Balinese women fight for their rights<\/p>\n
Mas Rucitadewi, Writer, Denpasar, Bali<\/p>\n
Seventy-year-old Sagung Dewi looked at the two men sitting in
\nfront of her. One of the men was a kelian banjar, the head of a
\ntraditional village, and the other was her eldest nephew.<\/p>\n
The two men were talking about the family's inheritance.<\/p>\n
\"Everything belongs to you. As the only man in the extended
\nfamily, you are the purusa (male heir), the holder of the
\ntangible and intangible assets,\" the kelian banjar said while
\nexplaining the centuries-old traditional Balinese law on family
\nproperty.<\/p>\n
The noble woman, who never married so she could take care of
\nher nephews and nieces, could do nothing but accept the
\n\"unwritten law\" established by the patrilineal Balinese Hindu
\nconstitutional body.<\/p>\n
Tears fell down her wrinkled face when her nephew ordered her
\nto renounce her rights over the family's estates.<\/p>\n
\"I really don't understand. It is beyond my comprehension,\"
\nshe said. \"Is it true that traditional Balinese and Hindu law
\nprovides all male members of the family with such powerful rights
\nand leave the women in despair?\"<\/p>\n
Sagung Dewi is not alone in her confusion. Many other Balinese
\nwomen find themselves with similar questions.<\/p>\n
Foreign anthropologists and artists usually portray Balinese
\nwomen in romantic images, as goddess-like creatures with colorful
\nflowers in their hair and glittering costumes wrapped around
\ntheir slim bodies.<\/p>\n
In real life, however, they are more like second-class members
\nof families and communities, who have very little or no
\nauthority, even over themselves.<\/p>\n
From birth, few if any expectations are placed on females in
\nthe patrilineal Balinese family. It is the male offspring who
\nwill continue the family line and take over the responsibilities
\nand authority within both the family and the community.<\/p>\n
Therefore, women are not entitled to the family's property --
\none of the ways that the women of Bali have their rights
\nviolated.<\/p>\n
Many women and girls living in puri (palaces), as well as
\nthose living in humble huts, have long suffered from social and
\ngender discrimination. Widows and elderly women are sent to
\ndilapidated nursing homes or are neglected at home by their own
\nsons and nephews.<\/p>\n
According to chairman of Bali's Legal Aid Institute, Gede
\nWidiatmika, discriminations is more noticeable among aristocrats
\nand high-caste families.<\/p>\n
\"There is a shield that still separates the traditional life
\ninside the puri from the democratic, pluralistic and modern life
\noutside,\" explained Gede, adding that this made it difficult to
\nexpect the inhabitants of the puri to have a modern view of
\ngender issues.<\/p>\n
Balinese culture and tradition put men and women far apart.
\nFor instance, at the communal level, women are not allowed to
\ntake part in any village meeting, especially ones that deal with
\nissues of customary law.<\/p>\n
Moreover, almost all traditional village chiefs, who are
\nresponsible for making various important decisions concerning the
\nentire village, are men. In practice, they represent the women,
\nwho do not have the right to voice their own opinions.<\/p>\n
Being born into a noble family does not make life easier for
\nwomen. In fact, they face difficulties that are even more
\ncomplicated. For instance, there are many customary laws that
\nprevent them from pursuing a higher education because they are
\nexpected to take care of the domestic chores, including preparing
\nofferings for religious rituals and life-cycle (manusia Yadnya)
\nceremonies.<\/p>\n
In marriage, Balinese women are placed in a very vulnerable
\nposition.<\/p>\n
Once a woman decides to get married, she must perform the
\nmepamit, a farewell ceremony to her ancestral temple meaning that
\nshe no longer belongs to her own family. She will literally move
\nto the family of her future husband.<\/p>\n
If a marriage turns sour, women rarely dare to leave their
\nhusbands and return to their families, most of them maintaining
\nthe marriage for the sake of the children. In the process, they
\nsometimes suffer both mental and physical abuse from their
\nhusbands, in-laws and society as well.<\/p>\n
For an aristocratic woman, returning to her family is taboo,
\nespecially if she is married to a lower caste man. If she returns
\nto her family compound she will be treated like a servant, and
\nmust speak in the highest form of Balinese to her own parents,
\nbrothers and sisters.<\/p>\n
The most difficult situation faced by married women in Bali is
\nwhen they bear no male children. Many women in Bali who find
\nthemselves in this situation must share their husbands with other
\nwomen in the same compound. Some childless women are even sent
\nback to their families in disgrace. Having no sons is a \"legal\"
\nticket for a husband to divorce his wife or to take other women.<\/p>\n
Hinduism actually does not recognize discrimination in any
\nform against women. Hindus refer to God as Sanghyang Widi, which
\nis symbolized as neither a woman nor a man.<\/p>\n
But in its more earthly manifestation, Sanghyang Widi is
\nportrayed as Linggayoni, a unity of masculine and feminine
\nelements, or in Balinese language purusa (male) and pradana
\n(female).<\/p>\n
In the realm of deities, people pay homage both to male gods
\nand their wives. They honor Siva and his wife Durga, Brahma and
\nLaksmi, Vishnu and Sarasvati. The goddesses are regarded as their
\nhusbands' shakti (spiritual power). In the real world, wives
\nembrace this power. In Bali, wives and mothers have control over
\nfamily members' spiritual lives, while male members pursue
\nprofane and social activities outside the home. This division of
\nduties seems almost ideal in theory.<\/p>\n
Women are regarded honorably in the ancient Hindu manuscripts
\nManawa Darma Castra, which implies that when a woman is respected
\nthe gods are delighted.<\/p>\n
\"This probably means that women in Hindu society are respected
\nonly in our holy books but not in our daily lives, especially for
\nBalinese women,\" said I Gusti Ayu Wedharijadnya, an expert in
\nHinduism from the Hindu University in Bali, during a recent
\ndiscussion on the revitalization of women's roles in Balinese
\nsociety.<\/p>\n
The current interpretation of women's roles in Balinese awig-
\nawig (customary laws) must be revised to abide by the Hindu holy
\nscripts, which actually place women in the very highest position,
\nthe lecturer said.<\/p>\n
The present awig-awig have contributed to degrading the status
\nof Balinese women. But to change these customary laws is like
\nmoving a huge mountain. Balinese women cannot beg their male
\ncounterparts to even consider minor revisions to the laws. So
\nBalinese women must arm themselves with knowledge and education,
\nas well as the courage to decide their own futures.<\/p>",
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