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Accepted Paper:
Natural looks, Hijab tutorials and DIY Regimes for Malayali Muslim Brides: Beauty Vlogs and Wardrobe Stories
Athira B K
(Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)
The paper examines selected Malayalam YouTube vlogs on Bridal beautification to understand ,how certain tenets associated with a ' Malayali Muslim bridal femininity' are being circulated through these vlogs.
Paper long abstract:
The study devices the concept of digital intermediation to explain the circulation of bodily and sartorial prescriptions for a 'perfect Muslim Bridal look' diffused through beauty vlogs on YouTube channels from India. Selected Malayalam YouTube vlogs will be examined to understand how certain tenets associated with a ' Malayali Muslim bridehood' are being circulated through these vlogs. The study is based on a semiotic analysis of Malayalam vlogs on bridal looks for Muslim brides from the state of Kerala, India, which was carried out through a digital ethnography. The analysis was carried out during the between June 2020 and October 2021, and is based on vlogs which were released during this period. Samples were chosen on the basis of views and the analysis is based on vlogs crossing 15 k views. While an emphasis is given to the cultural artefacts insinuated through the vlogs, like home remedies and DIY regimes for the bride, questions regarding the technology and associated practices of production and circulation of the content are also looked at. The paper argues, that the process of 'digital story telling' catalysed the circulation of emergent bridal bodily norms among the Muslim groups in Kerala, arguably in the backdrop of transnational Islam and free market ideology.