MUSLIM WOMEN IN MIDDLE CLASS INDONESIA: POSTFEMINIST ANALYSIS OF WOMEN WEARING VEIL IN DEPOK (2010 – 2016)

Abstract

The presence of middle class is an urban phenomenon. Based on Asian Bank Development report, middle class has been risen in Asia since 1999 and Indonesia was among these countries. Indonesia is the most populated Muslim country in the world which is now facing the growth of middle class. In the other hand women and their bodies still be representatives of the nation economics’ face. Nowadays in the reformation era, many Indonesian women cover their body with Muslim clothes and veil. The number of middle class women wearing veil is increasing from time to time particularly in the middle of city such as Depok, where this research is conducted. This research aims to analyze the reason of these middle-class women who decided to cover their body with veil voluntarily, using postfeminist frame analysis through qualitative methods and interviews. Researchers were observing eight women of age between 20 to 63, who are living in Depok and decided to wearing veil throughout the year 2010 - 2016. From the result of our study, there was not any Islamic theological arguments given by women wearing veil during the interview. By using postfeminist analysis, media and free markets provided a role model of modern middle-class Indonesian Muslim women wearing veil as good girl and independent woman. On the other hand, those women believed conservative values such as marrying at early age and a rigid gender role. This practice of wearing veil for Muslim women is not Islamization and post-Islamization movement but a pop culture expression to establish them as a part of the middle-class group.