Representation of Young Hijabers in Beauty Products Advertising

Abstract

An ideal woman is a beautiful woman, and this stereotype continues to be constructed by various media. In the last two decades since reformasi era in 1998, beauty products for hijab users have increased in line with the development of Muslim religious movements in Indonesia. The emergence of hijabers in the middle class and media coverage about them have encouraged the development of various beauty products for this particular segment users. Gradually, media representation of the beautiful hijab users has constructed the lifestyle of the hijabers in general. The question now is how do media represent hijabers? The objects of this research are ads, which sell these beauty images and form a myth that is easily accepted by its target audience. The sample is a beauty product advertisement presenting hijabers therein and data collection is done through semiotic analysis. The results of the research shows that the ads represent the activities of adolescent hijabers that are no longer in accordance with the prevailing stereotypes in the society, although the physical appearance of women is still portrayed in a gender biased manner