Decolonising the Modest Dress: Intersectionality, Agency, and Choice in Diasporic Muslim Women’s Fiction

Abstract

This article explores the intersection of religion and modest dressing within the framework of intersectional feminist theory (Crenshaw 1998, Selod 2018) while reading diasporic fiction by Muslim women. It looks into how the protagonists in the novels The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf (2006) and Love in a Headscarf (2010) navigate agency and choice while adopting Islamic sartorial styles. Challenging the modernist premise which regard faith as a private act rather than explicit ritual practices or as reciprocated in faith-based clothing (Tarlo and Moors 2013, Asad 1997), the article expands the concept of ‘modesty’ (haya) beyond traditional fiqhi interpretations into the frame of modest dressing. Secondly, drawing from the works of Judith Butler (1999) and Saba Mahmood (2005), the article regards agency as embedded within power structures, moving beyond the binary of subordination and subversion. Thirdly, it builds on Miriam Cooke’s ‘multiple critique’ (2007) and Elizabeth Bucar’s ‘creative conformity’ (2011) to examine how characters negotiate religious and patriarchal norms while operating in a nuanced space between conformity and rebellion. The article situates Muslim women’s sartorial choices within the broader context of secularism, global fashion networks, and the political climate of Islamophobia, and looks into its impact upon intersectionality and the broader discourse of feminist studies.