Fatkhu Rohmatin, S.K. Habsari, PUTERI MUSLIMAH INDONESIA… | 119 ` KAFA’AH JOURNAL, 10 (2), 2020 (Print ISSN 2356-0894 Online ISSN 2356-0630) Available online at http://kafaah.org/index.php/kafaah/index PUTERI MUSLIMAH INDONESIA: NEW FORMS OF OBJECTIFICATION OF WOMEN BODIES IN BEAUTY PAGEANT Fatkhu Rohmatin Universitas Sebelas Maret Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia E-mail: [email protected], Sri Kusumo Habsari Universitas Sebelas Maret Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia E-mail: [email protected] Article history: Submitted: 21-06-2019 | Review: 24-10-2020 | Revised: 03-11-2020 | Accepted: 16-11-2020 Abstract This paper discusses the new objectification of women bodies in the beauty pageant Puteri Muslimah Indonesia. It proposes to explore that the pageant “Puteri Muslimah Indonesia” continues to serve the consumptive culture raised by capitalism, despite its dedication and concern to promote Islamic values. This paper wants to argue the ambivalence of this pageant which in some way still glorifies the idea that women bodies as the object of gaze through the presentation of the beautiful display of the contestants with bold makeup, high heels, ideal body, glamorous gowns and ornamented hijab, despite the requirements to have some qualities of Islamic values and elements to be able to join the competition. Keywords: Puteri Muslimah Indonesia; Objectification; Women Bodies; Beauty Pageant INTRODUCTION The popularity of beauty pageants and the glorification of the winners attract many young women to participate in the competition. Many young women who join the contest are rarely aware of the history of beauty pageants that it was initially designed to function as a reminder that women’s bodies are restricted by the measuring tape and the judge’s approval of their physicality. Although there are competitions based on other forms of talent, the overarching message is that the female body is valued from the physical body (Nur, 2015). Some feminists disagree with this contest. Valenti (2007) for example, has stated that women should be taught to value their intelligence and abilities instead of just valuing themselves to look sexy in bikinis and making themselves an object of the male gaze. Another researcher, Wright (2017) has also argued that the evolution of pageantry swimsuit contest from a one-piece bathing suit, to a two-piece, then evolved into a bikini is a perfect example of how society continues to expose and objectify women bodies for capital ends and a great example of the male gaze. Similarly, Hester (2014) also dislikes beauty contests because of the use of females as sexualized objects in ways that benefit men’s desires. Kafa’ah: Journal of Gender Studies. This work is licensed under (CC-BY-SA) 120 | Volume 10 , No. 2, Juli-Desember 2020 Protests to the beauty pageant and the controversy to the organization of the contest are not recent. On September 7, 1968, the second-wave feminists that consisted of nearly 400 women protested the Miss America Pageant outside the Atlantic City Convention Center (Thornham, 2006). The group protested the pageant’s promotion of the ludicrous beauty standards. Despite many protests arisen, beauty pageants continue to be organized and take in many forms to meet public responses. The rise of beauty pageants in Indonesia is also accompanied by many protests that have sprung up. Some Indonesians criticize the beauty queen contests that are identical to bathing beauty which is not in by with the Eastern culture. Due to many controversies that emerged, in the 1970s and 1980s the Indonesian government imposed the ban and the delivery of Indonesian women to the international arena (Amini, 2013). Protests until the big demo re-emerged in 2013 when Indonesia had the honor to host the Miss World 2013. Because of the protest, the venue that originally in Jakarta should be moved to Bali to avoid mass riots (VOAIndonesia, 2013). In the same year, 2013, Indonesia also held a beauty contest devoted to Muslim women 'Miss World Muslimah'. Not only dressed in headscarves and floor-length dresses, but contestants must also have the ability to recite Al-Qur'an and apply Islamic values in everyday life. Irawan, a spokeswoman for Miss World Muslimah 2013, claims that "we do not exploit women, but we want to show that Islamic women are talented, skillful, and we hope to be a good example for other Muslim women" (BBCindonesia, 2013). In contrast to the implementation of Miss World 2013 which is rejected by some Islamic groups, beauty contests devoted to Muslim women do relatively not cause any noise. This indicates that the Miss World Muslimah beauty contest is more acceptable to the majority Muslim community of Indonesia (CNN, 2013). This form of acceptance can be seen by holding a national beauty contest with a national scale in 2014 in Indonesia, namely Puteri Muslimah Indonesia (Miss Muslimah Indonesia). Beauty contests that are devoted to Muslim women are held every year and broadcast by a national-scale television station, Indosiar. This further reinforces the reach of acceptance of Indonesian society, especially Muslims against beauty contests that are claimed to be based on Islam. Despite the public acceptance of the beauty contest, Puteri Muslimah Indonesia questions arise whether this contest is free from the objectification of women’s body or they are presented in other forms in response to the controversies. Another consideration that needs to evaluate is aspects that bring about public, both contestants and Muslim audiences to accept the celebration of the female Muslim body on stage as a public performance. This article purposes to explore how the contest constructs particular norms of femininity to resonate with Islamic ideologies of the female Muslim body which has to be displayed publicly. It is also to scrutinize how the pageant resolves the contradiction with the values of capitalism. Developed from Nussbaum’s theory of objectification, this study attempts to argue that although there are many requirements to join the competition that in some way all are Islamic in ideas and values, Puteri Muslimah Indonesia is still a beauty contest which some way continues to engage with dominant norms of femininity and comprise with commercially driven popular Islam. Kafa’ah: Journal of Gender Studies. This work is licensed under (CC-BY-SA) Fatkhu Rohmatin, S.K. Habsari, PUTERI MUSLIMAH INDONESIA… | 121 RESEARCH METHOD This study was designed using a qualitative research model with a case study method. This is because the object of study is in the form of an opinion or perspective that does not require numerical variable values and factual data. Meanwhile, the object of study requires deep questions to not only answer what is happening but also why it's happening. Researchers obtained data from the site www.vidio.com. The data consists of 4 (four) supporting videos and 1 (one) main video with a duration ranging from two to four hours. The data that has been collected is then analyzed using the semiotic analysis technique of Roland Barthes. If Saussure uses the terms signified and signifier, Barthes uses the term’s connotation and denotation to provide a meaning (Barthes, 1967). Both terms are used by Barthes to describe the level of representation or level of meaning (Chandler, 2002). Barthes affirms that the relationship between the signifier signified and myth by stretching out a difference and distance between denotation and connotation (Strinati, 2004). In the connotative meaning, the existing data is seen and interpreted from the point of view of feminism and pop culture by using the Nussbaum model of objectification theory. RESULT Objectification of Women Body in Puteri Muslimah Indonesia To show that there are elements of objectification utilized in the beauty contest Puteri Muslimah Indonesia, this study applies Nussbaum's seven notions of treating a person as an object. However, to evaluate the possible element of objectification, she does not mention to use all 7 notions for evaluation to confirm that there is a form of objectification. Nussbaum also avoids providing a straightforward statement, whether we can treat each of these seven features as sufficient for the objectification of persons in some cases. She stresses the idea that the elements of the objectification are morally problematic, contextually evaluated. Treating a person in one of the seven notions on her lists can be sufficient for objectifying that person, whereas in other cases it cannot. However, in the case of a person’s objectification, usually, it plays more than one of these seven features (Nussbaum, 1995). In this study, it is mainly to look at whether the contestants are treated as an object, which neglects their subjectivity as a human being. The first notion offered by Nussbaum is in terms of instrumentality: it evaluates whether the subject, in this case, is the owner of the show and all parties involved treat the contestants as a tool for their purposes. Looking at the number of sponsors supporting the performances of the contestants, it is difficult to say that there is no element of instrumentality, although it is hidden behind the euphoria of worthy of respect gained by the contestants. For example, for the Muslim community, according to Yenny Wahid the contestants are made as peaceful Islamic ambassadors and are required to contribute with softness, beauty, and good morals to represent the true Islam of Indonesia (In Wulandari, 2015). Besides, the contestants are also asked to serve as a model to promote various products. Products that are marketed quite a lot, as many as the number of sponsors behind this beauty contest, such as cosmetic products, fashion (ranging from high heel, dress or gown, and hijab/veil), tools related to Muslim prayer activities such as mukena (white long curb dress for praying), and so on.