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Sample 2
Having given myself the “once-over,” I practice one of my best camera-ready smiles. As
my lips curve, the tip of Arabic nose dips down right into the middle of my smile. I knew it, I
mused to myself, constricting my smile. I knew my nose would get into it! I study my nose; it sits
there otherwise unobtrusively. But when I smile again, I can only watch as it dominates my face.
Feeling uneasy, I take the tip of my nose between my fingers and press it back and then up. I
peer askance at myself in the mirror, considering the adjustment, and reevaluate my smile, then
my head to check my profile. Of course it looks better . . . or maybe it doesn’t, I think
ambivalently. It’s as thought I’ve seen my nose for the very first time. Yet I cannot remember
ever not seeing it. I feel ridiculous because here I am manipulating it as if it were some newly
discovered piece of my anatomy- and a not very attractive one at that. Don’t make too much of it,
I tell myself.
Momentarily, I try to think of some of the positive remarks that people have made about
this nose of mine: “It is distinctive”; (so is a rhino’s horn), “It’s got character”; (maybe it is a
character); “It suits your face”; (perhaps it should be wearing a suit);”It’s….er… typically
Arabic”; (sure, just like a camel’s hump); “At least it’s not bigger than a breadbox!” (but it
couldn’t fit inside a breadbox either). Nothing seems reassuring, as I force it closer to my face.
“ You surely would look gorgeous that way,” says the director who has been watching
me all this time. I burst into laughter.
“You really think so? I‘m not so sure. I think I like my nose the way it is,” I respond,
trying to conceal my ambivalence.
“C’mon, Intisar, I don’t think you like it that much. Look at your profile. It would make
a lotta difference if your nose were a little shorter and lacked that Arabic bump. You know, TV
is a helluva sensitive medium. People out there focus on your face continuously. And the nose