Smashing the Patriarchal Culture in Indonesia

Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property. Such theories contain little understanding of how women’s oppression and the nature of the family have changed historically. Nor is there much notion of how widely differing that oppression is from class to class. Instead we are presented with the “eternal truth” that “patriarchy” in one form or another is the cause of women’s oppression.

In Indonesia, a patriarchal culture still deeply embedded in society especially in the educational, economic, legal and political spheres. Women’s right in social activities are limited to Indonesian women. Social problems also arise because of the stereotypes. The definition of stereotype is a generalized view or preconception about attributes or characteristics that are or ought to be possessed by members of particular social group or the roles that are or should be performed by, members of a particular social group. Referring to the definition of social problems from Soetomo's book, social problems are an undesirable condition in society which is domestic violence (KDRT), sexual harassment, early marriage rates, and the stigma of divorce. As a legal state, Indonesia should be able to solve the problem. But the laws of Indonesia are inadequate and actually unfair to gender. The incidence of domestic violence (KDRT) during the pandemic of Covid-19 has increased significantly. Based on data from the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (Kemen PPPA) per March to Aril 25, 2020 there are 275 cases of domestic violence. According to the UN Women, “across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of Covid-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex. The stereotype of  women is marginal, weak and placed under men, giving men a sense of control and power over women and other family members. Patriarchy emerged because of the society’s conservative mindset.

The next problem is sexual harassment. The masculine mindset of men and the power to do anything to women is a major cause of sexual abuse. Women are only treated as objects and deemed worthy of abuse. Unfortunately, some societies are indifferent to it. Even women as the victim, they are blamed for being a tease and can’t taking care of themselves. This causes a lot of unsolved cases because most of people choose to be silent and ashamed of being labeled as a contemptible person in their society environment.

Basically, women and men have the same rights and positions as citizens, such as access to education, politics, law, economics, and freedom of speech. Gender inequality appeared because of stereotypes that women are weak and marginalized. The mindset of men have power and higher position above women is a structural mindset that has led the emergence of the patriarchal culture. Although, in this era women have earned the same rights in education, politics and economics but still cannot be spared from cases of sexual abuse and domestic violence. Indonesia should provide flexible laws to protect women's rights. Instead of letting the case get any wider, because of abuse and domestic violence cases cannot be resolved with family deliberations but with clear chapters and severe penalties for violent offenders.

References:

United Nations Human Rights: Gender Stereotype and Stereotyping and Women’s Rights

Policy Brief: The Impact of COVID-19 on Women by United Nations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchy https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319671805_MENYOROTI_BUDAYA_PATRIARKI_DI_INDONESIA

Lindsey German: Theories of Patriarchy (Spring 1981)