My Hair Is Pink Under This Veil
By Rabina Khan
“In 2015, when I ran to be mayor in Tower Hamlets, a smartly dressed middle-class man saw me wearing a headscarf and asked me what colour my hair was underneath it. I gave him a big smile. ‘Pink,’ I replied. Did I win his vote? I rather doubt it.”
Vivid, astute and full of humour, My Hair Is Pink Under This Veil offers a frank appraisal of life in modern Britain as seen through the eyes of a hijab-wearing Muslim woman. Rabina Khan writes with grace about her family’s experiences building a new life in 1970s London before turning her attention to exploring the politics of the veil, white privilege and intersectional feminism. And in depicting her battle to build a successful political career against a backdrop of blame, bias and misogyny – including from her own community – Khan is clear-sighted about the struggles facing Muslim women today.
Now fully updated with new material on the sexism facing women in politics, My Hair Is Pink Under This Veil is at its heart an inspiring story about the power of self-belief and determination to create a fairer world.
Reviews
“This book should be read in every household around the UK. It is educational, insightful and most of all honest.”
Nadiya Hussain
“A funny, engaging and moving memoir. Rabina captures nuances and shatters stereotypes.”
Fatima Manji, Channel 4 News
“An inspiring, candid insight into the life of a hijab-wearing Muslim woman in Britain.”
Bella
“Full of recollections, remonstrations and witty responses … Rabina Khan sprinkles advice and words of wisdom throughout the pages of her book.”
The National
“My Hair Is Pink Under This Veil is honest, painful and very funny … It is filled with a quiet strength, wonderfully written.”
Muslim Times
“Rabina is an inspiring and powerful role model who has smashed glass ceilings with her strength, grace and tenacity. This book gives an important insight into the experiences of British Muslim women, whose voices are too often marginalised. Rabina’s charming childhood experiences of home-made nativity costumes, bad perms and dressing-up parties are gently interwoven with the painful realities of everyday racism in 1980s Britain, all told with matter-of-fact reflection and optimism for the future.”
Jo Swinson, former leader of the Liberal Democrats
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- Paperback, 320 pages
- ISBN: 9781785907586
- 19 July 2022
- £9.99
- Hardback, 304 pages
- ISBN: 9781785906466
- 20 May 2021
- £16.99
- eBook
- ISBN: 9781785906565
- 20 May 2021
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