Who Wears the Hijab? Predictors of Veiling in Greater Jakarta

Bibliographic Data

ID4234086
AuthorsAriane Utomo (0000-0003-2314-9513, The University of Melbourne, corresponding author), Anna Reimondos (0000-0003-4102-6592, School of Demography, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia), Peter Mcdonald (0009-0004-5842-4444, The University of Melbourne), Iwu Utomo (School of Demography, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia), Iwu Dwisetyani Utomo (0000-0001-7814-8329, Australian National University), Terence H Hull (Australian National University), Terence Hull (School of Demography, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia)
Year2018
Volume60
Issue4
Pages477-501
Publication date2018-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReview of Religious Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2211-4866 • E-ISSN: 0034-673X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s13644-018-0345-6
OpenAlexW2886770412
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited33

Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim population. In contrast to much of the Middle East, veiling in Indonesia is neither a deeply rooted cultural practice, nor it is universally practised among Muslim women. Just 30 years ago it was rare to see an Indonesian woman wearing a hijab or veil. Today, veiling has become a relatively common practice, particularly among middle-class Muslim women living in urban areas. Although statistics on the prevalence of veiling are scant, the fact of growing use of headscarves is widely accepted in the literature. This paper examines sociodemographic correlates of veiling among young women in the capital region of Indonesia. We analyse a representative sample of 1443 Muslim women aged 20-34 in Greater Jakarta in 2010. About 26% of the women surveyed wore the veil. We found a moderately strong association between veiling and other measures of religiosity, including self-reported subjective religiosity and frequency of reading religious texts. Our multivariate analysis suggests a positive association between educational attainment and the likelihood of veiling among young Muslim women. In discussing these findings, we draw upon the qualitative component of our study and the literature on Islam, gender, and modernity in Indonesia. The paper highlights the difficulty encountered examining the practice of veiling as a binary choice, and as a measure of religiosity

Geography · Indonesian · Islam · Population · Religiosity · Sociology · Asian Studies and History · Demography · Gender Studies · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Psychology · Religion, Society, and Development · Social Psychology

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