“Women in Indonesian Society Access, Empowerment, Opportunity”

The first paper, entitled “Role Expectation and Aspiration of Indonesian Women (Socio-Religious Analysis),” is written by Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin, a lecturer in the Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta. She emphasizes the importance of women to being their own persons, being themselves. She examines the complex role expectations of Indonesian women through cultural, political, economic and religious constructions based on the nature of the division of labor as it is perceived in Indonesia. She uses power-relation approaches to analyze how the role of women’s has developed as a result of bargaining for position between the two sexes in the complex social relations of Indonesian culture. She admits that there is still an on-going dispute over whether the roles attached to men and women are naturally given or socially constructed. Her research shows that the modern Indonesian state somehow still reflects the influence of Javanese kingdom, if not physically, at least, in terms of the power-relation on which the state is based, both in Soekarno’s era as well as in Suharto’s. Neither leader made it part of their agenda to liberate women from unjust treatment, although their respective approaches to women’s issues show certain differences. The former only focused on their patriotic role while the latter has been unsuccessful in launching the concept of “kemitrasejajaran ” (Harmonious Gender relations), for the fact that the power-relations at individual, social and state levels are still hierarchical. Prior to independence, however, Kartini (d. 1904) was leading the struggle for women’s equality, both in her own household and in society. In addition to the possibility that the nature of contemporary politics may be a factor in women’s withdrawal from politics, there is also the current interpretation of Islamic teachings in Indonesia concerning the role of women which lays on them a double burden, especially when it is added to the state policy of the their dual role in society. Little flexibility in the application of Islamic law, reflecting the changes in society, has been shown by Muslim scholars. Much effort is still needed in order to change the pattern of hierarchical power-relations into a more egalitarian form, in keeping with struggle for the social justice in Indonesia.
Probably it might be useful to observe the experience of Muslim women living in the classical age of Islam, such as the prophet’s wives, who were seen as “ummahat al-mu’minin ” (the mothers of believers), a role which to some extent won them respect within their communities. One might say that such a phenomenon does not help in advancing the egalitarian status of women; however the difference is that they showed their own capabilities in addition to being wives of the prophet, which is not the case in the Dharma Wanita organization, referred to by Dzulhayatin, where a woman’s value is based only on the position of the husband.

The second paper, entitled “Gender Gap in the Leadership Roles in the Educational and Political Fields,” is written by Amany Burhanuddin Lubis, a lecturer in the State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. She discusses Indonesian women’s access to education and political life and its influence on the gender gap in leadership roles. Her paper emphasizes how important it is to strengthen women’s education and their involvement in political activities in Indonesian society, for according to her findings the existence of a gender gap in both fields really affects the leadership of women in society. In addition, the leadership skills of Indonesian women are still lacking for a variety of reasons even while society is gradually converting from a patriarchal system and male-oriented policies. At the center of patriarchy is the oppression of women that has historically caused them to be excluded from major institutions and certain professions. Even when they have been allowed to participate, it has generally been at subordinate and second-class levels. In fact, women’s own tendencies and their preferred fields of interest and occupations are influenced more or less by the system. A family’s financial difficulties, lack of interest in science and technology, lead to fortunate decisions for boys, while girls are still relatively absent from male-dominated fields or non-traditional fields for example engineering, on the physical and natural sciences. In the political sphere, Indonesian women’s organizations manifest a fear of failure in allowing themselves to be segregated within their own areas of interest, which keeps women in a separate realm from men. At the same time, society does not help much when women’s participation is considered merely as symbolic, especially when there is such a wide gap between the two sexes in the political arena.
It is our concern that society as a whole be taught that national development needs everyone’s expertise, and that it is very important for women in particular to create such a network to build mutual respect for what they do, and to increase awareness of the existence of a gender gap in almost every field of Indonesian society, such as trade unions, employer’s organizations, the judiciary, important professional groups, top university posts and the media. I wonder how society in general and women in particular could observe this situation objectively; unfortunately the suggestions offered by this paper are vague and abstract and do not put forward concrete solutions to help women face their situation and initiate change.

The third paper, entitled “Enhancing the Role of Women in Development A Study of Education and Work Opportunity,” is written by Darmawati Dahlan, a lecturer in IAIN Sultan Thaha Jambi. This paper concentrates on the situation of women’s education and women’s labour under the New Order and the relationship between women’s education and work opportunities. In her findings women work mostly in the informal sector due to their low education, since this type of work does not require high education and skill; therefore they are unable to enjoy the fruits of their labour, but rather work just to survive. Furthermore, this situation seems to increase the burden that they face rather than to allow them to enjoy the results of the development. In contrast, there is only a very small number of women who have occupied the formal sector of the job market either as labourers, government or private employees. This is a result of the involvement of women as practitioners more than as decision makers (i.e as executives or legislators). Again, one of the cause is inadequate education. Although the women voters in the general elections balance the men, the members of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) and the Parliament as well as high government officials, such as members of the supreme court, finance inspector and supreme advisors are almost all men. The writer lists the factors which influence the low level of women’s education, such as early marriage, the limitation’s of the educational infrastructure in rural areas, family financial difficulties and the local system of socio-cultural values. However the program of nine years compulsory primary education introduced by the government has allowed girls to obtain a better education especially in rural areas.
This paper observes the issue more in terms of the government’s approach to and achievements in enhancing the role of women in the development, in fact we really need to adopt a more academic point of view in attempting to solve the problems. However, she suggests that both government policy and the contribution of society are needed to expand, to balance and to facilitate a reasonable and better education especially for female students in rural areas, while at the same time providing facilities and encouraging them to become interested in such fields as science and technology in order to gain access to the available work opportunities.

The fourth paper is written by Tsuraya Kiswati, a member of the teaching staff at IAIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya. Her paper is entitled “Women and Technology in East Java (Social Change on Women’s lives) Women within Industrialization.” She discusses the issue of social change as a result of the development of science and technology. She acknowledges that the women working in the technological and industrial sectors, both as actors and consumers, contribute to the changes in family, education, and government policy. She admits that the agricultural revolution has contributed to the process of social change. Rural women are increasingly moving to urban areas, a development which not only affects them physically, but also mentally and behaviorally. It goes without saying that in the industrial field more women are being employed because they can be paid lower wages, they are more productive, they are less likely to be absent, and they are easily organized. The advantages of technological development can be seen in the presence of women in the economic sector and the increasing number of women who have acquired technological expertise. Although women have been able to profit from the situation, many problems remain, such as child-care, the education of children, health issues, and the pressures of housework. In discussing the issue of social development, social changes have not happened in all aspects. The conditions in which these changes have taken place are, for example in the role of the woman in increasing family’s income, in technological expertise, in government policy, and in women’s suggestions and opinions being heard in any decisions on family affairs. But unfortunately change has not yet been seen in women’s education, health, domestic affairs and child-care. The old fashioned traditional beliefs which state that women are ignorant and lacking in basic skills can only be changed through the propaganda of religious preaching, academic publications and also by the struggle of women themselves.
The writer tries to provide a background to her subject by explaining the emergence of technology and the impact of technological development, but in the discussion of the latter, she jumps from point (a), which is transportation, to point (c), which is computers, while in her following explanation of section (D) she starts with I, continues with issue no.2, and then repeats no.6, regarding educational institutions and women’s health; these minor mistakes interrupt the flow of what is essentially a good paper.

The fifth paper entitled “Women and Mass Media : Projection and Profile of Ideal Women,.” is written by Armawati Arbi, a lecturer from the IAIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta. Her research emphasizes two things: first, how women can access information, and second, how there has been a change the of stereotype of women in terms of their character, their role, and female-male communication, as well as the profile of the ideal woman. She bases her study on the changes in the topics of articles and advertisements in Femina, a famous women’s magazine in Indonesia, over a 20 year period, between the 1970s and 1990s. She believes that the media has considerable power in creating images, myths and stereotypes of women and in raising the awareness of its audience. She observes that Femina shows both streotypes of women, negative and positive. However, she finds that Femina is increasingly providing a more positive streotype than a negative one. She admits that while feminine and masculine characteristics exist, these should in fact promote harmony when correctly understood and appreciated. She suggests that a woman’s ability to manage domestic and public affairs really depends on the situation and condition of the family. In the Indonesian context, it is important to remember that the best way to solve problems may be by employing a compromise approach. She profiles Indonesian women according to some very general categories, in which she sometimes compares them to men: for example, women as the head of the family both in urban and rural areas, people who do not speak Bahasa, participation in economy, and the changes in the status of women workers, i.e., family workers, laborers and the self-employed. She concludes by saying that women can empower themselves as well as others by gaining access to the mass media through a critical approach, discovering information sources concerning various aspects of life which deal with harmonious human realtionships both in the workplace and at home, if only in order not to give up on the idea of harmonious gender relationship.
The writer seems to be a little bit shy about critizing the weaknesses of Femina and limit herself to explaining how the articles over 20 years dealt with positive and negative stereotypes of women, male and female characteristics, their roles and their communication issues in domestic and public affairs. Hence, the weaknesses of Femina are not adequately brought out in this paper; however the author suggests that women can access the mass media taking a critical approach and need not only satisfy themselves with the idea of harmonious gender relationships.

The sixth paper, written by Hayati Nizar, is entitled “The Role of Women Leaders and Women Organizations in the Struggle for Independence (Between 1890 and 1945). She is a lecturer at IAIN Imam Bonjol Padang. She talks of women leaders from different regions throughout Indonesia, for example Cut Nyak Dhin, Cut Meutia, Rahmah El-Yunusiah and Rasuna Said from Sumatera, Dewi Sartika from Sunda, West Java, Nyai Ahmad Dahlan and Nyi Hajar Dewantara from Yogyakarta, and Maria Walanda Maramis from Minahasa. She admits that some of the women’s organizations arose from organizations which were established by men, although this was not always the case. Among the women’s organizations that were founded in the wake of the first Congress of Indonesian Women on December, 1928 (later known as KOWANI) were ‘Aisyiah, Wanito Utomo, Wanita Taman Siswa, Wanita Katholik, Jong Java Dames Afdeling, Jong Islamieten Bond Dames Afdeeling, and Puteri Indonesia. A notable omission from the list of organization that had an important role in improving the position of women in Indonesia, one that is in fact mentioned in the first two papers of our fellows, is the Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama, a grass-roots organization numbering over seven million members. The author fails to mention this group even once, in spite of the fact that its representative has been elected to be the vice-chair person of KOWANI at the last two of its congresses. This paper therefore gives an incomplete picture of the Indonesian women organizations to say the least.

* A Summary and Comments on
“Women in Indonesian Society Access, Empowerment, Opportunity”
Research papers presented by
Six Indonesian fellows of Center for Developing Area Studies (CDAS) McGill University