Rachmah Ida, "The Construction of Gender Identity in Indonesia: between Cultural Norms, Economic Impli cations, and State Formation," Masyarakat, Kebudayaan dan Politik , Th XIV, No 1, Januari 2001, 21-34. THE CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER IDENTITY IN INDONESIA: BETWEEN CULTURAL NORMS, ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS, AND STATE FORMATION * Rachmah Ida Lecturer at Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Airlangga University ; graduated from Airlangga University (BA), and Edith Cowan University (MA) Abstrak Tulisan ini membahas bagaimana identitas perempuan dan laki -laki dalam era transfor- masi di Indonesia telah dikonstruksi oleh norma -norma budaya dan sosial yang berke m- bang dalam masyarakat serta formasi negara dalam wacana penciptaan/pembentukan identitas-identitas warganya terutama konsep dan terminologi ‘perempuan’ sebagai ibu, istri, dan jati diri perempuan itu sendiri. Dalam tulisan ini disinggung pula bagaimana organisasi-organisasi perempuan Islam seperti Muslimat dan Aisiyah telah berupaya m e- lakukan diskusi publik tentang perlunya melakukan reinterpretasi terhadap penafsiran dalil-dalil agama tentang peran dan kedudukan perempuan. Kata-kata Kunci: gender, Indonesia, norma -norma, budaya, sosial, formasi negara, Musilmat, Aisiyah The position of women in t he trans- ciety, still follow and hold the ideal formation era of Indonesia is still norms of traditional Javanese cu l- considered problematic. Indo nesia is ture and the tenets of Islam. On the in transition from being an agrarian contrary, ‘modern women’ are pe r- society to becoming an i ndustrial ceived as having a modern lifestyle society or between traditional and following the global movement and modern. Consequently, women as develop themselves in adapting to members of the society are also in a the movement of modernization a c- similar crucial position. Women are cording to the values of Western cul- facing a dilemma. The issue is ture. whether they behave in a traditional In reality, some urban middle manner or become modern women. class women are not one or the ‘Traditional women’, seen by the s o- other, but are constantly negotiating *Paper presented in Summer Course on Gender and Identity: Cross -Cultural and Multidisciplinary Perspectives at Summer University Central European University, Bud a- pest, Hungary, 24 July to 4 August 2000. 21 Rachmah Ida, "The Construction of Gender Identity in Indonesia: between Cultural Norms, Economic Impli cations, and State Formation," Masyarakat, Kebudayaan dan Politik , Th XIV, No 1, Januari 2001, 21-34. the two extremes, filling a middle They are the women who beli eve ground where they are both trad i- that a woman must obey her hu s- tional and modern at the same time. band if he orders her to serve him, They are usually affluent middle for example, or by accepting the class, who have a modern life style, right of the husband to determine some of them having studied ove r- their social life. seas, who sometimes shop in Sing a- Thus, I argue, the transforma- pore, Hong Kong, Paris, and cas u- tion era, from traditional (agra rian ally travel overseas. These women society) to modern (industria lized have been considered as modern society), has problematized the women who tend to be liberal in models available to Indonesian their attitude and beliefs and are women, requiring them to negotiate viewed as having sufficient freed om between the extremes. This article to define their future. These women explores and examines how the co n- concentrate on their career and cepts of womanhood and gender principally they also support identity have been constructed ec o- women’s emancipation, but in fact, nomically, politically, and culturally it is hard for them to sympathize or in Indonesia context. feel any solidarity with the poor vi l- lage women, many of whom are e m- ployed as domestic servants in these The Construction of Wo manhood women’s houses. in Indonesia Meanwhile, there are also numbers of women who consider Historical Overview. The construc- themselves primarily as mothers tion of womanhood in Indonesia is and wives, and only secondarily as keenly adapted by the State go v- the workers or as wage earners. ernment from the cultural values of These women are less likely to d e- Javanese and the values of Islam mand a wage, which provides t hem fundamentalism. The conception of with more economic independence. womanhood has been infl uenced The work of a woman in this from the central Javanese Royal case is always regarded as su pport- Palace both in Yogyakarta and ing a husband. These women follow Surakarta. Indonesian woman is and hold the norms, role and beha v- identified as women of the Royal ior which are considered ideal by the family. The role and the status of society. They like being Ibu [mother] woman in society are defined and who is busy with children, cooking derived mirror to the role of women for her husband, and being a wife in the Royal family in which women beside her husband [istri pendamp- should loyal to the husband [man] ing suami]. They are viewed as fol- and supposed to be an ideal house- lowing the tenets of Islam and the wife and mother for her children. norms prescribed by the Javanese culture for being the ideal woman. 22 Rachmah Ida, "The Construction of Gender Identity in Indonesia: between Cultural Norms, Economic Impli cations, and State Formation," Masyarakat, Kebudayaan dan Politik , Th XIV, No 1, Januari 2001, 21-34. Historically, from time to time Palace wall, even to abroad, than Javanese King had wife and/or mi s- the women. tress more than one. Several Java- Nowadays, in the transition nese Kings even did not have wife era from the traditional practices to but only concubines. For exa mple, the modern, the role of the Royal Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, a King wife is the same as a mode rn wife. of Yogyakarta Palace from 1940’s to She has more freedom to have a c- 1985, had five mistresses and tivities outside the Palace than b e- twenty-two children. However, the fore. Similarly, the condition is also ruling Sultan of Yogyakarta, admitted for the Royal daughters in Hamengkubuwono X, is modern and which they able to challenge to educated man has married only choose their own life. once and has five daughters. He has declared his wife as a Queen of Yo r- However, since the Indepen d- gyakarta Palace; so that the Sultan’s ence of Republic Indonesia in 1945 father’s generation was the last of up to the Soeharto’s era, women are Yogyakarta’s Royal polygamists. still supposed to hold a traditional Meanwhile, the King of Surakarta value as a Javanese whom also as a Royal, named Susuhunan Pakualam member of ‘Eastern’ society. As the XII, who is now still ruling the first and the second Indonesian Surakarta Palace since the 1960s, Presidents were Javanese men, they has six wife and has 46 children. As played an important role in defin ing in the past the Sultan and the the identity of woman in Indonesia. Susuhunan had many wives so he President Soekarno, the first Pres i- would have as many children as dent, was a polygamist and one of possible. The women, both th e wives his ex-wives is used to be a Jap a- and/or the mistresses, and daug h- nese Geisha. ters, were restricted within the Pa l- On the contrary, the second ace. There is a place in the Palace President, Soeharto, is a monog a- called ‘Kaputren’, a place for women mist and he has threat himself as only. In this place, all the Royal’s “the Javanese King” since the Royal female should did woman’s works Family authority has long been and activities such as practice tr adi- taken over by the national gover n- tional Javanese dancing, making ment, and has put his family as if traditional medicines and cosmetics, the Royal Family’s member. With painting Batik, and cooking for tr a- strongly hold the traditional Jav a- ditional ceremonies or events in the nese way of life, Soeharto and his Palace. In the past, those women family then played an imp ortant role were allowed to go to school which in determining the identity of Ind o- was provided within the Palace nesian society. complex. The situation was different from men. The Princes had more opportunity to study outside the 23 Rachmah Ida, "The Construction of Gender Identity in Indonesia: between Cultural Norms, Economic Impli cations, and State Formation," Masyarakat, Kebudayaan dan Politik , Th XIV, No 1, Januari 2001, 21-34. The Conception of Womanhood tive of whether they are de facto housewives or not. The social def ini- tion of housewives is the social def i- There are three concepts involved in nition of men as breadwinners, irr e- the social construction of woma n- spective of their actual contribution hood in Indonesia in which I exa m- to their families. ine here. These are formed partic u- The concept of ‘housewifization’ de- larly from the blend between Java- scribes the ways in which women nese cultural traditions and Islamic depend on the income of their hu s- norms. The two first concepts are band for their sustenance. Women those of ‘Istri’ [housewife] and ‘Ibu’ are not considered as wage earners [mother]. The third concept, there of in the family and are perceived as ‘state Ibuism’, is a creation of the non-productive in society. As a state, and symbolizes its position on housewife, a woman provides free women within the context of a patri- domestic labor. Women are also archal system. viewed as isolated and lacking ad e- The Indonesian New Order quate political and economic power.