Malay-Muslim Punk Women in Malaysia

Abstract

This study explores how Muslim women in Malaysia’s punk scene use dress as a means of negotiating identity at the intersection of gender, religion, and subculture. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observation and in-depth interviews, it examines how these women rework punk aesthetics to local cultural and moral frameworks. Their sartorial practices emerge through careful negotiation rather than outright resistance, blending personal agency with religious and social expectations. By reinterpreting elements of both punk and Islamic style, participants reshape conventional norms of modesty, femininity, and subcultural belonging. These creative expressions generate hybrid cultural capital, an alternative form of value that bridges subcultural authenticity and religious respectability. This research challenges binary portrays of Muslim women as either compliant or rebellious, offering a more nuanced understanding of agency and cultural expression. Ultimately, the study positions subcultures as dynamic, intersectional spaces shaped by broader social and cultural forces.