Proceedings of The 2nd International Conference on Advanced Research in Social Sciences and Humanities

Year: 2019

DOI:

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Self-Presentation of Indonesian Hijabers on Instagram

Alila Pramiyanti

ABSTRACT: 

This study explores how Indonesian hijabers redefined the self-presentation of hijab-wearing women through social media, specifically Instagram. These Indonesian hijabers, or young Indonesian hijab-wearing women who are fashion-conscious, have embraced the visual affordances of Instagram to perform their unique digital self-portraits. I used digital ethnography to delve into the performance of twenty-six well-educated, middle-class hijabers, aged 20-34, living in Indonesia’s big cities of Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Gresik. These hijabers participated in in-depth interviews, participant-observations, and social media observations. Drawing on Goffman’s theory of self-presentation, this study revealed how Instagram had highlighted the hijabers self-expression with four key themes: being faithful, self-love, inspirational OOTD, and bukan riya (not showing off). Therefore, these findings indicate the hijabers’ self-presentation as modest and empowered young women who have intertwined fashion and faith.

Keywords: faithful, fashionable, hijabers, Instagram, self-presentation