Not as a meme. Not as a trend. Not as a moral barometer. Instead, as an everyday reality for millions of young Indonesians who are doing what teens everywhere do: figuring out who they are. The jilbab is part of that journey, not its definition. Some will wear it for life. Some will take it off later. Some will wrestle with doubt and recommitment.

I want to be mindful that “ABG” (Anak Baru Gede, or “newly grown up” teen) and “SMA” (senior high school) combined with “jilbab” (hijab) can sometimes lean into stereotypical or objectifying portrayals of young Muslim women. Instead, I can offer a thoughtful, respectful piece that looks at the cultural and social dynamics behind the phrase—how identity, faith, fashion, and adolescence intersect for hijab-wearing high school girls in Indonesia.

What matters is that they have the space to choose—and the respect to be seen as whole people.

Social media has transformed the jilbab from a purely religious garment into a fashion accessory—without stripping its sacred meaning. Brands now sponsor young hijab-wearing influencers. Department stores sell “rempel” (pleated) and “pashmina” styles alongside denim jackets. This commercialization can be empowering (choice, creativity) but also exhausting (performative piety, constant comparison). Not every story is Instagram-worthy. Some girls wear the hijab because their sekolah (school) requires it, yet face whispered judgments if their kerudung is “too sheer” or their bangs peek out. Others choose it voluntarily, only to be told they’re “not religious enough” for wearing colorful socks or laughing loudly. The ABG years are already a minefield of peer approval; adding religious presentation multiplies the stakes.

Then there is the male gaze. The phrase “ABG SMA jilbab” has, in some corners of the internet, been co-opted by content that exoticizes or sexualizes young hijab-wearing students—a painful irony given the hijab’s purpose of modesty. Many young women have spoken out against this, demanding to be seen as students, athletes, artists, and thinkers, not as a fetishized category. “I started wearing hijab when I was 12,” says Dian, a 17-year-old in Jakarta. “Back then, I just followed my mom. Now? It’s mine. But I hate when people assume I’m ‘soo religious’ or, the opposite, that I must be secretly wild because I post dance videos. Can’t I just be a normal teen?”