Last week, Indonesians celebrated Kartini Day, honoring the 19th century Javanese princess who inspired the movement for women’s emancipation. Kartini was of noble birth and, in accordance with the norms of the time, she was restricted to her home after completing her elementary education at a Dutch primary school. Her fate, like those of her contemporaries, was to be married off and start a family. Fortunately for future generations of Indonesian women, she was a prolific writer, sending letters expressing her feelings and observations around her to a friend in distant Holland. The letters were later published in a Dutch magazine, under the titles Out of Darkness to Light, Women’s Life in the Village and Letters of a Javanese Princess. Today, she is a national hero, a symbol of women’s emancipation throughout the nation.
Every year, to celebrate Kartini Day, women don traditional attire to show off and reinforce the popular conviction of maintaining both tradition and modernity. Holding on to one’s customs and traditions alongside technological and scientific advances is to preserve one’s national identity, many Indonesians believe. No argument there, but when certain cultural norms actually prevent women’s productive participation in the socio-political economy, then it’s time for a serious review of what needs to be adapted to the needs of modern day life.
Indonesian women today can be found in most of the country’s socio-political and economic sectors, but as in many parts of the developing world, their numbers are far below those of men. Of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be universally achieved, the fifth – after poverty and hunger elimination, and ensuring good health and quality education – is gender equality. When women are treated unjustly and discriminated against, the goals of an equitable world are unlikely be achieved. And the very roots of such injustices lie in our outdated cultural beliefs and perceptions and the failure to recognize them as serious impediments to any form of progress and the potential for change.
In many areas where tradition is strictly adhered to, women’s access to education and employment opportunities are often compromised by early marriage. Young married girls whose schooling is cut short often lack the knowledge and skills for formal work and are limited to occupations with lower incomes and inferior working conditions. So, one step forward would be to break this cycle of early marriage and poverty. The news that President Joko Widodo is seriously considering legally banning early marriages — which presumably means overriding traditional and religious laws – would be a major positive development.
Many Indonesian women claim to be emancipated and liberated, holding productive jobs and able to balance professional and domestic responsibilities. More power to them. But there are still many more out there – particularly in remote rural areas – who lack access to the basic needs that could elevate them from poverty and illiteracy. Kartini’s goal to attain gender equality has fallen short in Indonesia. For that reason, kudos to those modern and liberated women who volunteer their free time to teach, train and advise their less fortunate sisters.
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