PLAGIATPLAGIAT MERUPAKAN MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TIDAK TERPUJI TERPUJI A Representation of Gender Equity in Barrack Obama’s Life Narratives A THESIS Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Magister Humaniora (M. Hum) Degree in English Language Studies by TRI SUGIARTO Student Number: 106332018 GRADUATE PROGRAM OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2013 i PLAGIATPLAGIAT MERUPAKAN MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TIDAK TERPUJI TERPUJI A THESIS A REPRESENTATION OF GENDER EQUITY IN BARRACK OBAMA’S LIFE NARRATIVES by TRI SUGIARTO Student Number: 106332018 Approved by Dr. FX Siswadi, M.A. supervisor Yogyakarta, 4 June 2013 ii PLAGIATPLAGIAT MERUPAKAN MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TIDAK TERPUJI TERPUJI A THESIS A REPRESENTATION OF GENDER EQUITY IN BARRACK OBAMA’S LIFE NARRATIVES by TRI SUGIARTO Student Number: 106332018 Defended before the Thesis Committee and Declared Acceptable THESIS COMMITTEE Chairperson :Dr. F.X. Siswadi, M.A. ____________________ Secretary : Dr. Novita Devi, M.S., M.A. (Hons) ____________________ Members : 1. Dra. Sri Mulyani, M.A., Ph.D ____________________ 2. Dr. Patrisius Mutiara Andalas, S.J ____________________ Yogyakarta, 25 April 2013 The Graduate Program Director Sanata Dharma University Prof. Dr. Agustinus Supratiknya iii PLAGIATPLAGIAT MERUPAKAN MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TIDAK TERPUJI TERPUJI STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This is to certify that all ideas, phrases, sentences, unless otherwise stated, are the ideas, phrases, and sentences of the thesis writer. The writer understands the full consequences including degree cancellation if he took somebody else’s ideas, phrases, or sentences without proper references. Yogyakarta, 4 April 2013 Tri Sugiarto iv PLAGIATPLAGIAT MERUPAKAN MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TIDAK TERPUJI TERPUJI Lembar Pernyataan Persetujuan Publikasi Karya Ilmiah untuk Kepentingan Akademis Yang bertanda tangan dibawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Tri Sugiarto Nomor Mahasiswa : 106332018 Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul: A Representation of Gender Equity in Barrack Obama’s Life Narratives beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis. Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal 4 April 2013 Yang menyatakan (Tri Sugiarto) v PLAGIATPLAGIAT MERUPAKAN MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TIDAK TERPUJI TERPUJI ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Alhamdulillahi rabbil alamin; all praises is to Allah Azza Wajalla, The Almighty, The Most Beneficent, and The Most Merciful. Without His blessings, love, and guidance I would never finish writing this thesis. I would like to dedicate my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. FX Siswadi, M.A., for his patience, guidance, and supervision during the process of finishing this thesis. I owed him for the valuable time and energy that he spent in advising. My sincerest gratitude is also presented to Dr. Novita Dewi M.S. M.A. (Hons) who also patiently assisted me in the process of exploring the idea for my thesis since semester three. She also became one of my thesis examiners and gave many insightful thoughts. I thank Dra. Sri Mulyani, M.A., Ph.D and Dr. Patrisius Mutiara Andalas, S.J for spending time reading and giving constructive criticisms during the review and defense session of my thesis. They have broadened and sharpened my views on literary analysis and studies on gender and life narrative. I am also indebted to Prof Dr. Bakdi Soemanto, Dr. B.B. Dwijatmoko, M.A. and all lecturers in English Language Studies Sanata Dharma University who have widened my understanding on English literacy and literature. My innumerable thanks are to my dearest friends in class B 2010; Mbak Erni, Mbak Arien, Mbak Anjar (thank you for being very great sisters in KBI), Dame, Devi, Bu Erna, Mbak Orpha, Mbak Umi, Lelly, Rusdi, Fitri. I thank them for their incredible friendship. I thank to Mbak Anna and Mbak Ruth for being the proofreader for this thesis. Their input and suggestion help me to improve. I also thank Mbak Lely and Pak Mul for their help in the administrations and stuffs. They help me to manage my study in Sanata Dharma University well. I am lovingly and humbly dedicated my gratitude to my Mamak and Bapak, my elder sisters, my younger brother, and my brother in-law for their support and encouragement. To Kakak Majes and Adik Keke, this is the ticket for you to fly to Oom’s house! Finally, I would thank my girlfriend Anies who always accompanies me with smiles. Her patience and support has ‘flooded’ me happiness. She inspires me to reach higher, dig deeper, dream bigger and pursue my passion in order to live a life that matters. May His blessings shower upon us and we can build a family together in this life and the afterlife (amen...). Yogyakarta, 25 April 2013 Tri Sugiarto vi PLAGIATPLAGIAT MERUPAKAN MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TIDAK TERPUJI TERPUJI “Verily, Allah SWT will never change the conditions of people as long as they do not change it themselves” (Ar Ra’d:11) “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” -Henry David Thoreau vii PLAGIATPLAGIAT MERUPAKAN MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TIDAK TERPUJI TERPUJI ABSTRACT Tri Sugiarto. 2013. A Representation of Gender Equity in Barrack Obama’s Life Narratives. Yogyakarta: English Language Study, Graduate Program, Sanata Dharma University There are many researches on gender issue focusing on women and their efforts to work against patriarchal domineering system. Very few concentrate on men and show the example of their positive attitudes that are appropriate for the spirit of feminism. This research sees the need and presents the investigation on such topic. This research investigates Barrack Obama’s life narratives namely Dreams from My Father: The Story of Race and Inheritance and Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. It highlights the representation of the “I” into the spirit of gender equity and also the factors that influence the narrator to represent the “I” into the paradigm. This is a qualitative research using library research technique in collecting the data and descriptive analytical manner to present the result of the analysis. The data analysis is conducted using bell hooks’ visionary feminism and theory of life narrative. Answering the first research question, it is found that “I” is projected to embody the spirit of gender equity in his practices. He does not stick to the domineering tradition of patriarchal masculinity that has been performed by the black men in American society. Instead, involvement in domestic chores, participation in nurturing, provision of a space for women to speak, and consideration for women in the decision making process, are the attitudes that he has performed. Indeed, he is found to be ambivalent some times. Yet, he can always repress and discontinue his desire to suit the hegemonic norm. He has shown that he has escaped from the deterministic images of black men and also has showed the transformation that a black man can do to build a better gender relation in the society. Furthermore, for the second research question, it is revealed that the practices the narrator performs are triggered by the struggles and sufferings of women encircle his life. He believes that women have very big role for the family and the society and they are not deserved to be ill-treated. Seeing that his mother, maternal grandmother, paternal half-sister, and his female colleagues become the victim of man and his patriarchal tradition, the narrator believes that he will not practice nor continue the credo in his own life. Besides, the guilt and shame after witnessing the fraud made by his father and his male caretakers have also become the reason why the narrator projects the “I” into the spirit of gender equity. Because of their loyalty to the rules of patriarchal masculinity, the men have ‘suffered’ and lived unhappily. They always try to chase the images set by the patriarchal dominant system without ever predicting the damage that this tradition may generate for himself, his spouse, and his entire family. Keywords: gender equity, life narratives, visionary feminism viii PLAGIATPLAGIAT MERUPAKAN MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TIDAK TERPUJI TERPUJI ABSTRAK Tri Sugiarto. 2013. A Representation of Gender Equity in Barrack Obama’s Life Narratives. Yogyakarta: Kajian Bahasa Inggris, Program Pasca Sarjana, Universitas Sanata Dharma Ada banyak sekali penelitian pada isu gender yang berfokus pada perempuan dan usahanya dalam melepaskan diri dari penjara patriarki yang melemahkan. Sangat sedikit bisa ditemui bahwa laki-laki dan contoh perilakukanya yang mengandung semangat kesetaraan gender menjadi objek kajian. Penelitian ini mencoba menawarkan alternatif fokus penelitian pada isu yang sangat jarang dikaji tersebut. Objek kajian pada penelitian ini adalah narasi kehidupan dari Barrack Obama yang berjudul Dreams from My Father: The Story of Race and Inheritance dan Audacity