In Kartini's memory

In Kartini's memory

Though it may be true that many Indonesians still regard
subservience and meekness as traditional female virtues that
should be retained, women in dominant positions are not exactly a
new phenomenon in Indonesia. One only has to think of Cut Nya'
Dien, the Acehnese heroine whose courageous leadership inspired
her people to continue to resist the Dutch for many years at the
beginning of this century.

Although assured of her place in Indonesian folklore, Cut Nya'
Dien only appeared on the Indonesian political stage centuries
after other powerful and charismatic women had left their
indelible imprints on this country's ancient history. The furrow
ploughed by all these early pioneers has meant that the presence
of so many prominent women in contemporary public life has hardly
drawn any attention at all.

The 119th anniversary of the birth of Kartini was marked
yesterday. There can be little doubt that the great strides made
by women in practically all walks of Indonesian life would have
pleased Kartini, who has come to be something of a figurehead for
the women's emancipation movement in this country. Kartini
dedicated a large part of her short life to the advancement of
her fellow women. She was born on April 21, 1879, in the northern
coastal district of Mayong, near Jepara in Central Java. She was
the daughter of the regent of Jepara, Raden Mas Adipati Aryo
Sosroningrat. Her aristocratic roots earned her the privilege of
a place in an elite Dutch-run school, where she got her first
taste of modern western education.

This experience notwithstanding, Kartini remained basically
true to her ancestral Javanese traditions. After reaching the age
of 12, she spent her adolescent years in seclusion, in line with
the accepted customs of the time, and tried to further her
education at home as best she could. To pass the long hours, she
began to devour books written by Dutch authors which her father,
who was broad minded for his time, gave her. She also
corresponded avidly with friends in Holland.

Kartini's dream of furthering her studies in Holland did not
come to fruition. When she was 25 years old she was married to
Raden Adipati Joyodiningrat, the regent of nearby Rembang, and a
50-year-old widower with several children. Committed to living
the rest of her life as a traditional Javanese housewife, Kartini
devoted herself to teaching girls at home. She died only months
after her wedding giving birth to a son.

In our own time, Kartini's work and ideals may look modest,
and she was not the only Indonesian woman of her time to hold
such an advanced vision. Nevertheless, her ideals opened new
avenues for Indonesian women to explore and for that reason her
name is honored today as a pioneer of women's rights in this
country.

Now, almost a century after her death, with the nation poised
to take on the challenges of the new millennium, we must ask
whether it is still proper to honor Kartini's memory in the
customary manner -- by donning traditional attire, singing songs
and holding cooking competitions and other insignificant
formalities. Marking the day with such events makes a mockery of
the memory of Kartini and her ideals, and trivializes the
substantial and important role that women play in contemporary
society.