Department Of Media And Communication - 2242 Words

DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA COMMUNICATION MA (Fashion Journalism) A RESEARCH PROPOSAL BY: Full names: ROHAIZATUL AZHAR B AB RAHIM Student no: ABR 14439179 Postal address: 23B ARCHEL ROAD, W14 9QJ Telephone number: +44 747 826 0640 E-mail: r.abrahim1@arts.ac.uk Date of submission: January 30, 2015 This submissions contains two (02) parts: Unveiling the Hijabista: When Faith meets Fashion Evaluation of ‘The Roles of Media in Influencing Women Wearing Hijab: An Analysis’ by Zulkifli Abd. Latiff and Fatin Nur Sofia Zainol Alam Part 1: Unveiling The Hijabista - When Faith Meets Fashion 0.0 Introduction The Merriam-Webster dictionary (2015) defines hijab as the ‘traditional covering for the hair and neck that is worn by Muslim†¦show more content†¦Assisted by the socio-technological developments caused by new (mobile) communication technologies (Blommaert and Varis 2015), these influencers have started a sartorial movement that brings together two seemingly opposing ideas in order to create an indigenous identity. Known as Hijabista, a term coined by Jerome Taylor in The Independent newspaper (2010), they are defined as â€Å"a trendy set of up-and-coming Muslim women† (Taylor 2010) who dresses fashionably while still conforming to the code as prescribed by Islam through the donning of hijab. Being a Hijabista can therefore be seen as a sartorial technology of the self (Foucault 1988) through recognisable emblematic values of fabrics, cuts, accessories and styles (Blommaert and Varis 2015). The emergence of the Hijabista stems from the modern Muslim women’s desire to assimilate into western civilisation and to show that they too are in on the game. The word Hijabista is a hybridisation of ‘Hijab’ and ’fashionista’; the latter being taken to mean ‘one who is a keen follower of trends and style’. Because the relationship between Islam and women’s fashion is a conflicting one, the global perception of the Hijab is one that is associated with oppression and failure to adapt to progress and modernity. However, in recent years, those in Muslim-majority nations have began showing how the hijab is in fact a symbol of freedom. This rise in the hijab-wearing community of Middle-Eastern countries, such as Kuwait and