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“They said we ruined the character and our religion”: authenticity and legitimation of hijab cosplay

Hounaida El Jurdi (American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon)
Mona Moufahim (University of Stirling, Stirling, UK)
Ofer Dekel (De Montfort University, Leicester, UK)

Qualitative Market Research

ISSN: 1352-2752

Article publication date: 30 November 2021

Issue publication date: 19 January 2022

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Abstract

Purpose

This research is positioned at the intersection of youth subculture consumption and religious affiliation, through the study of observant Muslim women involved in the highly engaging and codified activity of cosplay. Given authenticity is central to the cosplay visual impact and performance, this study aims to understand the way hijab cosplayers negotiate tensions between authentic body performativity and the observance of religious dressing codes.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative interpretive approach was used to address the research questions. In-depth semi-structured online interviews were conducted with 25 members of a hijab cosplayers from South East Asia.

Findings

The concept of authenticity emerged as multifaceted for hijab cosplayers, where they manage three different aspect of the authentic cosplay performance as follows: authenticity as a cosplayer (social dimension of authenticity), authenticity to the character (personal dimension of authenticity) and authenticity to their religious identity (religious dimension of authenticity). The subsequent malleable authenticity is used to legitimate cosplay as an acceptable performative practice from a religious and from subcultural view.

Originality/value

The research highlights how tensions between identity and performativity of the body are negotiated. More specifically, the study contributes to the understanding of the way hijab cosplayers reconcile tensions between religious identity and the performativity of the body. Given the role of the body as a site for negotiating identity, this study provides important insights in the tensions and strategies at the intersection of authenticity, embodiment and religious identity in youth cultures.

Keywords

Citation

El Jurdi, H., Moufahim, M. and Dekel, O. (2022), "“They said we ruined the character and our religion”: authenticity and legitimation of hijab cosplay", Qualitative Market Research, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 43-59. https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-01-2021-0014

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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