At first, a nation and nationalism give an impression of being a genderless concept that affects and is influenced by all community members equally. It comes from the theory discussed by Anderson (2006) about the imagined community in which a nation is a social construction where a community imagines their commonality with its members and is fabricated through social practices such as capitalism, printing and variance of vernacular languages, which eventually creates nationalism.
In reality, current populist nationalism worldwide, predominantly men, seems to offer a significant solution to complex issues that affect men and women. Moreover, this fact implicitly asserts the main idea that it is men’s responsibility to defend their nations against danger. Additionally, metaphorical gender is often used to construct the nation, and women’s bodies are frequently the arena of war in the name of the nation (O’Keefe, 2013; Sinha, 2020). Many nationalist movements tend to normalise the reduction of women’s rights and define women’s citizenship in a highly restrictive way. In this sense, as a proud Indonesian woman, I argue that nationalism is gendered.
Let’s review the notion of motherland (ibu pertiwi) in the Indonesian context and how it shapes gender roles in society.
Our nation is our mother
Some feminist scholars suggest that women are salient in the fabrication of nationalist confabulation as biological reproducers of the members of ethnic groups, as creators of its boundaries, as pivotal participants of ideological reproduction of collectivism and as channels of culture distribution (Jayawardena, 1986; Rai, 2002; Sinha, 2020; Yuval-Davis et al., 1989). With their gendered roles, women continue to be essential in national political, economic and military struggles. Alas, their contribution is mainly shaped by the elements of biology and culture.
In the context of Indonesia, the discourse of women in nationalism has been celebrated since the colonisation era in which women are portrayed as nurturing mothers and a symbol of Indonesian culture (Sunindyo, 1998). One popular song that was written by Kamsidi Samsuddin in 1908, Ibu Pertiwi (The Motherland), has been evoking the nationalist spirit of Indonesian people until recently.
“I see the motherland deeply sad, / Kulihat ibu pertiwi sedang bersusah hati,
Tears welled up in her eyes, / air matanya berlinang,
Remembering her gold and diamonds, / mas intan yang terkenang
Of forests, mountains, rice fields and oceans, her stored wealth And now, our mother is suffering, moaning and praying. / Hutan gunung sawah lautan, simpanan kekayaan, kini ibu sedang lara, merintih dan berdoa.
I see the motherland; we come to worship, / kulihat ibu pertiwi; kami datang berbakti
Look at your sons and daughters to cheer you up, / lihatlah putra – putrimu, menggembirakan ibu
Mother, we still love your faithful kids, /Ibu, kami tetap cinta, putramu yang setia
We guard your inheritance, for our homeland and nation” / menjaga harta pusaka, untuk nusa dan bangsa.”
Even in a sacred notion of the motherland, a woman was constructed as a fragile being who needs to be rescued and protected from the savagery of male Western power. Ibu Pertiwi has become the manifestation of gendered qualities in which the masculine ideology of nationalism articulates its success and happiness.
What is more, the notion of a nurturing mother has been reflected not only before Indonesian independence but even after the country’s independence, particularly during the New Order of the Soeharto regime. Politically, the State has deployed the paradoxical politics of motherhood. On the one hand, the country strongly promotes gender roles within traditional families through ‘ibu-ism’(motherhood); on the other hand, the State urges women to participate in the labour market to improve the national economy (Irawaty, 2021). It shows how women were pushed back to the domestic sphere, even in the public arena, because they were filled with gendered tasks to support the political economy of the development of Indonesia (Sunindyo, 1998).
As a result, ibu-ism became a gendered ideology of nationalism that framed the configuration of women’s labour, including their struggle to participate in the public domains of national development (Rai, 2002; Walby, 2003). The paradoxical politics of motherhood puts Indonesian women in a dilemma for being good mothers and fully participating in the public job market. Social stigma, stereotypes and discrimination against them are the main issues when women leave their families to work.
While Indonesian women have always been relatively economically active, social norms continue to demand that women (as wives, mothers and daughters) remain first and foremost committed to caring for their husbands, children and parents. The report from Investing in Women (2018) illustrates that women business owners still consider their primary role as that of wife and mother rather than a businesswoman, and even where women earn the larger share of household income, they are still considered to be ‘secondary earners.’
Alas, the Indonesian government tend to overlook the underlying problems by only focusing on the increased number of women participating in the national economy without paying attention to the difficulties and hard work women have to face. The Indonesian government keeps using women’s labour as the market of liberal nationalist discourses through human rights policies, population plans, and employment conditions. Furthermore, the State has systematically used the discourse to fashion women’s roles in development and disregarded the morality issues associated with women working in the public domain.
Women and democracy
And that’s what we see only from the sector of the job market. What about women’s activism and their participation in democracy? In many historical nationalism of Indonesia, women’s roles have rarely been discussed, and their important roles have been neglected most of the time (Polhman, 2018). What is even worse, although there is a mandate of 30% of women to participate in politics, the quality of their participation is still questionable. From the normative point of view, there seems to be no discrimination against women in the legislation. But in practice, women’s voices in the parliaments and decision-making process are rarely heard.
What factors could contribute to the low rate of women’s participation in the political arena in Indonesia?
Firstly, it relates to the cultural context in the country that is still heavily patriarchal. The common perception is that the political arena is for men and that it is inappropriate for women to become members of parliament. Secondly, it relates to the selection process within political parties. The selection of candidates is usually conducted by a small group of officials or party leaders who are predominantly men. In some countries, including Indonesia, where awareness regarding gender equality and justice is still low, male leaders of political parties have a disproportionate influence over party politics. Women do not receive much support from political parties because of male domination. Thirdly, it relates to the media opinion that influences public perspectives regarding women’s roles in the public domain. Lastly and most importantly, it relates to structural poverty that leads to the low level of education for women. As a result, it is often extremely difficult to recruit women with political capabilities that allow them to compete with men. Women who have adequate political capabilities tend to be called enemies and aggressive, making it difficult for them to raise their voices (Parawansa, 2002)
Now, after realising all of these underlying problems, I argue that we need to ungender our nationalism. But, can we start by changing the narrative, even changing the patriotic song of Ibu Pertiwi?
References
Anderson, B. R. O. (2006). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism (Rev. ed). Verso.
Glenn, E. N., Chang, G., & Forcey, L. R. (Eds.). (1994). Mothering: Ideology, experience, and agency. Routledge.
Irawaty, D. (2021). Considering the Role of Money and Gifts in the (Re)-construction of Motherhood and Family Among Indonesian Transnational Female Domestic Workers. IKAT: The Indonesian Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 4(2), 89. https://doi.org/10.22146/ikat.v4i2.61570
Jayawardena, K. (1986). Feminism and nationalism in the Third World. Kali for Women ; Zed Books ; U.S. Distributor, Biblio Distribution Center.
O’Keefe, T. (2013). Introduction: Rethinking Women and Nationalism. In T. O’Keefe, Feminist Identity Development and Activism in Revolutionary Movements (pp. 1–21). Palgrave Macmillan UK. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137314741_1
Parawansa, Kofifah Indar (2002). Obstacles to Women’s Political Participation in Indonesia. International IDEA.Stockholm.https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/chapters/women-in-parliament/perempuan-di-parlemen-bukan-sekedar-jumlah-EN-case-study-indonesia-2.pdf
Pohlman, Annie (2018). Women and Nationalism in Indonesia. Historia: Journal Pendidik dan Peneliti Sejarah vol. 12 (pp. 13). 10.17509/historia.v12i1.12114
Rai, S. (2002). Gender, Nationalism and `Nation-Building’ Discourses of Development. In Gender and the political economy of development: From nationalism to globalization (pp. 11–43). Polity Press. http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/content/bpl_images/content_store/sample_ch apter/0745614906/Rai.pdf
Sinha, M. (2020). Gender and Nation. In Feminist Theory Reader (pp. 155–168). Routledge.
Sunindyo, S. (1998). When the Earth Is Female and the Nation Is Mother: Gender, the Armed Forces and Nationalism in Indonesia. Feminist Review, 58, 1–21.The World Bank. (2017). Indonesia’s Global Worker: Juggling Opportunities and Risks. The World Bank. https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/357131511778676366- 0070022017/original/IndonesiasGlobalWorkersJugglingOpportunitiesRisks.pdf
Walby, S. (2003). Gender Transformations (0 ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203431153
Yuval-Davis, N., Anthias, F., & Campling, J. (Eds.). (1989). Woman, nation, state. Macmillan.
