Many humans have been involved in some sort of power struggle since the beginning of time. Amidst power in business, the classroom, and government, it is often clear who is subordinate and who is dominant. Subordinates may sometimes feel helpless; however, they can derive satisfaction from the aesthetics and hidden transcripts because of the personal freedoms it represents for them. James Scott wrote an essay, “Behind the Official Story,” which is a discussion of subordinates and their relationship to dominants. He also discusses covert transcription and public transcription used by subordinates. “The hidden transcript is therefore derivative in the sense that it consists of those offstage speeches, gestures, and practices that confirm, contradict, or modify what appears in the public transcript” (Scott 524). Many times subordinates have to act to please dominants. Scott refers to this as the public transcript (Scott 522). The public transcript shown by subordinates to their superiors is simply superficial and often does not truly show how they feel about their superiors. If they were always honest about how they felt, they would risk getting a bad grade, getting fired, or getting in trouble. Only when subordinates are with each other can they discuss how they really feel about their superior, which would be an example of hidden transcription. Azar Nafisi wrote, Reading Lolita in Tehran: a Memoir in Books, a book about her life as a teacher in Iran. Nafisi decided to hold an all-female class at her home. Nafisi quotes one of her students explaining why she had to lie to her father about taking the course, I lied... What else can you do with a person so dictatorial as not to let his daughter, at this age, go to an all feminine enlightened... middle of paper... I will put a person in prison or kill a person for expressing their thoughts, then they will know for sure the fantasy of openly expressing their beliefs without serious consequences is of the all unrealistic. As a result, the hidden transcript gives him more satisfaction than the government intends to give to the people. As Nafisi defined it, "Our world in that living room with the window framing my beloved Elburz Mountains became our sanctuary, our self-contained universe, mocking the reality of the shy, black-scarved faces in the city that stretched below ( Nafisi 332) Although in some circumstances people may never have the opportunity to tell dominants how they really feel about them, they still gain personal satisfaction from hidden transcripts. As a result, this allows subordinates to have dignity and support from others who they go through a similar experience.