Does My Head Look Big In This?

In the opening pages of the novel, we find out that the action takes place in Melbourne, Australia, a country of diverse ethnic population. Original inhabitants of the Australia mainland were the Aboriginal Australians, a group of many indigenous peoples who, scientists think, come from ancient Asian peoples. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Britain began exporting prisoners to this remote continent to solve overcrowding issues. Thus, they created the first colony in Australia, named New South Wales. South Australia, in contrast, was settled by free settlers from Britain in the 19th century, which is when the city of Melbourne was founded (1839). After those settlers discovered gold, many nations from Europe and Asia began sending their representatives to settle there. By the beginning of the 20th century, the population was predominantly white, and they wanted to prevent Chinese immigration to Australia, so they formed a new, separate country to form immigration policies that would allow them to exclude all non-European people from settling there.

Elements of this policy survived up until the 1970s. During and after World War II, Jewish people fleeing Nazi Europe settled there, as well as refugees from Poland, Greece, Estonia, and other European countries. In 1958, a new law allowed people from the Middle East to settle in Australia, based on what they could contribute to the country and how well they could assimilate. The arrival of people from diverse ethnic backgrounds began changing Australian culture, which had up to then been dominated by the white Anglo-Saxon (British) communities. Many politicians voiced their opposition to the country being “swamped” by Asians and nonwhite peoples, and the question of immigration remains to this day a sensitive subject in Australia, both politically and socially. This topic is significant for understanding the novel, as the main character is Muslim and Palestinian, and she experiences firsthand the effects of a long tradition of casual discrimination.

In keeping with such a rich history of immigration, religion in Australia is also diverse. The country itself in its founding Constitution forbids the forming of a state religion, or interference with the freedom of practicing religion. During the 20th century, the majority of Australians declared they belonged to some variant of Christianity (Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, and Orthodox). In the 21st century, however, over 30% of Australians declared themselves as having no religion, while 52% practiced some form of Christianity. Of other religions, almost 3% of the people practiced Islam and 3% Buddhism, and Judaism only 0.4%. The main character in the novel, Amal, as a Muslim, belongs to a minority religion, which is additionally diversified because many practicing Muslims come from different ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds.

In the novel, Amal’s family comes from Palestine, Leila’s mother comes from Turkey, and Yasmeen’s mother is British and her father Pakistani; this means they all have different histories and traditions, and the fact that they share a religion sometimes does not mean much, because different countries often practice the same religion in different ways. This is especially true if we take into consideration the diversities in culture and social environment of different continents. The author underlines this fact by depicting Leila’s mother, Gulchin, as holding beliefs and ideas that belong more to her traditional, conservative, and patriarchal upbringing in Turkey than to Islam. 

The novel opens with Amal’s decision to start wearing a hijab full time. A hijab is a religious veil worn by Muslim women in front of unknown males to preserve the idea of modesty and chastity. Depending on different factions of Islam, a hijab can cover the head, the face, or even the whole body of a woman in public. Nowadays, certain Muslim countries (such as Saudi Arabia and Iran) require women to wear a hijab by law; other countries, especially in Europe (France) ban the hijab, primarily in educational facilities like schools and universities, while other countries allow a veil that does not cover the face of the woman. In the US, the First Amendment ensures the freedom of expression, including wearing a hijab.

Although Amal is sure that her motives to wear the hijab are pure and connected to the intimate experience of her faith, she says, “I can’t sleep from stressing about whether I’ve got the guts to do it” (2), because she is aware that her decision will cause a stir, and potentially trigger others to judge or reject her. Therefore, the plot of the novel begins with an inner conflict of the main character, which comes not from Amal’s own doubts, but from her understanding of the world in which she lives. She even states that “shawling up is just plain psychotic” (5), because the private school she attends is full of rich, snobby students who do not understand the requirements of religion nor the question of deeper faith that Amal possesses.

In Chapter 3, she prepares a list of people she believes will be supportive of her choice and those who will see it as a threat to their way of life, to decide whether to go through with her decision. This shows that Amal is careful and thoughtful in making choices that might have lasting effects or even consequences. She understands the importance of her decision, and as her list shows, she is aware that it might affect her future status as a university student or a young professional woman. This consideration tells us she realizes the prejudices that exist in Australian society towards Muslims. As the novel progresses, Amal grows to understand these prejudices even better from personal experience.

Amal’s first experience of wearing a hijab in public, as she visits her favorite shopping mall with her mother in Chapter 3, is eye opening both for Amal and for the reader. While some people stare, no one reacts or attempts to humiliate the mother and daughter, and the fact that Amal’s mom behaves as if she is not even wearing a scarf “makes [Amal] feel kind of protected because she’s so confident and dignified” (20). Additionally, Amal comes to understand something significant for women and especially girls her age: The hijab helps her feel less insecure around boys.

In most societies today, there still exist patriarchal modes of behavior, which favor men over women, and consequently most boys grow up believing they are superior to girls, who they often see as “objects” who are either attractive or not, and they judge the girl’s worth based on that. In Chapter 6, Amal notices boys seem afraid of talking to her, because now that she is wearing a hijab, they have to accept her as something more than just a pretty face, because she is making a stand with her decision. At first, only her Jewish friend Josh reacts positively, because, due to his own religious upbringing, he understands ceremonial wear. 

Amal has a crush on her lab partner, Adam, which complicates matters further for her: If she accepts all facets of her religion, she cannot date boys before she finds the one she wants to marry. The author portrays Amal as truly religious. Even though most people initially assume wearing a hijab was not Amal’s decision but something her parents made her do, because most people cannot grasp a person’s dedication to her faith because they see it only as restrictive, Amal is sure of herself and her choices. This also means that she cannot act upon her crush on Adam, and she says to her friends in Chapter 7 that “deep down I know I wouldn’t cross the line with him, no matter how tempting it would be” (53). However, being a teenager with a crush, she cannot always control her instincts to flirt with Adam, which she sees as harmless but might give him the wrong idea.