[Saturday Reads] Microaggressions Portrayed in Hilarious Comic Format By A Woman Of Colour In A Hijab

Yes I’m Hot In This: The Hilarious Truth About Life In A Hijab (Amazon | Book Depository)

Written and Illustrated by Huda Fahmy
Published by Adams Media (2018)
ISBN: 1507209347 (ISBN13: 9781507209349). Bought a copy of the book. Book photos taken by me.

By the time this will be posted, we would have been living here in the United Arab Emirates for a few days shy of one year. There is still much that we need to know and understand about the Arab and the Muslim culture, clearly. As a woman of colour, however, living with my family in countries different from our place of birth for the past 12 years now, this is a comic book that resonated with me on many levels. Case in point can be seen in the image below:

This concerted attempt to have a sense of rootedness, even while embracing the notion of being a global citizen (whatever that means) – is something that we have to navigate every single day. I am Huda Fahmy’s mother, however, in this scenario – as we raise an eighteen year old girl, first in Singapore, and now here in UAE.

The experience of Ramadan is slightly different for us this year – mainly brought about by the stay-at-home / quarantine/ lockdown policy in place. However, a great deal of sensitivity is needed in working with students and colleagues, who usually post their submissions or send emails in the wee hours of the morning.

I especially like the fearless portrayal of microaggressions. This is not unique to Muslim American women – I get this a lot too (except for the showering with the hijab one above), which is why I love the Turnabout below, even if sometimes they only happen in our heads, or illustrated in a published book such as this one:

I enjoyed this comic memoir a lot – as evidenced in so many LOL moments that my husband had to ask what was wrong with me. I appreciated Huda Fahmy’s self-deprecating humour and her ability to transform not just microaggression but overt acts of physical and verbal assault into something that she is able to live with, and even play around with:

There is a lightheartedness to the narrative that belies the actual pain brought about by always being made to feel like an outsider in one’s home:

If you are not familiar yet with this comic book, then you will need to buy it for yourself, for your friends, for your family members. Much of people’s fear (which makes them lash out in aggression) is brought about by ignorance, and sometimes downright stupidity. Combat that by reading as many diverse books that depict representations of voices you will not otherwise have known or even choose to hear. That is how world peace begins (or so I naively claim).