State Ibuism (Motherism): Regressive Revelation From Government to Indonesian Women’s Life
This writing was initially a short essay assignment for University of Melbourne’s Short Course (Analysing Indonesia: Concepts and Issues). It may face some later changes due to further studies.
In the book “Fantasizing the Feminine in Indonesia” (1996, edited by Laurie J. Sears), Julia Suryakusuma (one of the book chapters’ author, now the director of Gender and Democracy Center LP3ES) took Djajadiningrat-Nieuwenhuis’ ideas further by introducing the concept of “State Ibuism.” According to Suryakusuma, there could have been a subtle change in which a woman’s role as a wife becomes just as significant as her role in motherhood. The government’s patriarchal system used different divorce laws implemented by the New Order government to influence and control the sexual desires of government workers and their partners; it was much more common for wives than husbands. This gave birth to an ideology where motherhood became one with the government’s vision of creating a mono-consciousness in some society’s groups, logically similar to the military system.
In an open discussion that was conducted by Development Study Club, Suryakusuma, said that Dharma Wanita (Indonesian civil servants’ wives organization) was a place to actualize the ideology of Ibuism State itself. The vision of the organization said it all, it was an obligation for women to be part of the state’s development plans and their place in the group were very determined by their husband’s position. It did not matter whether these women have the education or ability to do it or not, it definitely had a big impact on women’s dependencies. Because then, young women in that era had no value in themselves when they were not married, and after they got married, their position was still specified to their husbands’ work life.
Phenomenon about the deliberate suppression of HIV and AIDS’ threat by the Indonesian government was there for several reasons, and the routine provision of prostitute services at many gatherings of male government workers. Even though it happened regularly, the purchase of a prostitute’s services by a male civil servant remained a “one-shot” activity that did not threaten the position and welfare of their wife, rather than having a second wife. Several of the government employee’s wives that Suryakusuma has interviewed were okay with their husbands having extramarital affairs as long as they did not take another wife.
Blackburn in her book “Women and the State in Modern Indonesia”, said that Indonesian regimes at New Order did not have any intention in taking step to stop polygamy activities by prohibiting it when they also had no will on accepting the practice. Women that time refused the polygamy by demanding the state to outlaw it with moral, legitimacy, social, and economic bases.
However, due to the contradictions in State Ibuism that made the wives of government employees reluctant to become the supporters of the state, mistresses of these government workers who wish to obtain the status of legal spouses in a state that upholds and applies Islamic marriage laws face serious repercussions. The policies of State Ibuism affect all women, not simply secondary wives, prostitutes, and women from the wealthier strata. From literary and sociological vantage points, Sylvia Tiwon and Diane Wolf (one of the chapters’ authors in Fantasizing the Feminine in Indonesia) both believe that this kind of limitation put on feminine conduct that caused women workers in Java are being left in limited position, same with how Ibuism worked in the New Order. Wolf contends that the masculine illusions of femininity in Javanese royal poetry from the 19th century mirror the anticipated conduct of women, which was to be subservient, afraid, and obedient to male authority. Traditional Javanese gender concepts were reinforced and altered in these rural industries in ways that worsen gender inequality, extend the wage difference between male and female workers, and operate as a tool for workforce management.
Borrowing Suryakusuma’s argument, the concept of State Ibuism was not only reflected in Dharma Wanita but also in the Family Welfare Program (Pembinaan Kesejahteraan Keluarga, PKK). Originally designed for household management, the PKK was employed by the government to control the society through families during the New Order era. Julia also discussed the phenomenon of biological reductionism that resulted from the PKK, where the role of a housewife was considered natural and reduced to its biological function. This, in turn, hindered the women’s movement at that time, as women were primarily viewed as the companions of their husbands and as bearers of the next generation of the nation.
The principle of familyhood was (and is still) not a meaningless term, as it contains political characteristics. But during the New Order era in Indonesia, family was considered an altruistic entity and was the result of state control (hegemony) through family planning. They received construction or intervention from the state for its own interests. From marriage articles, gender, and the role of women are determined there. All of them were related to domestic issues, and those who did not agree with it are stigmatized as dissidents.
References
Brenner, S. (2009). Women and the state in modern Indonesia. Cambridge University Press.
Sears, L. J. (1999). Fantasizing the feminine in Indonesia. Duke University Press.
Maida, C. (2022, April 10). Ibuisme Negara Hambat gerakan Perempuan Progresif. Balairungpress. Retrieved March 31, 2023, from https://www.balairungpress.com/2022/04/ibuisme-negara-hambat-gerakan-perempuan-progresif/
Bennett, L. R., & Davies, S. G. (2016). Sex and sexualities in contemporary indonesia: Sexual politics, health, diversity and representations. Routledge.
