Productive and Pious

Pious Girls by Annisa Beta is a bold addition to works by Indonesian writers exploring religion, gender, and society. This book unpacks how young Muslim women in Indonesia—often dismissed as apolitical or passive—are in fact shaping the nation’s sociopolitical landscape. Through fashion, entrepreneurship, and digital platforms like Instagram, these women express their identities in ways that defy Western binaries of oppression and empowerment.

Beta’s work stands out among Indonesian writers for its nuanced view of Muslim women's lived experiences. Rather than framing piety and productivity as opposites, she shows how these women embody both. From navigating neoliberal capitalism to transforming pengajian into spaces of informal political participation, Pious Girls spotlights a generation of women who are redefining what it means to be faithful, fashionable, and influential in contemporary Indonesia.