First impressions can be wrong
First impressions can be wrong
By Marianus Kleden
KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): Weeks have passed, but
actress Sophia Latjuba and her counterparts are still celebrating
their success in attracting the attention of Peeping Toms and in
distracting politicians' concentration by their exhibitionistic
poses in the Popular magazine and other similar publications.
Until very recently, discussions and talk-shows concerning the
matter dominated prime time television and tabloid headlines. Why
do people become so anxious about one person's nudity, while at
the same time enjoy similar nudity exhibited by blond beauties
along Kuta beach?
A student participating in one of the talk-shows even
questioned who was more naked, the soldiers who had killed
hundreds of Acehnese or the artists.
This apprehension reminds us of past Indonesian bureaucrats'
uneasiness relating to Dewi Sukarno's Syuga, a book containing
her artistic half-naked pictures.
To our astonishment, confidential talks with sex counselors
and taxi drivers unveil that it is these bureaucrats that have
the greatest access to any type of sexual gratification. Why such
hypocrisy?
Three hypotheses can be proposed to explain this attitude.
First, diplomatic prejudice or efforts to expose an esthetically
and ethically pleasing semblance of a community. Second,
authoritarian ethics or ethics based upon irrational authority,
and third, the intention to construct a political test case.
Contrast a Western host proudly giving his guest a house tour
with an Indonesian hostess warmly receiving her visitor in her
beautifully decorated living room. While it is not clear yet
whether the bathroom or the kitchen have the same tidiness, the
facade should be garnished as well as possible.
It is expected that first impressions may reflect the whole
image. It is thus quite understandable that a good part of the
national budget is allocated to design an eye-catching landscape
at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, while slums in the
center of the capital are often neglected.
Robert Chambers (1983) calls this attitude "diplomatic
prejudice". His research in many developing countries revealed
that people are always anxious about their social appearance and
try hard to hide bad aspects of social reality.
Just give a test on literacy and in no time your respective
respondent will be surrounded by a throng of uninvited men and
women jostling and whispering in the local language now and then
so that the respondent can give correct answers.
Or ask the owner of the house where the bathroom is and while
he is shyly and clumsily making it plain that the house does not
have one, his neighbor intervenes by saying that the house did
have a bathroom but it crumbled because of an earthquake.
Back to our example, since Sophia Latjuba is a public figure
people are afraid that she may portray an inaccurate
representation of our nation. Even if the portrayal is true in
some respects, efforts are still exerted to conceal it.
This also explains why Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander
Gen. Wiranto or Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas
strenuously defend policies in Aceh and East Timor. They say the
areas are not killing fields, but places where the armed forces
try to secure peace and order.
Instead of expressing gratitude to journalists for their
useful information, Ali Alatas has been accusing them of
overestimating what he believes are trivial matters. The fact
that corruption cases involving top executives are often quelled
rather than investigated can also be seen from this perspective.
The above mentioned behavior can also be explained by
referring to Eric Fromm's theory of authoritarian ethics. There
are two types of authority, namely rational authority which finds
its source in competence, and irrational authority which is based
on power over people.
In rational authority, a person performs the task entrusted to
him competently, and by so doing gains praise and acknowledgment
from those who conferred the authority on him. He does not need
to intimidate nor seek admiration through manipulative tricks.
This authority not only permits but requires constant
criticism and scrutiny of those subjected to it. One who has it
is aware that it is temporary and the acceptance of his or her
subjects prevails as long as the performance is good.
Irrational authority, on the other hand, relies on power over
people, be it mental or physical, realistic or relative.
Mentally, power over people is operated through, for instance,
indoctrination of ideologies comprising norms and values, often
personified, that compel obedience from citizens.
If the way of thinking has been constructed according to a
certain ideology, we call it realistic mental irrational
authority. But if there is still a certain degree of independence
in judging something, but without an ability to execute it for
fear of terror, it is called relative mental irrational
authority.
Physically, irrational authority is commonly practiced through
military oppression. Security measures in Aceh and East Timor may
be the best examples to illustrate this type of authority. There
has been little freedom in these provinces, both realistic and
relative.
In this article what is meant by authoritarian ethics is
limited to irrational authority. Irrational authority yields an
unequal relationship between the authority and the subjects and
as such denies human capacity to distinguish good from bad. All
criteria for judgment are derived from those in power and the
most important one is obedience -- for the ultimate purpose of
satisfying the interests of those in power.
This ethics is now challenged. Posing half-naked in tabloids
and magazines can be viewed as an expression of boredom, of being
dictated to all the time. Artists and the media involved in such
publications provide an antithesis to the long beguiling ethics.
In supposedly their own words: "We are portraying artistic
pictures, not from your perspective but from our point of view.
We don't care whether you call it pornography or anything else."
It is also necessary to note that the ostentatious appearance
of the leggy belles took place just months before the emergence
of a hopefully rational authority. To the incumbent, it is a
cynical exercise, but to prospective leaders this could be a
tricky test case. A moral reaction might confront the same sneer;
conversely, being silent could imply cowardice or a feudalistic
simple-mindedness. But who knows, silence can be a withheld
wisdom.
The writer is a social science lecturer at Widya Mandira
Catholic University in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.