Does My Head Look Big in This?

The slide opened and I heard a gentle, kind voice: What is your confession, my child?

I was stuffed. The Priest would declare me a heretic; my parents would call me a traitor...

The Priest asked me again: What is your confession, my child?

I'm Muslim. I whispered.

Welcome to my world. I'm Amal Abdel-Hakim, a seventeen year-old Australian-Palestinian-Muslim still trying to come to grips with my various identity hyphens.

It's hard enough being cool as a teenager when being one issue behind the latest Cosmo is enough to disqualify you from the in-group. Try wearing a veil on your head and practising the bum's up position at lunchtime and you know you're in for a tough time at school.

Luckily my friends support me, although they've got a few troubles of their own. Simone, blonde, gorgeous and overweight – she's got serious image issues, and Leila's really intelligent but her parents are more interested in her getting a marriage certificate than her high school certificate!

And I thought I had problems...

About The Author

Randa Abdel-Fattah is twenty-five, and has her own identity hyphens to contend with (Australian-born-Muslim-Palestinian-Egyptian-choc-a-holic). For years Randa has been active in the inter-faith community. She is also a member of a number of Palestinian human rights campaigns, the Australian Arabic council and various Australian Muslim women networks. Randa grew up in Melbourne but now lives in Sydney where she works as a lawyer. She loves travelling to Egypt and Palestine and being spoilt by her relatives. She also loves reading, watching romantic comedies, her husband's sense of humour, getting a seat on the train, and any movie starring Colin Firth.