PERSPECTIVE

My personal experience

Needless to say, everyone has seen this theme differently. Different political climates, cause some people to join a party for convenience, and some for survival, as was the case in Persepolis. However, denouncing your own beliefs to avoid being ostracized is something I'm sure most people can relate to, and I am most definitely one of them. In my family, I am often caught in the middle between my parents liberal beliefs and my grandparents more traditional conservative views. It is not uncommon for me to say I believe in one thing while I'm around my parents, then say I believe something else with my grandparents. Being pulled between both sides has made me realize that it is nearly impossible to find common ground between them. This is a result of the immense polarization that has plagued our nation. When we do this our beliefs don't become our own, they become those fed to us by our associated group. We may not be obviously oppressed; this isn't a matter of survival, but our desire to fit in forces us to choose a group. We all may do it for different reasons, and we all may have different experiences with it. We may all live in different political climates, but no matter what your perspective is, we need to help bridge the divide that this has created.