Uncovering the Lost History of Gerwani

Uncovering the Lost History of Gerwani

Rachel Rinaldo, Contributor, Jakarta

Sexual Politics in Indonesia; By Saskia Wieringa;
Palgrave MacMillan, 2002; 390 pp

Why is the history of Gerakan Wanita Indonesia (Gerwani), the
mass women's organization once associated with the Indonesian
Communist Party (PKI) still unknown to most Indonesians? Who
really were the women of Gerwani and what were their politics?

These were among the questions that inspired Saskia Wieringa
as she undertook years of research on the Indonesian women's
movement. The result is a pioneering history of this
controversial women's group and a chronicle of the sexual
politics that surrounded its demise.

Wieringa begins by sketching out the development of the
Indonesian women's movement from its beginnings in the 1920s
through the Sukarno period, examining influences such as
feminism, Marxism, and nationalism.

But the bulk of Sexual Politics focuses on the emergence,
expansion and downfall of Gerwani. Wieringa analyzes Gerwani's
relationship with the PKI, with attention to how Gerwani
negotiated the competing ideological poles of the PKI and
Sukarno.

She examines Gerwani's beliefs about gender and womanhood, and
how they evolved as the organization's early feminism gave way to
more rigid nationalist and Marxist ideals.

Finally, she also investigates Gerwani's role in the events of
1965, arguing that Soeharto's rise to power was legitimized
through accusations of sexual debauchery allegedly committed by
members of Gerwani, and that the New Order state's identity
depended on sexual metaphors linking communism with sexual
depravity and unrestrained women.

Though other scholars have touched on similar themes, as the
first thorough study of Gerwani, Sexual Politics in Indonesia is
a milestone. Wieringa's account is comprehensive, and includes
numerous quotes and anecdotes from former Gerwani members and
other activist women.

She details how women joined the group, discusses Gerwani's
relationship to other women's groups, and provides harrowing
accounts of arrests and torture after 1965. The testimonies drawn
from Wieringa's interviews also provide a remarkable glimpse into
the turbulent and politicized Indonesia of mid-century.

Moreover, she scrutinizes the gendered aspects of the events
of 1965, asserting that a particular representation of those
events became the underpinning of the New Order.

She contests the narrative of Gerwani members castrating and
brutally killing the generals on the night of Sept. 30, arguing
that this information was consciously disseminated by the
military to justify eliminating the communist threat.

She presents statements from women that contradict the
military's portrayal of the events that night, and reminds
readers that the autopsy report Benedict Anderson published in
1987 indicates that the bodies of the generals did not show signs
of sexual mutilation.

In addition to these historical revelations, which by now are
familiar to many, Wieringa also develops the concept of "militant
motherhood" to describe Gerwani's brand of feminism.

According to Wieringa, Gerwani promoted equality for women,
while also accepting the widespread belief in women's "natural"
difference from men. Gerwani drew on the Javanese wayang (puppet)
character Srikandi to blend militant activism with a traditional
acceptance of women's primary role as mothers.

Militant motherhood is a notion that feminist scholarship
occasionally mentions, but rarely clarifies. In Sexual Politics,
Wieringa makes an excellent case for the radicalism of militant
motherhood in the Indonesian context. Gerwani promoted a rather
conservative morality, emphasizing monogamous marriage and
heterosexuality, while condemning prostitution, forced marriage,
and rock music.

As time went on, they were more concerned about women's
economic rights than with the relationship between men and women
in the household. Yet their stance as wives and mothers fighting
for their rights challenged long-standing assumptions about
politics as an exclusively male realm. Wieringa argues that it
was this aspect of Gerwani, rather than their actual ideology,
that inflamed conservative anger.

Though feminism today is obviously a broad term that includes
different and sometimes clashing ideas, many feminists reject the
idea that motherhood or biological imperatives define a woman.
But for Gerwani, such a stance was almost unthinkable. Militant
motherhood is a useful way to capture Gerwani's radical activity,
and avoids evaluating Gerwani's feminist politics against a
rigid, western definition of feminism.

Sexual Politics in Indonesia is aimed at an academic audience,
and so is heavily referenced and footnoted. It is drawn from
Wieringa's PhD thesis, parts of which have been published as
articles. Readers of Wieringa's work will be familiar with many
of the conclusions presented, but Sexual Politics also includes
additional material collected in the late 1990s. The book is
fairly free of jargon and accessible enough for non-academic
readers.

Unfortunately, despite its enthralling subject matter, Sexual
Politics lacks some of the rich ethnographic detail one might
hope for in such a work. Notwithstanding many quotes from former
activists, Sexual Politics does not offer much information about
women's everyday lives or their living conditions. How did their
families react to their political activism? What did their
friends and neighbors think?

Wieringa notes that some Gerwani members had difficult
relationships with their husbands, who desired more traditional
spouses, but there is little description of what it was really
like to be in such a marriage, and how it affected the politics
of the women in question.

Surprisingly, Wieringa also gives few particulars on the
actual sexual politics of Gerwani members. For instance, how did
they understand women's sexuality? In this sense, the title
Sexual Politics in Indonesia is slightly misleading. Though it
apparently refers to the way in which certain views of sexuality
were used to discredit Gerwani and turn them into monsters, the
chapters about Gerwani and the women's movement are more about
conceptions of gender than they are about sexuality.

Nevertheless, Sexual Politics in Indonesia is an important and
stimulating study, and deserves to reach a broad audience.

In Indonesia, the story of Gerwani, and of the women's
movement during the revolutionary period, has been up until now
something of a lost history.

With the recent death of Ibu Sulami, former secretary-general
of Gerwani, and the advancing ages of other former participants,
it could soon become inaccessible except through archival
documents.

Wieringa has made a vital contribution by bringing to light
the history of Gerwani and the roles of gender and sexuality in
the pivotal events of 1965.

Sexual Politics in Indonesia is not readily available in
Indonesian bookstores. However, bookstores should be able to
order it from the UK.