THOUSANDS in Jakarta took part in the global Women’s March early this month, as they wait for the hotly contested Jakarta gubernatorial election to pass.
The backlash did not take long to begin online, focusing on a university student. Like in many other cases, it began not as an insult against her politics but as harassment.
Apparently, a Facebook group focusing on online memes made vulgar comments about how she looked like an adolescent and when she responded, the commentators dug in.
Some maintained their cheeky attitudes, while some others became defensive and attempted to debate her in logic and semantics. Eventually, while some women argued that the true bad guys out there were radical Muslims, not guys engaging in friendly banter, group members grumbled about how “feminazis” spoil everything.
This was just one instance of the troubles feminists in Indonesia had to deal with after the Women’s March.
Feminism is growing in Indonesia, like in so many other countries worldwide. It is a range of political movements, ideologies and social movements that seek to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment.
The first wave of feminism hit the world in the early 20th century, often in a package with other Industrial Age ideologies such as nationalism, liberalism and socialism. While the second wave of feminism arrived in the West in the late 1960s, in Asia it was repressed by both communist and anti-communist governments, which believed that civil movements harmed the nation’s mission to industrialise and to build a morally strong society.
But when the third wave of feminism began in the 1990s and grew in the 21st century, it included the perspectives of women of colour and sexual minorities.
Indonesian feminists had many distinctive perspectives. They believe wearing a hijab is a matter of personal choice.
Indonesian feminists learn the concept of intersectionality, that injustice against women is strongly related to injustice against minorities and the poor. Indonesian feminists believe empowerment is political, not merely a corporate slogan.
The most obvious opponent to feminism to Indonesia and other countries is conservatism, which believes traditional values work best. Conservatives believe the best role for a woman is to be a mother who bears children, looks after them, and educates them with traditional values. Many feminists are parents who nurture their children, but don’t necessarily teach them so-called traditional values.
But there are many other opponents of feminism from different political spectra. Even many people who consider themselves apolitical dislike feminism, arguing that gender equality has been achieved since Indonesia had a female president, many female ministers and several female executives.
Many people think feminists are angry, sex-obsessed women who hate all men and are ungrateful for the benefits of life they have enjoyed.
Most feminists subscribe to left-wing politics and are sceptical about capitalism, meritocracy and organised religion. But there are many disagreements between feminists and other left-wing believers.
I have heard Indonesians saying or writing that feminism is needed in Indonesia, but no longer in the West. In fact, it is needed worldwide.
In Indonesia, it is needed not only to foil religious intolerance but also to fight sexism on the street and in the boardroom. It is needed to fight racism and homophobia.
Despite critics from all sides, feminism is a valid and necessary political view. It has made visible impacts worldwide, hence the current backlash against it. The cause is clear affluent men worldwide are afraid of losing their privilege.
A group of women was behind the revelation and shutdown of an online paedophile ring in Jakarta this week. Media and rivals dubbed them emak-emak (housewives), possibly to demean them. As they showed, they may be mothers and housewives, but they are also feminists. - THE JAKARTA POST / ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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