The Unruly, Loud, and Intersectional Muslim Woman: Interrupting the Aesthetic Styles of Islamic Fashion Images on Instagram

Abstract

This article explores the concept of a social media interrupter, one who engages with the visual style and discourse of social media influencers while incorporating a subversive critique of the ways that social media spaces perpetuate injustices and marginalize voices. This concept of social media interrupter is discussed through an analysis of Islamic fashion iconoclast Leah Vernon, a self-identified fat, Black Muslim woman who uses her position as a fashionista on Instagram to insert her biting critique of both Islamic fashion and social media influencers. Instead of standing outside, she interrupts and disrupts Islamic fashion on Instagram by constantly bringing up concerns of body image, fatphobia, colorism, racism, economic inequality, and mental health. Leah’s intersectional feminist critique, I argue, gains power and visibility because of how she effectively interrupts the aesthetic style of Instagram by inserting her unruly body and her concern for social injustices.