When Modesty Meets Aesthetic Labor: Islamic Modesty as Antithetical to Muslimah Social Media Influencers' Aesthetic Labor

Abstract: What is the relationship between Islamic principles of modesty and practices of aesthetic labor in the industries of influencer marketing and fashion? I respond to this question by examining the aesthetic labor of self-proclaimed modest Muslim female social media influencers to show how Islamic modesty—as it is understood via patriarchal interpretations of Islamic texts, and by cultural authorities in secular circles of fashion, is deemed inherently antithetical to Muslim female aesthetic labor in the fashion and influencer marketing industries. My findings show that Muslimah influencers face a doubly burdened challenge: on the one hand, Muslim women are expected to modify their performances of modesty to align with the secular expectations of aesthetic labor in these industries, but on the other, they are expected to observe modesty according to patriarchal interpretations of Islamic texts. In either case, failure to abide by racialized and gendered expectations renders Muslim women vulnerable to critique from Muslim and non-Muslim communities. I argue that this conflict illustrates that Islamic modesty is deemed fundamental to contemporary conceptions and embodied performances of Muslim womanhood online and plays a key role in shaping racialized and gendered expectations of Muslim women held by Muslim and non-Muslim communities in the west.