Feminist seminar<\/p>\n
I was horrified, yes, horrified, to read that the U.S. in
\npromoting its own national ideology of naive egalitarianism had
\norganized a feminist seminar at the U.S. Embassy here in Jakarta
\n(The Jakarta Post, July 28, 1994). The article Feminist movement
\ncan learn from U.S. rolled out a couple of hoary old chestnuts
\nlike this one for example: \"The American women even participate
\nin a traditionally male activity such as weight lifting.\" How
\nrich! Women all over the Western world have been competing in
\nweight lifting for years. And, sadly, most of them look like men.<\/p>\n
In that little quote above lies a major root of the \"feminist\"
\nmovement. They call themselves \"feminists\" but they want to be
\nlike men. How sad. Indonesian women are truly feminine and there
\nare some wonderful traditions which serve to encourage their
\ngrace and femininity. How perverse it would be if young women
\nacross the archipelago now began pumping iron in a misguided
\nattempt to compete with their husbands for muscle size and to
\nbecome liberated. Feminism was always a contradiction in terms.
\nFrom the earliest days there has been a strong lesbian influence
\nand this has had the effect of emphasizing the masculine at the
\nexpense of the feminine.<\/p>\n
You see, what a lot of people forget and even more never
\nknew, is that modern feminism has its roots in Marxist theory. Oh
\nyes it does. In the Marxist world view the worker is repressed
\nand enslaved by the capitalist class. All that some of the early
\nfeminist writers did was substitute the word \"woman\" for the word
\n\"worker\" and men for \"capitalist\". Don't forget too, that Marxism
\nhas a materialist and rationalist orientation which is in direct
\ncontrast to the spiritual and emotional orientation of Indonesian
\nculture.<\/p>\n
Dr. Tuty Heraty Noerhadi (professor of philosophy at U.I.) is
\nquoted in the same article as saying \"Indonesian feminists should
\naim at harmony\" and in doing so she goes right to the crux of the
\nissue here. Western feminism is full of dogma, conflict and
\nconfrontation. Harmony is anathema to its way of thinking. I urge
\nall Indonesian women to take heed of Dr. Tuty's wise words and to
\ndraw on your own cultural foundations. I can assure you that from
\nmy experience of the last 25 years of feminism, it is the U.S.
\nand Western feminists who should be learning from you, not the
\nother way round.<\/p>\n
JOHN THOMAS<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/feminist-seminar-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }