Summary

As a child in Lahore, Pakistan, Samra Habib is fascinated by a woman she sees on the street with a shaved head and a motorcycle. This woman was unlike the other women Samra was surrounded with as a child, who were greatly limited by gendered expectations. For example, Samra's mother was expected to be a pious wife and mother, and even had her name changed by Samra's father without her consent. Despite the surrounding patriarchal society, Samra's parents were never upset by the fact that they had three daughters before having a son. Samra grew up in a small apartment in a working-class neighborhood of Lahore. Though her father would show occasional tenderness, Samra and her mother and siblings were only free to laugh or dance when he was not home. The young Samra was jealous of her little sister and wealthier cousin and...