Does My Head Look Big in This?

What is the covering the girls in the picture are wearing? Why do you think they are wearing it?

Randa Abdel-Fattah (1979–) is an Australian author with Egyptian and Palestinian parents. She wrote the first draft of Does My Head Look Big in This when she was 16.

draft utkast

RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH

wear ha på seg present til stede extract utdrag resolve bestemme seg for column kolonne, spalte hassle plage suspect mistenker give me attitude ha en nedlatende holdning tut-tut sladre

Page 33 excluding ekskludert, utenom give a crap bry seg om wig parykk bald skallet pot dop appreciate sette pris på fabric stoff milk bar i Australia: liten lokal butikk eller kafé check-out girls and guys de som står i kassa establishment her: butikk spunky livlig sales rep selger staff personale exercise utøve Does My Head Look Big in This? Amal lives in Australia. She is Muslim and is thinking about wearing the hijab full-time. Going full-time means that you always wear the hijab when boys and men who are not part of your closest family are present. Amal is thinking about wearing the hijab full-time because she believes this will make her feel closer to God. In the extract below she is worried about what other people might think of her if she goes full-time. The next day I resolve to write an official To Wear or Not To Vurderingseksemplar

Wear List. In the left-hand column I’m going to write a list of all the people I know who won’t hassle me for wearing the hijab. On the right-hand side I’m going to list all the people

I suspect might give me attitude, stare ozone holes into me or tut-tut behind my back. Here is what I come up with:

To Wear or Not To Wear List OK People 1. Mum and Dad 2. Leila and her family (excluding her brother as I don’t give a crap what he thinks anyway) 3. Yasmeen and her family 4. Simone and Eileen 5. Samantha my cousin 6. Mr Pearse??? 7. Nuns 8. Orthodox Jewish women who wear the wig 9. Monks and other religious people 10. Bald women 11. Hippies who don’t care what you wear so long as there is peace and goodwill and pot 12. People who appreciate good fabric 13. Nudists (if they believe in the right to take it all off, surely they believe in the right to keep it all on?)

Not So OK People 1. Everybody at McCleans (especially Tia Tamos, Claire Foster and Rita Mason) 2. Milk bar owner down the road from our house 3. Check-out girls and guys at local Safeway/Coles/and fresh food establishments 4. Uncle Joe and Aunt MandyVurderingseksemplar 5. Spunky sales rep working at Sanity 6. All spunky sales reps 7. Future university students & staff 8. Hard-core feminists who don’t get that this is me exercising my right to choose 9. Ms Walsh, principal 10. Nudists who are offended by people who keep it all on 11. Our neighbours, especially Mrs Vaselli 12. People who will interview me if and when I apply for a job one day 13. Adam (please not ADAM!)

entire hele wardrobe her: alle klær man har couch sofa outfit antrekk assorted et utvalg av slimmest tynnest exhausted utslitt child prodigy vidunderbarn post-traumatic stress disorder posttraumatisk stresslidelse determined bestemt lawyer advokat marriage certificate vielsesattest high school certificate vitnemål fra videregående skole guts tæl, mot throws a comment at slenger en bemerkning til whips out a comeback

«spytter ut» et motsvar pep talk oppmuntrende samtale provide her: gir deg self-esteem selvrespekt, selvfølelse Get out! Du tuller!

OK, done. Now, as it’s a weekday I have the whole house to myself because my parents are at work. So I turn the stereo up loud and throw my entire wardrobe onto the family room couch. I pull my floor-length mirror off my bedroom wall and put it up against an armchair. I then try on every single outfit I have and mix and match all my clothes with assorted coloured scarves as I dance to a J.Lo track. I try different styles with the scarves and attempt to figure out which shape makes my face look slimmest. After three hours I’m exhausted, so I collapse on top of a pile of clothes and telephone Leila. I’ve known Leila since Year Seven. Leila’s like a child prodigy. She’s never got anything below an A+ and if she did she’d probably be hospitalized for post-traumatic stress disorder. She’s fanatically determined to become a lawyer. The only problem is that her parents are more interested in her getting a marriage certificate than a high school certificate. Leila already wears the hijab full-time. She was in Year Seven when she came to school one day, sat down next to Yasmeen and me in class and told us she’d decided to wear it. We weren’t even surprised because she’s always been more religious than us. She has more guts than anybody I know. If we’re out and somebody throws a comment at her, her tongue whips out a comeback before they’ve had a chance to finish their sentence. So she’s naturally the first person I call for a pep talk. “I’m bored,” she tells me as soon as we’ve said hello. “There’s nothing on TV. Either I’m stuck watching Oprah give away holidays and cry about her book club or I’ve got to watch Dr Phil tell me why carrots provide self-esteem.” Vurderingseksemplar “Guess what?” “What?” “I’m thinking of going full-time.” “You got a job?” “Not that full-time! The other full-time.” “Get out!”

UNDERSTANDING

1 Answer the questions. a Why is Amal making a list? b Why does she have the whole house to herself? c What is she doing with her outfits? d How long has Amal known Leila? e Describe Leila. f Why does Amal call Leila?

VIEWPOINTS

2 Discuss the questions. a Amal finds it difficult to make up her mind about wearing the hijab. Can you think of some reasons why? b Why do you think Amal wants to wear the hijab? c Number 13 on her “Not So OK People” list is “Adam (please not ADAM!)”. Who do you think Adam is, and what do you think Amal’s relationship to him is? d Amal says: “I try different styles with the scarves and attempt to figure out which shape makes my face look slimmest.” Why do you think she says this? e Which list has the best arguments, in your opinion? f What do you think Amal will decide to do in the end? SPEAKING SPOT 3 Look at the three questions in task 4. Discuss them in class and take notes on keywords and ideas to prepare for your writing. Vurderingseksemplar

WRITING WORKSHOP

4 Write a paragraph or two about one of the following questions: • Is what you wear important? • Does what you wear say something about who you are? • Would you like your school to have a dress code or uniform?

A

VOCABULARY

5 There are different kinds of head coverings used by Muslim women. Match the description of each covering to its picture.

1. a hijab covers the head B C and neck, but leaves the face clear 2. a niqab covers the mouth and nose, but leaves the eyes clear 3. a burka covers the entire face and body, with a small Vurderingseksemplar screen to see through

LISTENING SKILLS

6 Listen to the text and answer the questions. a What are some of the reasons that Muslim women wear the hijab? b Do all Muslim women wear the hijab?

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LANGUAGE LAB

7 Prepositions Complete the sentences with the correct preposition. Choose from the list. Use each preposition once.

out in of for on up by about a She is afraid ___ what other people might think. b Here is what I come ___ with. c Nudists believe ___ the right to take it all off. d Are they offended ___ people who keep it all on? e I will apply ___ a job one day. f I then try ___ every single outfit. g I try to figure ___ which shape makes my face look slimmest. h They don’t care ___ what you wear. 8 Future tense Translate the sentences to English. a I venstre kolonne skal jeg liste opp dem som ikke vil plage meg. b Mamma og pappa kommer til å syns det er bra. c Når jeg søker jobb i framtiden, kommer hijaben til å være en ulempe. Vurderingseksemplar d Onkel og tante kommer ikke til å like det. e Jeg har bestemt meg. Jeg skal begynne å bruke hijab hele tiden.