Reconfiguring Ideal Masculinity: Gender Politics in Indonesian Cinema
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Reconfiguring Ideal Masculinity: Gender Politics in Indonesian Cinema Evi Eliyanah A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Australian National University February 2019 © Copyright Evi Eliyanah All Rights Reserved I declare that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Signed: 12 February 2019 Word Count: 77,081 Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken For Fadli. Thanks for being with me in travelling the less trodden path. Acknowledgements Praise to Allah, the Lord Almighty that I can finally get to the end of the tunnel. This thesis will never be in its final version without the constant support, confidence, and intellectually rigorous feedback and inspiration from my supervisor: Prof Ariel Heryanto. He was the one who convinced me that I could do a PhD, something previously unthinkable. He was also the one who convinced me to work in an area which I had never trodden before: masculinities. But, Robert Frost said that the road less travelled has ‘made all the difference’. It did and will always do so. My most sincere appreciation also goes to my two other highly supportive supervisors: Dr Ross Tapsell and Dr Roald Maliangkaij. Their confidence in me, intellectual insights and support have helped me build my self-confidence. They are just exceptionally kind and supportive. I would also like to thank Prof Kathryn Robinson for countless hours of fruitful discussion on masculinities in Indonesia and theories of masculinities. To Assoc Prof Inger Mewburn, The Thesis Whisperer, and her Thesis Bootcamp team, thank you so much. They taught me a lot of strategies about writing and surviving a PhD. Next, I would like to thank Australia Awards for funding most of my PhD candidature and the College of Asia and the Pacific at The Australian National University for the final six-months of funding to finish the thesis. Undertaking a degree program in Australia would not have been possible without the generous support of these institutions. My highest appreciation to all the staff, especially Gina Abarquez, Elaine Ee, Rozana Muir (ANU Australia Awards Liaison Officers), Jo Bushby and Etsuko Mason (CHL PhD Coordinators) for the continuous support throughout my candidature. My sincere gratitude also goes to Dr Carolyn Brewer who provided wonderful support in editing and proofreading my thesis. To my best PhD buddies: Maria Myutel, Meg Downes and Ros Hewett, you made this journey an enjoyable one. Thanks for the friendship, intellectual exchanges, laughter, tears and joy we shared during the years we travelled together. Hopefully our friendship will continue to flourish. You are the best PhD buddies one could ever wish for! I would also like to extend my gratitude to Prof Judith Schlehe, Mirjam Lucking, Paritosha Kobbe and Eva Maria Sankühler of Freiburg University, Germany, for the wonderful experience of doing joint research. I have learned a great deal from them, especially on managing a joint-research project and about research dissemination and publication processes. To my loveliest friends: Indri, Ririn, Hafiz, Ahmad, Tian, Vania, Gari, Santi, the McGregors, Amalinda, Nuke and Miranda—with you, life in Canberra has more colour and fun. The McGregors, thanks for always allowing me to play with your daughter, the cutest creature on earth, who can always bring joy to my sorrow and light to my darkest moments. To my work colleagues at the State University of Malang, thanks for filling me in during my extended study leave. Last but not least, completion of this thesis is one of the biggest milestones in both my life and that of my family. Thus, I would like to dedicate this thesis to my husband, Fadli. I thank him for his endless support, trust, love and care throughout the process, and throughout our lives together. To my extended family, I thank you for your constant support, prayers and patience. Abstract My thesis examines Indonesian filmmakers’ struggles in undermining the hegemonic ideal, bapakism. It focuses on the crucial years of 2000–2014. Profound socio-political and economic shifts had forced changes to Indonesia’s official patterning of gender relations during the period. Consequently, the changes provoked a requestioning of what constituted ideal masculinity, as well as femininity in Indonesia. So far, inadequate scholarly attention has been paid to the workings of power and class dimensions underlying the rejuvenated gender politics to secure hegemonic masculinity, especially in popular culture. Commercial cinema was, and still is, one of the most crucial arenas in popular culture, in which political agents—primarily urban, highly educated middle classes—sought to legitimise alternative ideals or to reinforce the existing hegemonic masculinity. My thesis is interested in exploring commercial filmmakers’ choices, negotiations and compromises in shaping what could be represented and idealised on Indonesian commercial cinema at this given time. Taking into account the flourishing of the 'new man' on-screen, I decided to use the filmmakers' struggles to legitimise this alternative ideal in commercial cinema as my analytic lens. The ‘new man’ challenges the hegemonic bapakism’s valorisation of breadwinning, authoritative patron leadership and heteronormativity. Combining textual analysis, field research and interface ethnography, I argue that commercial filmmakers struggled to innovate and experiment with alternative ideals which promoted equal and fluid gender relations on the big screen. Yet, the filmmakers’ struggles were overshadowed by middle-class biases and moral panic. Table of Contents Declaration of Originality ii Acknowledgements iii Abstract v 1. Introduction 1 Masculinities and the gender order 7 Reel masculinities in the study of Indonesian gender politics 15 Filmmakers and the voices of the Indonesian middle classes 22 Research methods 29 Structure of the thesis 36 2. A Gender-Order Crisis 43 Who or what is in crisis? 45 Indonesia’s official gender order and its hegemonic masculinity 50 The maturing of crisis tendencies in the structure of the 55 gender relations of production The maturing of crisis tendencies in the structure of the 66 gender relations of power The maturing of crisis tendencies in the structure of the 74 gender relations of emotion Conclusion 81 3. The Gender-Order Crisis on the Silver Screen 83 Islamisation: New alternative gender ideals and the evolution of censorship 88 Women’s cinema: Exposing gender inequalities, undermining bapakism 103 Conclusion 116 4. Filmmakers’ Reel ‘New Man’ and the Gender Relations of Production 121 Reel ‘new man’ of 7/24 and Hijab: Overturning the cinematic 124 tradition of bapakism Behind the scenes of 7/24 and Hijab 134 Middle-class biases underly the glittering scenes of the ‘new man’ in 145 7/24 and Hijab Conclusion 158 5. Filmmakers’ Reel Muslim ‘New Man’ and the 161 Gender Relations of Power Muslim ‘new man’ of Perempuan Berkalung Sorban 163 Tapping into the politics of the gender relations of power 175 An alternative ideal Muslim masculinity at the expense of lower-class 187 Muslim men Conclusion 197 6. Filmmakers’ Reel Gay ‘New Man’ and the 201 Gender Relations of Emotion The Arisan! franchise and the ideal gay ‘new man’ 204 Behind the scenes of the Arisan! franchise: A low-key strategy of resistance 215 Beyond the dazzling scenes of Arisan!’s gay ‘new man’: Middle-class biases 230 Conclusion 238 7. Conclusion 241 Summary 242 Way forward 253 Appendices 1. Plot Summary of 7/24 257 2. Plot Summary of Hijab 261 3. Plot Summary of Perempuan Berkalung Sorban 267 4. Plot Summary of Arisan! 273 5. Plot Summary of Arisan! 2 277 6. List of Research Participants 283 References 285 Books, chapters, articles, etc. 285 Filmography 313 Television series 314 Chapter 1 Introduction My thesis examines filmmakers’ struggles to undermine the hegemony of the official cultural ideal of masculinity in Indonesia from 2000 to 2014. The period was marked by profound changes in the official structures of gender relations. It was against this background that intensive searches for alternative ideal masculinities, as well as femininities, were waged by various interest groups in various arenas. Cinema was, and still is, one of the most poignant arenas in popular culture, in which political agents have sought to legitimise alternative ideals or to reinforce the hegemony of bapakism,1 the official most-exalted form of masculinity. In this thesis, I am interested in unpacking the workings of power that underpin Indonesian filmmakers’ struggles to legitimise forms of alternative ideal masculinities through commercial cinema during the period in question. Combining textual analysis, field research and interface ethnography, I argue that during the period, new hope blossomed in terms of representing alternative ideal masculinities in commercial cinema. Progressive filmmakers used intensive innovation and experimentation with alternative ideal masculinities to promote equal and fluid gender relations on the big screen. However, as the thesis unfolds, I also demonstrate that the filmmakers’ struggles were marred by middle-class biases and moral panic. During the period from 2000 to 2014, Indonesia was recovering from multiple crises. One of the major problems was the deep and protracted economic situation triggered by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The period saw the country struggling to bounce back to its pre-crisis economic condition. The struggle manifested in major restructuring at both macro and micro levels. Furthermore, the period also saw 1 As suggested by Julia Suryakusuma, bapakism is basically a configuration of gender practices, personalities and culture which socially constructs its subjects, generally men, to become authoritative patron leaders in the family collectivity, ranging from a nuclear family to the nation; the idealisation of bapakism is supported by the idealisation of ibuism, which valorises women’s reproductive and domestic roles (2011: 5).