Marjane Satrapi to Sandrine Rousseau: “Everyone has the right to be stupid, but in this case it is better to keep quiet”

In a video posted on her Instagram account, Marjane Satrapi, a Franco-Iranian artist known in particular for her series of autobiographical comics “Persepolis”, told Sandrine Rousseau that “everyone has the right to be stupid, but in this case it is better to keep quiet.”
This outburst of anger follows a message posted by the environmentalist deputy of Paris this Sunday, November 3 about Ahou Daryaei, the 22-year-old Iranian student who appeared the day before in her underwear in the middle of the street in front of Azad University in Tehran in protest against harassment by security agents over her wearing a headscarf. In the caption of a drawing which went around the world, in homage to the young woman since arrested, Sandrine Rousseau wrote: “Our body, and everything we put on – or not – to clothe it, belongs to us. Strength to Iranian women, to Afghan women, to all those who suffer oppression.”

From Sophia Aram to the Femme Azadi association or even LR senator from Bouches-du-Rhône Valérie Boyer, many voices were outraged upon reading the comment of the elected environmentalist. “This tweet is a shame”, “infamous tweet”, “shameful exploitation of the suffering of Iranian women to promote the veil”…Thousands of messages condemned the comments of Sandrine Rousseau who was criticized for her comments made in 2022 about the veil as an “object of embellishment”, but above all “the implication consisting of suggesting that women are free – or not – to wear the veil. You are absolute disgust”, we can read Again…

“You’re stupid.”

In her video of just over two minutes, Marjane Satrapi does not say the opposite. The Iranian artist who speaks directly to Sandrine Rousseau first reminds her that in 2022, “the first gathering organized by the Femme-Vie-Liberté movement was held at Place de la République, in support of the revolution popular event that occurred in Iran after the arrest and then death of Mahsa Amini for a poorly worn veil. Tens of thousands of young girls were arrested, assaulted, imprisoned. You spoke, and everyone booed you because. a few days earlier, you had declared that the veil is the embellishment of women everywhere, on the radio and television, you then explained that you had been booed because you are a woman. But we were six women. we were all applauded, except you, if you booed, it’s because you were stupid,” said Marjane Satrapi.

“You are playing the game of fanatics”

“And you continue to be, notes the creator of “Persepolis”. “Now, you make a tweet in which you compare the situation of girls in my country who for daring to remove their veil are arrested, raped, tortured, imprisoned , to the situation of the young girl, here in France, who decides to veil herself for a reason that escapes me, because I don't know since when the veil became synonymous with emancipation. It's becoming ridiculous, and by not wanting to be accused of racist, you're playing the game of the fanatics. That's enough!”, finally concludes Marjane Satrapi. “That you don't understand the situation and that you are stupid, that's OK. Everyone has the right to be stupid, but at this point, it’s better to keep quiet.”