Music VCDs and the New Generation: Negotiating Youth, Femininity, and Islam in Indonesia

This chapter deals with the images of young female artists prevalent in music video compact disks (VCDs) of national and regional music genres in Indonesia and what they reflect about youth lifestyles, Islamic morality, and generational shifts. The music videos of these young female artists reflect a variety of cross-cultural influences that are imported, adapted, recreated, and blended. These influences do not always correspond with prevailing norms about proper behavior and clothing styles for young Muslim women in Indonesia. The three music genres highlighted are pop Indonesia, dangdut, and pop Minang, in addition to western pop and rock. VCDs in these music genres are often directly aimed at teenagers and young adults; the artists portrayed promote not only their music, but a lifestyle. Even though the appropriation of trends and influences from abroad is not new, these VCDs are breaking new ground by combining images of global youth culture in a distinctive Indonesian context, thus adding a visual dimension to the music that previously was not there.

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