CHAPTER VI Female identity From repression to resistance The role of women and issues relating to women’s sexual identity are recurrent themes in Indonesian literature emanating from Bali.1 In Chapter V the centrality of women’s roles in Balinese social relationships that are narrowly defi ned in caste terms was discussed. While issues relating to caste generally enable the construction of female identity in traditional terms and in a domestic context, a variety of other, more modern models of female identity in public contexts are allocated to women in Balinese society and literature. They are portrayed as rape victims, slave traders, prostitutes, pre- marital sexual partners, social and political activists, and symbols of oppression. There is a signifi cant change in the way female characters are depicted in Indonesian literature from Bali throughout the twentieth century. With few exceptions, in works from the colonial and national revolution periods most female characters are depicted as being powerless under a male dominated social and cultural hegemony, whereas in works from the late New Order and reformation periods they fearlessly challenge this oppression. The shift in the representation of women from repression to resistance challenges the widely accepted image of Balinese women as being subservient and sexualized objects and also proposes a new way of defi ning Balinese female identity. In the introduction to a special issue of Rima devoted to women writers and women’s issues in recent Indonesian literature, 1 For a detailed bibliography of short stories and plays discussed in this chapter, see Appendix F. I Nyoman Darma Putra - 9789004253636 Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 04:15:52PM via free access 188 A literary mirror Tineke Hellwig and Michael Bodden (2007:5) summarize a new trend in women’s writing that began to question gender relations within New Order Indonesian society. They refer to the work of writers such as Ayu Utami, Ratna Sarumpaet and Djenar Maesa Ayu that explicitly articulates women’s issues and rights in terms of sexual politics and gender relations from a female perspective. Works by Balinese women writers are in line with this national trend. This chapter draws on works from all genres including prose, plays and poetry from the late colonial to the reformation periods. The long time span covered in this chapter means that the works traverse several generations of writers and a variety of social and political contexts (See Table 8 and Table 9). It is noteworthy that male authors focus more on female protagonists than on male characters. There were few women authors from the colonial and national revolution periods and they were more concerned with exhorting female characters to become active than with creating dramatic tension in their work. The female characters in works by men are more fully developed than those created by women writers. It is not until the 1990s that female authors start to show a revived interest in women’s issues, and to create female characters of greater complexity in their works. Examination of whether the gender of the author affects the representation of female identity is given in the last section of this chapter. Table 8. Works that focus on the role of women and women’s issues No. Title Genre Date Writer Role of female characters 1 Ni Rawit ceti novel 1935 Panji Tisna A woman as penjual orang matchmaker and (Ni Rawit, slave trader who matchmaker and sometimes engages slavetrader) in sex outside of marriage as a way to make money I Nyoman Darma Putra - 9789004253636 Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 04:15:52PM via free access Female identity 189 No. Title Genre Date Writer Role of female characters 2 Sukreni Gadis novel 1936 Panji Tisna A young woman Bali (Sukreni, is a victim of rape a Balinese girl) in which an older woman plays a complicit role 3 O putriku poem 1937 Wayan Encourages women (O, my sisters) Sami* to pursue progress 4 Kurban (Victim) short 1938 Bhadrapada A young woman story receives a modern education but is still proud of her Balinese identity 5 Seruan (An poem 1938 Ni Tjatri * A call for women to appeal) be educated 6 Si Lin Merah, bagi short 1953 Made Kirtya A wife commits air mata Kartini story herself to a life of (Miss Red Ribbon, prostitution after for the tears of being sold by her Kartini) husband 7 Ratni gadis short 1954 Ngurah Oka A woman has to pesakitan story appear in court (Ratni, convict girl) because she killed a man who was going to rape her 8 Di sarang short 1955 Ngurah Oka A prostitute is helped pelacuran story to return to a normal (In a brothel) life by a man 9 Tangan sebelah short 1964 Oka Sukanta A love triangle (Divided hand) story involving two men and one woman who are active in the struggle for national independence I Nyoman Darma Putra - 9789004253636 Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 04:15:52PM via free access 190 A literary mirror No. Title Genre Date Writer Role of female characters 10 Cintanya untuk short 1966 IGB A young woman api repolusi story Arthanegara is active in a (Her love is for the revolutionary fi re of revolution) movement but gives this up to enter a marriage arranged by her parents 11 Lisa short 1967 Wienarty A young woman has story Raken * to choose between an acting career and a jealous boyfriend 12 Tajen (Gambling short 1971 Faisal A wife is sold by her on cockfi ghting) story Baraas gambler husband 13 Pulau penyu play 1984 Aryantha Young village women (Turtle Island) Soethama are sold as sexual objects by a procurer; set against tourism development 14 Namaku Dirah poem 1997 Cok Sawitri* A widow who is a (My name is witch takes revenge Dirah) on the ruler who oppressed her 15 Api Sita short 1999 Oka A young woman kills (The fi re of Sita) story Rusmini* the boyfriend who turned her into a comfort woman 16 Pesta Tubuh short 1999 Oka Young village girls (Body party) story Rusmini* are forced to be comfort women by the Japanese army 17 Rahim (Womb) short 2000 Cok Sawitri* A woman is accused story of supporting anti-government movements by having a hysterectomy I Nyoman Darma Putra - 9789004253636 Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 04:15:52PM via free access Female identity 191 No. Title Genre Date Writer Role of female characters 18 Perempuan dari poem 1999 Alit S. Rini* A woman who is a awan (A woman symbol of oppressed from the clouds) people receives social and political support 19 Perempuan yang poem 2000 Alit S. Rini* A woman who jadi lambang symbolises people’s (A symbolic suffering struggles woman) for freedom of expression 20 Karena aku poem 2000 Alit S. Rini* Images of the perempuan Bali suffering of Balinese (Because I’m a women Balinese woman ) * Female writer Gender issues in public discourse Gender equality and women’s issues have become one of the major topics in Indonesian public discourse (Suryakusuma 1996). Factors infl uencing this attention include the widespread impact of feminist ideas from around the world, the collapse of the centralist and authoritarian New Order regime, and the re-birth of Indonesian democracy, which has actively promoted the participation of women in political life.2 Megawati Sukarnoputri was elected as the fi rst female Indonesian president in 2001 to fi ll the remainder of the term of the impeached President Abdurrahman Wahid. Her time in power ended in 2004, but it brought about a new focus and sense of hope to the discourse on gender equality in the domain of politics (Robinson and Bessell 2002). The allocation of a quota of 30% of parliamentary seats for female representatives at all levels of government, designed to diminish the previous domination by men, was another signifi cant factor that promised new prospects of making gender equality a 2 Sen 2002a, 2002b; Budianta 2002; Creese 2004b. I Nyoman Darma Putra - 9789004253636 Downloaded from Brill.com09/28/2021 04:15:52PM via free access 192 A literary mirror reality. Although the clause validating this quota was annulled from the election law a few months before the 2009 general election to equalize the chances of men and women candidates, by then it had in fact increased the participation of women in the political process as candidates for local, regional and central parliaments. In Bali, as elsewhere in Indonesia, the traditional patriarchal culture which treated women as lower-class citizens compared to men and assigned them domestic rather than public roles has always been very strong but it did not go totally unchallenged. This is exemplifi ed by the attention and effort intellectuals have shown periodically in their attempts to improve women’s rights and assert their roles in society. The nature of the public discourse differs through time, depending on the socio-political situation. Topics have varied from the importance of education for women, considered crucial during the colonial period, to a recent heated discussion about the discriminatory position of Balinese women in relation to local tradition or adat. The fi rst signifi cant step towards the education of women in Bali was the establishment of a school for girls in Singaraja in 1923, almost half a century after the Dutch had opened the fi rst modern school there in 1874 (Sutedja-Liem 2003:81). There had been strong social pressures discouraging female students from attending school, as it was feared that their ability to execute their primary domestic role might be impaired, while no such impediment was placed in the way of men wishing to pursue a public career.