Kohl: A Symbol of Ritual, Defiance, and Transformation

Introduction: What Is Kohl in the Book?

In Warsan Shire’s Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head, kohl is a cosmetic substance made by grinding galena (a lead ore) or stibnite (antimony ore) into a fine black powder. Traditionally used across North and East Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, kohl is applied along the waterline of the eyes for adornment, spiritual protection, and medicinal purposes. Within the collection, kohl first appears as a sacred ritual performed by the mother, Hooyo, and later becomes a charged symbol of inherited tradition, defiant sisterhood, and the pain of transformation.

The poem “Bless Hooyo’s Kohl-Rimmed Eyes” (Chapter 32) is the primary site of this symbol. The daughters watch their mother grind galena and line her eyes “with darkness, no reflective / surface necessary, Allah guiding her hand.” The ritual is intimate, religious, and self-sufficient. Later, at school, the girls mimic the look using borrowed 4B pencils, and boys call them “Witch.” The girls respond with synchronized head-tilts and laughter, reclaiming the label as a badge of solidarity.

Kohl also appears in “Buraanbur” (Chapter 40), where during a trance dance “kohl [bleeds] down her cheeks,” signaling a loss of control and a painful emergence of something new. This recurrence transforms kohl from a controlled, beautifying act into a marker of spiritual upheaval.

Where Kohl Recurs: Key Poems

While kohl is explicitly named only in these two poems, the mother’s kohl-rimmed eyes are alluded to in the book’s title and in the recurring image of the mother’s watchful, knowing gaze. The daughters’ obsessive observation of the mother’s ritual creates a visual motif that runs beneath the surface of many poems about girlhood and inheritance.

Shifting Meanings of Kohl

1. Sacred Maternal Ritual

In Chapter 32, kohl is first a holy act. Hooyo uses no mirror—Allah guides her hand. The daughters stand in “tearless wonder” as she applies the substance to her “lacrimal papilla.” This moment connects the mother to a lineage of women who perform this ritual as both beautification and devotion. The kohl rim becomes an emblem of the mother’s power, her connection to the divine, and her cultural knowledge.

2. Mimicry and the Witch Label

At school, the daughters replace galena with 4B pencils—a mundane, Western substitute. The borrowed pencils signal their diaspora position; they cannot access the authentic substance, so they improvise with materials available in a British classroom. The boys’ whisper of “Witch” is an attempt to other them, to mark their difference as dangerous or strange. Yet the girls respond by tilting their heads “like synchronized swimmers” and cackling together. They embrace the witch identity, transforming shame into collective power. Here kohl becomes a tool of defiant solidarity and a reclamation of the “ugly” or “other” label that runs throughout the book (see also “Extreme Girlhood” and “Bless Your Ugly Daughter”).

3. Bleeding Kohl and Spiritual Crisis

In “Buraanbur”, a woman whirls in a circle surrounded by women who resemble her mother. The kohl that “bleeds down her cheeks” is no longer neatly applied; it runs as she sweats, as her earrings tear through her lobes, as something “comes undone.” The bleeding kohl signifies the breakdown of controlled appearance and the emergence of raw emotion or spiritual possession. The women chant “the blood is rising,” and the woman begins to blur, “almost breaking into light.” Kohl here is a marker of transformation: the ritual beautification of the mother gives way to a chaotic, communal release. The daughter who mimics kohl at school now sees it smeared in ecstatic pain—a fuller inheritance of womanhood that includes both defiance and suffering.

Character and Theme Connections

Characters

• Hooyo (the mother): The original bearer of kohl. Her ritual application establishes the tradition. In “Photographs of Hooyo” (Chapter 17), she appears in various domestic scenes, but the kohl-rimmed eyes are her iconic feature, linking her to both beauty and sorrow.
• The speaker and her sisters: They inherit and mimic the ritual. Their use of pencils and embrace of the “witch” label shows how they adapt the tradition to their own context. They are the “daughters” raised by a voice—here, the mother’s ritual voice.
• The woman in “Buraanbur”: Possibly a version of the speaker or a symbolic figure. The bleeding kohl connects her to the mother’s legacy but also to a more painful, ecstatic form of womanhood.

Themes

• Trauma and Survival: The witch label echoes the persecution faced by women who are different. Reclaiming it is an act of survival, turning a weapon into a shield.
• Diaspora and Displacement: The substitution of galena with 4B pencils highlights the loss and adaptation of cultural practices in a new country. The girls are caught between tradition and assimilation.
• Womanhood and Girlhood: Kohl is passed from mother to daughter, marking the transition from observing girl to active woman. The ritual is both a blessing and a burden.
• Maternal Absence and Legacy: The mother’s kohl-rimmed eyes are a constant presence even when she is absent. The daughters carry the memory of the ritual, as seen in their mimicry. This connects to the epigraph’s lullaby: “Your mother isn’t home, she left the house and took her shoes.” The kohl remains as a trace.
• Assimilation and Identity: The 4B pencils are a symbol of trying to fit in while retaining heritage. The boys’ reaction forces the girls to choose: hide or embrace their difference.

Four Study Questions with Answers

1. How does the meaning of kohl shift from Chapter 32 to Chapter 40?
In Chapter 32, kohl represents controlled, sacred beauty and maternal tradition. It is applied with divine guidance and no mirror, suggesting inner knowledge and confidence. In Chapter 40, kohl bleeds down the face during a trance, signifying loss of control, spiritual crisis, and the painful emergence of new identity. The shift mirrors the journey from inherited ritual to personal, transformative experience.

2. Why do the daughters use 4B pencils instead of real kohl? What does this substitution reveal about their diasporic experience?
The 4B pencils are a makeshift substitute in a Western school where galena is unavailable. This reveals the daughters’ position between cultures: they lack access to the authentic substance of their heritage but are determined to recreate the ritual. The borrowed pencils also highlight the improvisation required in diaspora, where traditions must be adapted to survive.

3. How does the “witch” label function in the poem, and why do the girls embrace it?
The boys use “Witch” to other the girls, associating their dark-rimmed eyes with the supernatural and evil. But the girls respond by tilting their heads in unison and cackling, reclaiming the label as a mark of solidarity. They transform an insult into a shared identity, much like the speaker in “Bless the Sharmuto” blesses a reclaimed slur. This act of reclamation is a form of resistance against both sexist and racist stereotypes.

4. In what ways does the kohl motif connect to the book’s broader exploration of maternal legacy?
The mother’s kohl-rimmed eyes are the first image of beauty and power the daughters observe. The ritual is passed down through watching, not teaching—the daughters “spent their youth” witnessing it. Later, they mimic it, keeping the mother’s legacy alive even in an alienating school setting. In “Buraanbur,” the bleeding kohl suggests that this legacy also includes pain. The mother’s ritual beauty is intertwined with the daughter’s suffering, showing that maternal inheritance is both a gift and a weight. The final poem’s epigraph, “ALL PRAISE DUE TO THE MOST HIGH,” echoes the divine guidance Hooyo received, suggesting that the cycle continues through faith.