Amid growing digital activism to address gender-based violence, institutional racism, and homophobia in U.S. society,
Unruly Soulsexplores the intersectional feminist activism among young people within Islam and Evangelical Christianity. These religious misfits—marginalized from traditional religious spaces due to their sexuality, gender, or race—employ the creative tactics of digital media in their work to seek justice and to display their fundamental equality in the eyes of God. Through an analysis of various digital projects from hip-hop music videos and Instagram accounts to Twitter hashtags and podcasts, Kristin Peterson argues that the hybrid, flexible, playful, and sensory nature of digital media facilitate intersectional feminist activism within and beyond religious communities. Drawing on work from queer theory, decolonial theory, and Black feminist theory, this study explores how those who have been marginalized are able to effectively deploy their disregarded status along with digital media tactics to cultivate empathetic communities for those recovering from religious trauma.
This book explores the intersectional feminist activism of young people within Islam and Evangelical Christianity. Deemed
unruly soulsdue to their sexuality, gender, or race, these activists employ the creative tactics of digital media to seek justice and display their inherent value. The case studies demonstrate the overlaps between the hybrid identities of young Americans and the playful and interstitial aspects of digital media.
KRISTIN M. PETERSON is an assistant professor in the department of communication at Boston College in Massachusetts.
Introduction
Chapter 1: Dismantling the Hierarchy of Souls
Chapter 2: #KissShameBye: Textual Critiques of Evangelical Purity Culture
Chapter 3: Bold and Beautiful: Images of Unruly Bodies Destabilize Pious Muslim Icon
Chapter 4: A Seat at the Table:l7