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Senin, 23 Januari 2012

WOMEN'S ISSUES



  
In order to get a clear understanding of women’s issues in the Indonesian context, it is essential to take into account the complexity and the dynamic power relations of the socio-political dimensions which operate and shape the fabric of the Indonesian society.  As suggested by Sullivan (1992 women’s issues are “shaped not only by gender, but also by such factors as: class; race; ethnicity; and the role of the state in constructing gender ideologies and relations of power. Undoubtedly, the economic development at both national and international levels also has a tremendous impact on women’s life. My paper will focus mainly in this assumption by describing how Islam pervaded the archipelago and harmoniously merged into the local culture which is paternalistic and patriarchal. What is the nature of the relationship between the state and religion in constructing gender identity which triggers women’s issues in Indonesia. And finally what kind of interventions have been made and should be made to allow women to exercise greater rights under such a circumstance.


Islam, Patriarchy and the state

It is not an easy task to characterize the existing patriarchy in Indonesia as there are more than 200 ethnic groups which are organized along patrilineal and matrilineal lines. The minangkabau in the West Sumatra and many other tribes remain matrilineal despite the strong intervention of the central government to impose cultural uniformity and homogeneity to create the so called ‘New-Indonesia’ which is obviously Javanese in nature. Gunawan (1993) indicates a cultural tension definitely contested during the process of designing what was intended to be the modern Indonesia between secular Javanese and non-Javanese who are mainly religious-oriented nationalists of Sumatran origin. Ultimately, the ascendancy of Sukarno (1945) to the first presidency marked the victory of Javanese culture and consequently led to the predominance of the Javanese symbol in the national level. Later, it became strongly manifested when the New-order military regime took power in 1965.  The second president recruited more people from his circle to dominate the state administration and political positions. Subsequently, the concept of Javanese power which is feudalistic and patriarchal infused into the modern Indonesia.


The regime seemed to promptly fulfill the desire of the people to have a stable life after undergoing the political turmoil which ended up with a devastating civil war which was known as the September Communist coup in 1965. National stability became the political jargon to control the people's life politically, economically and socially and even religiously. The Communist party and its subgroups were banned and stigmatized as against the Pancasila (five guiding principles of the nation) and being anti-religion. The liberal democracy is discouraged because it can lead to political instabilities. The regime took full control of the state and dictated what was good for the people, including what was appropriate for women. Gender relation and gender roles became important dimensions of state control. Men and women had clearly defined roles that reinforced particular constructions and identity. Importantly, the public and domestic spheres were separated, with women's roles confined largely in the private sphere ( Robinson, 2001).

The Image of Javanese priyayi (elite)family as opposed to the ordinary people was perfectly articulated as the ideal image. The colonial concept of nuclear family was adopted. Within this concept, polygamy is discouraged and even strictly prohibited among the government officials and the arm force personnel despite the criticism of the Muslim conservative groups. Furthermore, the nuclear family emphasizes clear gender divisions in which men’s primary role is to engage in the public domain. Women, on the other hand, are assigned to domestic roles, raising children and providing comfort for the husband at home. This gender division is culturally and religiously seen as ‘natural’. Although the old maxim such as " a wife should follow her husband to hell or to heaven" have been gradually dismissed due to the introduction of modern education, yet the submissive manner is constantly encouraged as reflected in the use of husband's name for a married woman.

This tradition was only adopted by the Javanese elites in the late nineteen century through their close association with the Dutch colonial bureaucrats. Kumari Jayawardena (1986) notes that the role of women as housewife as understood today was deliberately planned by the European colonial authorities as well as by the churches:

The content and the nature of women’s education reflected the ambiguities inherent in the new concept of women. The missionaries had seen primarily concerned with producing Christian wives and the mother for new-male converts in order to prevent the latter lapsing into their former beliefs’ (Jayawardena, 1986:16 )

Later, this nuclear family system was extended to all social class and across ethnics through the National Family Planning Coordinating Agency. Yet, the adaptive and tolerant manner of Islam toward the indigenous culture including patriarchy was somehow made to fit the interests of the regime in constructing the family which heavily focuses on the ideal image of housewife. The combination of Islam and Javanese patriarchy had constituted the ideal image of housewife or what Suryakusuma describes as the state Ibuism “ (the state motherhood”). Legally, the ideal type was officially stipulated in the Marriage Law 1975 Marriage and Family Law in which position of wife are equal to those of the husband, both in family and society. However, by the same token, the roles of husband and the wife clearly delineated: The husband is the head of the household and the wife is the caretaker and responsible for the household. The Javanese elite men are to be served by their wives because ‘husband who involve in the kitchen is considered humiliating himself” (Kiswati, 2002). This custom has been adopted by the Family law in which the husband becomes the master of the family while the wife’s role is confined to the management of the family (Parnohadiningrat, 2003). Politically it was announced in the State Guidelines in 1989 and remains unchanged. The Guidelines precisely describe what part of her life Indonesian woman is supposed to dedicate to the state:

a.       loyal supporter of the husband
b.      Producer and educator of future generations
c.       Caretaker of the household
d.      Additional economic provider for the family
e.       Members of Society

This prevailing concept of motherhood was in fact, intended to attain the full political control over wives in the state bureaucrats and military who were the essential political constituents of the ruling party.  Eventually, the concept was widely manifested as the regime systematically promoted it through education, media and other means of public discourse. The state encourages women to meet the ideal type that is portrayed as a “married woman, preferably a housewife or possibly a medium career and under no circumstances can be higher than her husband”. She is also required to prioritize her “natural duties” in raising children and providing comfort for her husband relative to her own rights. Women’s achievements were never viewed as consistent with the ideal type unless balanced by the good career of the husband and the education of the children. Officially, wives of the civil servant and armed forces personnel are automatically drafted as members of “Darma Wanita” (the dedication of Women) which is nationally established in the government agencies. Communally, the state created a similar organization the so- called ‘PKK’ (Applied Family Welfare Programs) to accommodate the non civil servant wives in the neighborhood. The mission of the two organizations was to ensure that the ideal type is maintained (Dzuhayatin, 2002).

In order to gain religious legitimacy, the existing women's wings of the Muslim organizations were systematically made to support this ideal type by adopting the Guidelines into their missions. To highlight the Islamic particularity, they simply furnished the ideal type with the Qur'anic verses and the traditions of the Prophet which are complement to it In Islam, furthermore, the very concept of the domestication of women as understood today is a foreign one. It is not found in the Qur’an, while only few of the Prophet’s traditions explicitly refer to the issue of women’s protection at home. An-Nawawi whose book is widely studied in Islamic schools notes that all household duties—from going to the market to the preparation of the meals—is part of husband’s responsibility of nafaqah (family maintenance). His standpoint on women’ issues is not always promising as he constantly calls upon women to remain at all times sexually available to their husbands.

The impact of this concept is so obvious in terms of how the ideal type becomes the means to discriminate and to stigmatize those who do not comply such as working class women, divorced or single women, single mothers and lesbians. Yet, it tends to dismiss the potential violence which might exist within a ‘phallocentric’ power relation, where the standard remains favorable for men. Seeing things from this standpoint, violence against women physically, emotionally and sexually are constantly dismissed and otherwise seen as the means of ‘educating’ women to consistently comply to the assigned roles.


Critical Women’s Issues in Indonesia

Domestic violence

The existing patriarchal norms and the gender ideology imposed by the state had resulted gender discrimination in the educational sector. Legally speaking, boys and girls have been granted the equal access to education but when the financial issue raises parent will give the priority to the boy. Many of the girls stop at junior high school, while some abandon studies at the senior high school or diploma (Lubis, 2002).  Such a decision is based on the assumption that boys will have responsibilities of nafaqah (family maintenance). Often, the ideal type of domesticated woman used as an excuse for not sending daughters to the higher educational level because ‘they will ultimately go to the kitchen’. In reality, more than 75% of the Indonesian women are working for the family survival. Their lack of education have only forced them to engage in informal works such as domestic helper, agricultural labors or if lucky recruited as local factories.

Similarly, women are underrepresented in all kinds of managerial and political positions. The ascendancy of Megawati as the first female president is by no means indicative of better achievement of gender equality. Like many Asian women leaders such as Benazir Butho, Cory Aquino, Megawati has a solid family pedigree (Robinson, 2003). She paid a little attention to the demands made by women’s activists such as increasing the numbers of women in the cabinet, providing legal protection and better treatment of women, migrant workers, especially in the Middle Eastern countries and combating trafficking in women which is significantly  rising during the economic crisis.

Moreover, the domestication of women has become more prevalent with the economic and political crisis that severely hit the country. Attributing the political and economic failure of the state to the adoption of modernization, the conservative and the radical Muslim often blame women of being the primary source of the catastrophe through their engagements in the public domain. Their absence from the home is still considered as the root of the moral degradation underlying the other social ills such as drug abuse among the youths, extra-marital sexual relationships, prostitution and like practices. Moreover, working women, especially those who go about unveiled are often identified as the agents of evil and instigators of permissive sexual behavior.

However, being a good housewife does not automatically free a woman from the domestic violence. The annual record of Rifka Annisa Women’s Crisis Center (Rifka Media, 2001) indicates that the numbers of housewives who reported their husband’s infidelity is nearly the same as that of working women who did so. The former suffered more than the latter because their lack of economic independence since they had no choice but to remain in the’ hell’ of their marriage instead of seeking a divorce. It is also evident that being a housewife with no economic independence in the today’s patriarchal society places women in a very fragile position. For there is still no guarantee that the religious expectations of the role to be played by women, such as that of the family’s moral guardian, can provide them with any real autonomy and protection. It is more likely that it will result in a new form of the classic patriarchal masochism whereby women were glorified as ‘queen of the house” when in reality they were mentally, physically and sexually abused in order to be rationalized to the social privileges of men.

The religious authorities show their ambiguity as these related to women. On the other hand they say that domestic life is the proper sphere of women, so that they can carry out their ‘holy duties as mother and wife. But on the other hand, they say that such duties reflect their natural inferiority to men. And yet, they claim that Islam gives men inherent superiority, wisdom and judgment which enables them “to control and curb the hiatus caused by the unruly passion of women” (Khan, 1978). They often quoted al-Maududi ‘s concept of ‘women biological tragedy’ which rests in their reproductive roles which make them unfit them to carry such honorable roles as prophecy, presidency, and other kinds of leadership. Sadly, the increasing number of women in the top ranks of prestigious universities in Indonesia has done little to change the belief in the natural inferiority of women.

Reproductive Health Issues

The introduction of national family planning in early 70s becomes the additional burden to women as far their duties are concerned. The assumption that women are producers of the future generations as stated in the State Guidelines make them more responsible for contraception in comparison  to men. The patriarchal bias which perceives women as sex providers becomes the major reason to develop more contraceptive devices for women rather than for men. There are more than seven contraceptive devices available for women and in contrast there is only one for men; the condom. The use of the contraception as the means to control fertility growth was strictly monitored by the regime. Every woman was automatically drafted to be the acceptor of the family planning association which was organized in the neighborhood or in the Dharma Wanita organization within their husband’s institutions. The two children policy was strictly applied, especially among the government officials and the armed forces.

The most pressing issue of the implementation of this project is the devastating impact on women reproductive health in the rural areas due to the poor medical facilities and the lack of respect of women amongst the health care providers, who are mostly men. Inadequate medical examinations prior to the use of contraceptive devices caused various health problems such as bleeding and other complications. Moreover, it is reported that the negative side-effects of the hormonal devices such as the irregular menstrual cycles have prompted domestic violence cases such as wife beating and marital rape. It is commonly used as an excuse for men to seek sexual comforts outside the house. The unwillingness of the husband to use condom and the cultural norm of women sexual availability has extended the spread of STDs and possibly HIV/AIDS into the households.

Besides, the absence of abortion facilities for the contraceptive failures due to the religious controversies has multiplied women’s burdens. The Major Muslim groups allow abortion to be performed only when pregnancy endangers the life of the mother. In reality, women who desperately need the services mounting following the economic crisis in 1998.  According to the latest research (2003), the major reason for terminating pregnancy is economic constrains and numbers of children which have been exceed the national policy. Contrary to common belief that the seekers are unmarried, Cook (2003) argues that most women seeking abortion are married or living in stable unions and already have several children. As the legal abortion services are not available, seeking abortion to traditional birth attendances is the alternative. It is estimated by World Health Organization (WHO0 that every year at least 70.000 women die from complications related to unsafe abortions, some of them must be the Indonesian women.


Necessary Interventions

Giving the fact that the overlap between Islam, patriarchy and the state control have hindered women to exercise their rights, changes are imperative. The reformation movement in 1998 which led to the fall down of the military regime was expected to give a better political environment to promote gender justice and to eradicate domestic violence. In contrarily, the regional autonomy which was given by the new democratic government to the local authorities creates even greater challenges. The regional autonomy which was initially intended to prevent the nation to fall apart and to reduce the potential ethnic conflicts resulting an unintended aftermath. Many regions and provinces show their willingness to implement Shari'a law to restore the customary institutions.

Looking at the recent implementation of Shari’a law in many parts of Indonesia, nothing had substantially changed in terms of dealing with an acute corruption the country. Rather, regulating women in the matter of wearing the proper dress and banning them from going out at nights is the priority. This misogyny outlook of Shari’a law  reflects the perpetuation of patriarchal values embedded in many customary institutions and strategically adapted in the new political  setting.

Departing from this dilemma, the network between women’s activists and the progressive Muslim groups is imperative in order to dismantle any kind of authoritarian practice attributed to Islam. In a more empirical sense, the project of sensitizing Islam and women’s rights should extended to those have a wider access to the decision making positions such the members of political parties, Islamic judges and the legislature bodies.



References:

Dzuhayatin, Siti Ruhaini, Role Expectation and Aspiration of Indonesian Women: Socio-Political and religious Contexts, in Atho Mudzhar Women in Indonesian Society: Access, Empowerment and Opportunity (Yogyakarta: 2002), p. 154-194
Gunawan, Riyadi, Dimensi-dimensi Perjuangan Kaum Perempuan Indonesia dalam Perspektif Sejarah , in Dinamika Gerakan Perempuan di Indonesia , Lucy Margiani (Yogyajarta: LSPPA: 1993)
Jayawardena, Kumari, ed. Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World (London: Zed Books, 1986)
Khan, Masharul Haq, Social Pathology of the Muslim Society (Delhi: Amas Prakashan, 1978).
Lubis, Amany, Gender Gap in Leadership Roles in, the Educational and Political Fields in Atho Mudzhar Women in Indonesian Society: Access, Empowerment and Opportunity (Yogyakarta: 2002), p. 43-64
Robinson Kathryn, Women in Indonesia: Gender, Equity and Development (Singapore: ISAS, 2002)

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