Sinta criticizes traditional Kartini Day celebrations

Sinta criticizes traditional Kartini Day celebrations

JAKARTA (JP): As part of the commemoration of Kartini Day,
which fell on Saturday (April 21), First Lady Sinta Nuriyah Wahid
held a press conference on Wednesday and several TV talk shows.

The first lady said the Kartini Day celebration should be
focused on more substantive activities like gender equality
campaigns. She openly criticized the usual celebrations, where
women wear traditional costumes, and the flower arranging and
cooking competitions.

As a part of the celebration, Sinta and her 12-strong team
will launch four books containing the results of their five-year
reconstruction of the Kitab Kuning (literally means yellow texts,
classical textbooks on Islam written by traditional Islamic
scholars hundreds of years ago), which are widely used,
particularly in Java's rural areas.

The group's study reveals that many parts of the books contain
gender-biased teachings, which unfairly place men in a much
higher position compared with women.

She cited several examples, including a remark that the angel
will condemn a wife who does not quickly serve her husband who
wants to have sex with her.

The first lady separately talked to The Jakarta Post's
Cornelius Purba about gender equity and her activities to promote
women rights.

Question: Gender equity as you are now promoting it doesn't
appear in our school text books that are actually important entry
points for children to acquire the right perception on this
issue. What do you think?

Answer: I think, you are right. In many official school text
books, from elementary to senior high school level, we can easily
find pictures, explanations or illustrations that indicate that
women do not have an equal position to men. Images that women
should stand back must be ended.

You just talked about Kitab Kuning, could you elaborate
further?

Struggling for gender equity is not easy, we must pass a very
long and winding road. That is what we started from the
reinterpretation of the text books, to prove that real Islamic
teachings are not gender-biased. Gender equity is deeply
appreciated in Islam. We can find many examples in the Koran....
There is no difference between men and women. Mankind is judged
from deeds, and not from sexes.

Do ulemas (Islamic scholars) realize the real teachings?

Only a few ulemas realize that and question the facts. However
many of them still do not realize that many of the
interpretations are weak or even fake, because there is still no
survey, research or study about the books. We are the first group
to initiate such study. I hope that with the launching of our
book, people will have a deeper understanding about the problems.

Do women face obstacles from outside to achieve equal
positions with their male counterparts?

The greatest obstacle comes from women themselves. Usually out
of the pesantren (traditional Islamic boarding schools), all of
the teachings in the text books are regarded as authentic, that
the teachings which deprecate women are correct, and that women
must serve men. The women enjoy the teachings that I regard as
deceptive.

Recently, there was controversy over the banning of a woman
from becoming President. What is your opinion?

It is a male-biased opinion. Such a judgment was written by
men, therefore the role of men was very crucial.

They often consider women irrational. Women cannot rule the
country because they use their emotion and natural instinct in
making a decision, and then they conclude that men must be
leaders.

The real situation is not like that. We can see that women are
tougher and patient in facing problems. In Islam, there were many
examples about this in the past when men tended to prioritize
their own interests. There was a story about Queen Sheba who was
able to create social welfare for her people. This proves that a
woman could also lead a state.

How about gender bias in the government

There is plenty of discrimination against women in the
ministries. Many ministries are not yet gender-conscious. I have
received many complaints about such discrimination, especially in
relation to higher positions in the government, where gender
sexism is strongly felt by women. It happens in all ministries.

In my opinion, most of the male officials in government
institutions already have a good understanding about gender
equality. They just worry about their own position, that they
might be replaced by their female colleagues. And they are not
ready for this.

Who should be the most responsible people to promote gender
equity in society?

The most important role is played by the father and mother.
They must set up an example with their own action, to show their
children that father and mother have equal positions. They should
work together at home, including bathing their children. From the
parents, then children learn about equality. Every good and bad
thing starts from home.

Gus Dur (President Abdurrahman Wahid) is the only man in your
family because you have four daughters. How about his own gender
consciousness?

Alhamdulillah (thank God), Gus Dur never discriminates against
women. I do not know precisely, but based on my analysis, Gus Dur
himself experienced that his mother was left by her husband who
died when her youngest child was still two months old in her
womb. He saw how his mother struggled to raise her children.

What is your view about polygamy

The Koran implicitly does not allow polygamy, but it is always
misinterpreted when it is believed that such a practice is
allowed. In reality it imposes very strict conditions on
polygamy. It is stated that you can marry one, two or three women
provided that you are fair and honest. If you feel you cannot
fulfill these requirements, you had better not do it. It is
implicitly revealed in a Koran verse what kind of men do not want
to apply or understand the real content. They only partially
accept the verse.