International Journal of Media and Information Literacy. 2021. 6(1)
182
Copyright © 2021 by Academic Publishing House Researcher s.r.o.
Published in the Slovak Republic
International Journal of Media and Information Literacy
Has been issued since 2016.
E-ISSN: 2500-106X
2021, 6(1): 182-192
DOI: 10.13187/ijmil.2021.1.182
www.ejournal46.com
YouTube as a New Culture in Indonesia: The Construction
of Gender Role in the Lens of the Circuit of Culture
Ida Rosida
a
, Muhammad Azwar
а , *
a
Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Indonesia
Abstract
This study explores the construction of gender roles performed in The Irvandi's YouTube
channel. By deploying cultural studies approach and working within the framework of the circuit of
culture by Stuart Hall, this study aims to show how gender role is regulated, produced, consumed,
and represented, which then constructs Indonesian women's identity. The result shows that the
gender role is regulated through religion by which Islamic teachings are applied in her daily life
and the social construction rooted within the patriarchal ideology. Next, the video's content is
produced as the content creator accepts the gender roles tightly related to the regulation. Further,
the video is consumed by its viewer where power, ideology, gender, and social class have shaped
each other. Within its consumption, the video reveals the gender stereotyping and brings the
effect of empowering women. As an interrelated element, the circuit of culture represents
Indonesian women as ideal Muslim women (shaleha). The identity of women in the video is
constructed through representation. She constructs her identity as a religious woman and
shaleha. Besides, showing viewers where she usually buys home furnishing products indicates
that she shows her middle social class. In conclusion, YouTube has become a new culture in
Indonesia and has created an Islamic cultural industry as the content is presenting a series of
images, practices, and religious values which is marketed especially to Muslim women. Then, this
kind of YouTube video is re-strengthening and re-emphasizing the role of women in the
family. The differentiation of roles between men and women is reconstructed and reproduced
within this online video sharing platform.
Keywords: YouTube, culture, media, circuit, Indonesian muslim women, gender role,
religion.
1. Introduction
The popularity of YouTube in Indonesia has inspired people to produce various content of
videos and upload them within this platform. On YouTube, people can share vlogs, music videos,
DIY's (Do It Yourself), skits, live shows, and many more (Zanatta, 2017). According to C. Chau
(Chau, 2010), YouTube is an online platform in which people can share and broadcast the
content. He said that this is a combination of media production and distribution with the
features of social networking. This is such an ideal venue to create, connect, collaborate, and
circulate something personal. Further, M.L. Khan (Khan, 2017) stated that online behavioral
engagement on YouTube is manifested through the way people like, dislike, comment, share,
and upload videos. These five actions are seemingly important for the content creator.
*
Corresponding author
E-mail addresses: muh.azwar@uinjkt.ac.id (M. Azwar)