran, the emotional homeland which she never knew. It is about the Iranian diaspora of an American-born child of Iranian expatriates. In search of her identity and her roots, this Times reporter goes back to her homeland Tehran. Here she experiences the overall tumult and repression felt by the Iranians and believes Iran is not what one knows of from outside. This novel gives, us readers, the insight of Iranian culture and politics. Maoveni experiences the pleasure and pain of being a part of two cultures. As she tries to find her place, she learns that modern day Iran is not just about its harems and suicide bombers, not just about the axil of evil, there is more to it. Maoveni talks about the hypocrite society where sex ticks in the mind of men and women alike. Men who consider simple things like smiling , walking with head uncovered, smoking to be crime, openly ask women to bed. There is even something like paper marriages just for the sake of going to bed. On the other hand, women who walk in the streets with veils, spend their nights watching porn or engaging in erotic chats. Above all the author talks about being displaced. She says, "All our lives were formed against the backdrop of this history, fated to be at home nowhere, not completely in Iran, not completely in America. For us , home was not determined by latitudes and longitudes. It was spatial. This, this is the modern Iranian experience, that bound the diaspora to Iran. We are all displaced, whether internally, on the streets of Tehran, captives in the living rooms, stranger in our own country and externally in exile sitting in the New York bar, foreigners in a foreign country, at home together....... One of my favorite books.
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Having just finished Empire of the Mind: A History of Iran, I felt good about jumping into Moaveni's Lipstick Jihad: I could now apply my new-found knowledge! It turns out, however, that Moaveni's writing is so well balanced between her journalistic style and her narrative that I didn't really need the background of Axworthy's History, but it was nice to have certain perspectives on Iran confirmed. As a second-generation Iranian-American, Moaveni explores the years she lived and worked in Tehran as a journalist for Time. The focus of the text is on her growing understanding of what it means to be Iranian and American, and the complications it presents in her life. What I enjoyed most about the book is that because she is dealing with life in Iran from the perspective of an outsider (a Farsi-speaking, ethnically Iranian outsider, but an outsider nonetheless), it was a lot easier for me to follow and understand issues of Iranian life with a sympathetic eye. Instead of being presented as foreign, Moaveni always considered the culture her own, so although her experiences are sometimes appalling and frightening, they are written with a sensitivity and understanding of what Iranian culture really is, not just what the Islamic Republic wants it to be. Although Axworthy's History definitely highlights the amazing achievements of Persian culture and takes a sympathetic view of Iranians (i.e. NOT as the Axis of Evil), it is still the perspective of a historian. Moaveni puts the reader in the moment, and although her view is obviously limited to that of a secular, upper-middle class woman, one comes to an understanding of what life is really like, not what the Ayatollahs want the West to understand, not what the media wants us to see. This is a book I will definitely recommend to students who want to read more about Iran after finishing Persepolis. It was well written, detailed, and historically descriptive.
—Mrs. Miska
Memoir can so often seem like self-indulgent therapy. Though Lipstick Jihad did delve into that territory occasionally, it was also an illuminating exploration of Iran post-revolution. The author, writing with both romanticism and disdain, describes a Tehran as rife with conflict and hypocrisy as with hope and friendship.It's hard for me to evaluate prose with anything other than a fiction writer's eye. Her voice did not spark to life--she wrote with the detached narrative style of the journalist she was trained to be. There was some material that was repetitive, certain points that were hammered home again and again, which made me wonder if these chapters were originally published somewhere as stand-alone articles. I would recommend this book to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the social, moral and political life of modern Iranians. Religion has been used to achieve political control for centuries and for me, one of the take home messages was how a fundamentalist approach to any religion can create a toxic climate.
—Nola Decker
Eh. I expected more from this book. While it has some good tidbits about life in Tehran circa 2000, the odd organization and Ms. Moaveni’s whiny tone ruined the book and made it difficult for me to get an accurate picture of life in Tehran (that she seemingly contradicts herself numerous times doesn’t help). At the end of the day, she’s a middle-class kid from a well-connected family who got a good job and exactly what she wanted but fixates on everything ‘wrong’ with her life. Any trust-fund hipster in Brooklyn or Los Feliz could give you a similar tale of entitlement woe, and, frankly, most people grow out of the uber-wordy analysis of their identity after two years of college. Also? This is why some people shouldn’t write memoirs. I’m sure Ms. Moaveni is a lovely person, but she made for a horribly hypocritical character woefully out of touch with reality. Not recommended.
—Lauren
