ON BEING A WOMAN IN INDONESIA:
The poster above summarizes a regular Indonesian woman’s life.
There are “different yet almost the same” endless questions that are asked constantly to an Indonesian woman.
When she just finished her undergrad, people ask her, “When will you get married?”
Once she got married, people will start asking, “When will you have kids?”
Later, people ask, “When will you have your next kid?”
People then ask, “Why are you a stay-at-home mom? Don’t you feel bad about it since you have a master degree?
And when you manage to work outside your house, people won’t leave you alone. They will ask, “So, you are working now? Don’t you feel bad leaving your kids at home?”
Once you get old, people who are so into your life will ask, “When will you have daughter/son-in-law?
Here are activities that take place in an
average household during the course of a
day:
Food is cooked; cleaning is done – sweeping, mopping, and dusting.
Groceries and other household items are purchased.
Clothes are washed, dried, ironed.
People who live in the house need to be looked after
(babies etc).
Put together, these tasks are called housework and most of the time, women perform these tasks.
However, it is ironic that in Indonesia, housework is not considered to be work in economic or social terms.
It is seen as a set of tasks that is naturally performed by the women of a household.
Yet, when the women of the house are unable or unwilling to do these tasks, other people will do them – but only if they are paid to do so.
There are so many arguments of why such a perspective exists in Indonesia. Some people say that housework is not considered to be work since it does not bring money to the household. Here money is more valuable than physical service. Some people argue that it is not work because it doesn’t require any skills; etc.
This example indicates that gender studies is much needed as it functions as an important means of correcting Indonesian people’s mindset which brings injustice to many women.
But, what does gender mean?
Within feminist thought, a distinction has been made between “sex” and “gender.”
Sex refers to the fact of being either male or female, and gender to the
cultural and social ideas of masculinity
and femininity that are assigned to different sexes.
Hence, “Sex” is defined as the anatomical and physiological characteristics that signify the biological maleness and
femaleness of an individual.
“Gender” refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given
society considers appropriate for men and women. Gender emphasizes that masculinity and femininity are products of social, cultural and psychological factors and are acquired by an individual in the process of becoming a man or woman.
What is the significance of the concept “gender?”
In talking about the social and cultural construction of masculinity and femininity, gender allows us to see these dimensions of human roles and personalities as based not on nature but on social factors. It then allows us to address
Key differences between sex and gender:
Sex
It is natural
It is biological. It donates to visible differences in genitalia and related differences in procreative function.
It is a universal term
Gender
It is a social construct
It is a socio-cultural construct and it refers to masculine and feminine qualities, behaviour patterns, related roles and responsibility, etc.
Gender stereotype:
Women may be seen as naturally caring and nurturing, while men may be seen as naturally rational and logical; this may lead to the belief that women are naturally suited to jobs like nursing, while men will make good scientists and engineers.
The traits associated with masculinity and femininity varies across different cultures and societies, as well as different periods in history.
Moreover, when think about a woman – it’s important to realize that a woman is not only a woman – within our society, she also has a certain class position, caste position, religious identity, sexual identity, and many more.
Think of the difference in girls’ and boys’
clothing.
What do women wear?
What do men wear?
Women can wear men’s clothing but it is weird to see a man uses women’s clothing.
However, even though women may wear denim jeans. But even here, it can be noted that there are differences – in cuts, i.e. in how the jeans fits the wearer (tight or
loose), in colours and
embellishments (embroidery, sequins, crystals etc.).
When we look at it closely we see:
It is women who often adopt men’s clothing (neckties, business suits: trousers and jackets.
It is much less common to find examples of women’s clothing that have been adopted, on a large scale, by men. It is not
usual to see men going to work wearing kebaya – Javanese women’s traditional clothing.
This example also indicates power differences between genders. It is more common to see the powerless adopting the characteristics of the powerful, than the powerful
Now, how is life in a gendered world?
Education is gendered => people advise a young person on which subjects to take in school or college by saying, “you should study this – it is a good subject for a girl” or “that is not the right subject for a boy”.
Job market is also gendered – different opportunities are
considered to be appropriate for girls and boys. Certain careers are gendered – nursing, for example, is a profession that has more
women than men and which is not deemed appropriate for men.
Physical spaces may be gendered. Think of the roads of a city – can anyone be out on the street at any time? There are no rules
Women also do not spend time hanging around on the streets – at a teashop, for instance, alone or chatting with friends. Men and women thus have different kinds of access
Let’s talk more about gender as a social
construct:
Simone de Beauvoir
People – men and women - do not merely internalize gender roles as they grow up but they respond to the norms prevalent in the society.
Children learn to categorize themselves by gender from infancy. A part of this is learning how to display and perform gendered
identities as masculine or feminine.
Children observe and gradually internalize the gendered behaviour around them through different medium and sources.
Gender- differentiated children’s activities gradually cement the gender difference in behaviour that later reflect in the nature of adult male and female behaviour.
However, it becomes a problem when it creates discrimination. It can happen to men and women but women are those who mostly experience gender discriminations.
Gender discrimination refers to the practice of treating a group of people differently based upon their gender. In most cases of
discrimination, it includes the presence of unfair behavior toward one gender believed to be inferior by another.
Gender discrimination examples include, but are not limited to: workplace discrimination, sexual discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, and wage discrimination.
These discriminations are not natural but they are socially constructed in a patriarchal society which legitimizes these practices and makes them acceptable; also, those who deviate
Why does gender discrimination happen:
The degree of control exercised by certain
people/institutions/organizations over material, human,
intellectual and financial resources can be defined as Power.
In Indonesia, gender discrimination is triggered by many factors including patriarchal values that imposed to
Indonesian people.
Patriarchy literally means the “rule of the father.” Within gender studies, the term refers to a social system wherein men dominate over women. Male dominance can be
expressed in various ways – for example, within the
institution of the family, in the greater rights given to men, through the ownership and control by men of resources like land and other assets.
Patriarchy takes different forms in different social and historical contexts. This is because patriarchy is a system
which interacts with – i.e., it is shaped by, and shapes – other systems in society. It operates differently in different
A patriarchal society is a society controlled, and run by men. Men devise the rules and hold dominating positions at home, in community, in business and government.
"A man's world", is a phrase that is used to talk about this.
They hold the privilege to listing out rules and dominate in all forums both inside and outside the home. In such a societal setup a woman is seen more as supplementing and
supporting a man (behind every successful man is a woman), bearing children and taking care of household chores.
In order to fight the discrimination in
Indonesia:
Women need to be empowered. Empowerment of woman means the redistribution of power that challenges patriarchal ideology and male dominance. It is both a process and a
result of the process.
Empowerment essentially entails the transformation of the structure or institutions that reinforce and perpetuate gender discrimination. It is a process that enables women to gain
However, empowerment for women begins in the household with equality, autonomy and respect.
Achieving equality between men and women in the family is the foundation on which empowerment in other areas is based.
The process of empowerment is both individual and collective. It is through the involvement in groups that people most often begin to develop awareness and the ability to organize, to take action and bring change.
Thus, empowerment is a process of awareness and capacity building leading to greater participation in the decision-making (power and control) and transformative action.
Gender equity is the process of being fair to women and men. To ensure fairness, strategies and measures must often be available to compensate for women's historical and social
disadvantages that prevent women and men from otherwise operating on a level playing field.
Equity leads to equality.
Gender equality requires equal enjoyment by women and men of socially-valued goods, opportunities, resources and rewards.
Gender equality does not mean that men and women
The impact of globalization on women:
In general, globalization has strengthened women’s position. Their participation in market economy has also been fostered by the tide of globalization.
However, this development has been uneven whether
between countries or among socioeconomic groups within the same country.
Modern technology is widely accessible and rapid
communications represent an important dimension of globalization. With increasing deregulation, modern
However, most women who can benefit from these privileges are well educated and belong to the high income groups,
while women with little or no education, usually the elderly, are being excluded.
As a result, women must have a powerful voice in dialogues concerning the policies to be drawn for improving training opportunities for women and providing social protection from those who are adversely affected.
Moreover, globalization also brings hardship for women.
As our world becomes increasingly connected and globalized, global demand for minerals is on the rise.
Many mining companies from outside Indonesia collaborate with Indonesian government to establish mining industries in different parts of Indonesia.
It has been emphasized that the introduction of large-scale mining affects women in complex ways. The gendered
impacts of mining have been put into three broad categories – health and wellbeing, women’s work and traditional roles, and gender inequalities in the economic benefits from mining activities.
An example of the impact of mining activities to Indonesian women especially those who live in rural areas can be found in my work: “WHEN MOLLO INDIGENOUS WOMEN IN EAST NUSA TENGGARA, INDONESIA SPEAK BACK!”
