The Day I Became a Woman

There were several scenes that were poignant in the film, The Day I Became a Woman but if I had to choose 3 they would be:

1. In the first vignette when Hava gives her scarf to the boys in order to get the floating fish toy is such a poignant scene. The trading of the scarf symbolizes Hava’s child-like innocence. She trades her scarf a symbol of her femininity and subservience for they toy. This act shows that she is still very much a child and really unknowing of cultural rules. Also she gives her scarf to the boys in order for them to make a sail. The sail represents freedom.
2. In the second vignette when Ahoo says to her husband that he can go ahead and divorce her it said so much about her determination. Ahoo’s entire vignette was all about freedom and moving from tradition to more modern vantage point. Her husband rides up on a horse while Ahoo is riding the bike. There modes of transportation show the difference in the two. Ahoo is determined to continue in the bicycle race while her husband issues an ultimatum to either leave the race or be divorced. It is a struggle between her freedom and new ways of thinking and their traditions and customary ways of thinking.
3. The last scene is the last scene of the movie when all of the vignettes come together. You see Houra sailing away with all of her coveted new possession symbolizing her finally being allowed to have those items she has been forbidden for so many years. Then you see the young girls who lost the bicycle race. This symbolizes the Iranian woman’s conflict with tradition and the cultural standards placed on them. Finally you see Hava and her mother watching her scarf sail away as the boys ferry Houra’s items to the boat. This shows Hava’s loss of freedom and her embrace of the traditional women’s head covering.