“They Said We Ruined the Character and Our Religion”: A Study of the Hijab Cosplay Community

Paper was presentated in the Consumer Culture Theory conference (one of the leading 2 conferences) following that a paper submited to Journal of Consumer Culture (2 stars) in R and R at the momentStudies on youth consumer behavior have been an area of interest in many disciplines.Despite the increasing interest in youth cultures, their consumption habits and identities the role of religion as an identity shaping force in youth leisure consumption has been largely overlooked. Most research has focused on youth risky behaviors,youth identities, lifestyles and consumption where youth have been assumed to be a globally homogenous group.Focusing on aSouth-East Asian Hijab Cosplay community,we explore the role of religious identity in cosplay performativity.Findings from 25 interviews reveal that religious identity, as a core identity, is incorporated in costuming through making the hijab part of the costume. Authenticity emerged as a key construct in legitimating hijab cosplayas a leisure activity among Muslim female youth