Thirteenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

When I was younger, veiling was only common for those who had just returned from the hajj, the most sought after Islamic pillar. I argue women’s decisions to veil as largely voluntary but shaped by social pressures that can be quite extreme, and accelerated by the fast pace of social media circulation in Indonesia. I also argue that women’s participation in becoming more pious is influenced by the overwhelming Islamic nature of their environment which includes pronouncements by various Islamic cleric and social media influencers and the liminality of seminal religious rituals. Both Instagram and YouTube serves as platforms that allow ordinary people, celebrities and social media influencers to converse, to compliment, to promote one another, to promote brands, to make a career, and to even to attack the person they follow. My research shows that there is a constant conversation in social media in Indonesia that attracts young women to wearing veils. As the social media is increasingly overwhelmed by a homogenizing message reflecting specific Islamic value and performative practices, Indonesian women will be increasingly influenced to perform piety in their dress and voluntarily conform to wearing the veil.