UNS — Celebrating the International Women’s Day, the Girl Up community of Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta held an International Women Day (IWD) webinar of #BreakTheBias, not wani ditata (okay to be controlled) but wani ing tata (brave in planning) ‘Java Women and Patriarchy Culture’ on (8/3/2022) through Zoom Meeting.
The webinar discussed the patriarchal culture that remains and develops in Java by inviting three speakers, the Program Director of Jakarta Feminist and Co-Director of Hollaback! Jakarta, Anindya Restuviani, Lecture and the Head of Law, Gender, and Society Research Faculty of Law UGM, Sri Wiyanti Eddyono, S.H., LL.M.(HR)., Ph.D., and Project Officer CREATE (Creative Youth for Tolerance) Program at Hivos SEA, Nisrina Nadhifah Rahman.
The discussion started from the demeaning terms that exist in Javanese culture such as ‘konco wingking’ (a friend who works at the back part of the house, e.g., in the kitchen and cleaning) and ‘suargo nunut, neraka katut’ (a woman always follow their husband either to heaven or to hell), which placing women below mean, hinting that they do not have control over their life and that women’s future depends on their husband. Perpetuating ingrained patriarchal culture, which leads to gender-based abuses and discrimination. “We hoped that this event could provide knowledge and benefits in stopping patriarchy culture in Javanese community as a preventive step in reducing and eliminating gender inequality,” Santi Pratiwi, Vice-Chairwoman of Girl Up UNS, stated.
Patriarchy Culture
The discussion was opened by Anindya’s explanation that patriarchy is a social system that places men as the power holder. In this system, men dominate the leadership at family, political, moral authority, social privilege, and property levels. With the subordination of women’s roles, the system is vulnerable to creating discrimination and gender-based violence. “In a patriarchy world, if you pay attention during the Covid-19 pandemic, people who believe in patriarchy think domestic affairs belong to women; therefore, women have more burdens,” Anindya stated.
Discussing gender-based violence and women empowerment is often inseparable from the culture in which women live. Sri Wiyanti stated that patriarchal culture exists in various cultures besides Javanese. “Patriarchy culture could be found in many communities, cultures, either in parental, patrilineal, or matrilineal community,” she explained.
However, culture as a social construct is not stagnant and could be changed. Therefore, it is possible to change patriarchal culture through the values that lead to gender discrimination. From a legal perspective, these values lead to gender stereotype that affects how the law is implemented. According to Nisrinia, changing the patriarchal culture in the community could be achieved through education or a need-based approach, trying to listen to victims, opening safe and extensive discussions without making certain things to be taboo, trying and brave to criticize injustice, being creative, interactive, and maintain relations with many parties. Humas UNS
Reporter: Erliska Yuniar Purbayani
Editor: Dwi Hastuti