Blog si Feminis

I am oftentimes bothered when finding well-educated people don’t
understand the importance of gender equality in social life, for both
sexes betterment, not only for women, but also for men. To me, this
kind of well-educated people are people who limit their own
interpretation of what a woman is born for; people who let themselves
‘blinded’ by their narrow-minded interpretation of their religious
teachings, as well as the narrow-minded understanding of what a culture
is.
One of its examples is when I read an article in one local
tabloid. The article was about a profile of a woman who has been busy
in social organizations in Central Java. She said that gender equality
does not necessarily mean the equal number. It means that she
criticized the affirmative action given to women in politic sphere.
Women do not need affirmative action to show that they are as capable
as men. Furthermore, she said that gender equality clashed religious
teachings as well as Indonesian culture.
Unfortunately the article
didn’t give thorough explanation of that woman what she meant by saying
that the success of gender equality does not automatically result in
the more number of women involved in public sphere. Therefore, I had to
use my interpretation when reading such a limited accusation, “gender
equality is a failure if the success of it lies in the quantity”.
To
know my opinion on feminism (gender equality means feminist movement),
read my previous post on “Feminism: a western culture?”
I am of
opinion that it is necessary to give affirmative action to show that
they are as capable as men in politics due to the fact that women have
had limit access to politics because they have been considered
incapable. Why incapable? Because they have been considered as domestic
creatures so that their main duty is to take care of children and
husbands. Take a look at the example of the number of students for
vocational schools. Many vocational schools offering the skills to
cook, to sew, and recently including for makeup have been full of
female students. On the other hand, vocational schools offering the
skills for machines, electricity, etc have been full of male students.
Besides, one thing we cannot deny is that parents give sons more
priority to continue their education than daughters when they have
financial constraints, without trying to analyze who has a higher
intellect.
Because women have been imprisoned in domestic sphere, they have had limited experience in public sphere.
So,
how to find out that women are also as capable as men in public sphere,
especially in politics? Give them a chance to show their capability.
How? Give them affirmative action. Don’t limit them only as domestic
creatures.
Women are human beings, and not just the second sex. It
means that they have full right to make a choice in their life, without
any limitation based on religious teachings or the so-called cultures.
They are free to choose
1. to be single, or married.
2. to be a full housewife or have career outside home
3. to be a full mother or a part time mother because they want to have career outside home
4. to be single parent when they don’t find any man suitable with their way of life
5. not to have a baby or to be a breeder
6. to work in public as well as domestic sphere
7. to be lesbian or straight
8.
including to be a superwoman who is willing to fulfill their religious
teaching requirement (read => to get married, having kids, be a
super wife as well as mother, not to mention as money maker too,
without forgetting her ‘main duty’ as the servant of their husband and
children)
Once again, women are free to choose which suits their
interest, without any burden in following religious teachings or
cultures. Treat women as adult and human beings and then ask them to be
responsible with their choices.
PT56 19.44 070108

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