By Roswita Nimpuno Khaiyath
Today is Hari Kartini, or Kartini Day, a national holiday proclaimed by the late President Sukarno in 1964 in recognition of Raden Ajeng Kartini for establishing the first school for Javanese girls and for becoming an important symbol of Indonesian identity. As a schoolchild, it was on Hari Kartini that we wore the traditional Kain Kebaya dress, sang one of our national songs, “Ibu Kita Kartini,” and participated in costume contests, cook-offs and flower arrangement competitions. Schools hosted lectures, parades were held and the women`s organization Dharma Wanita specially marked the holiday.
Of royal Javanese blood, Kartini was Born on April 21, 1879, the fifth child and first daughter of RMAA Sosroningrat, who was a district chief, the equivalent of a mayor, in Mayong. Her mother, MA Ngasirah, was the daughter of Kyai Haji Madirono and a teacher of religion. But since she was not of sufficiently high nobility, her father married a second time to Raden Ajeng Woerjan, a direct descendant of the King of Madura. After the marriage, Kartini`s father was elevated to Regency Chief of Jepara, replacing his second wife`s own father. Kartini`s mother was demoted to the second tier.
Kartini was allowed to attend Dutch school until the age of 12, but as required of Javanese nobility she then had to follow the tradition of pingintan — being secluded in preparation for marriage. Girls were not allowed to leave the house and were confined to their rooms, learning to sew, embroider and other “female activities of leisure” that a woman of her station would be expected to undertake in life.
Kartini`s life went along pretty much as expected until she became the fourth wife of Raden Adipati Joyodiningrat, the Regency Chief of Rembang, in November 1903. She was then permitted by her husband to establish a school for girls on the east porch of the Rembang Regency Office complex.
Earlier, during pingitan, Kartini, who spoke fluent Dutch and was an avid reader, wrote letters about her life to several Dutch pen pals. One of them, Rosa Abendanon, happened to be the wife of JH Abendanon, the Minister for Culture, Religion and Industry in the East Indies. After Kartini`s death during childbirth at the age of just 25, he collected and published the letters in a book entitled “Door Duisternis tot Licht” (Through Darkness Into Light). Published in 1911, the book became the foundation on which Kartini`s fame was built; for its insights into Dutch rule, Javanese life and the role of women. It was later translated into several languages and vehicle in the struggle for suffrage.
Inspired by Kartini, a Dutch family established the Kartini Foundation, which built what later became known as Kartini Schools for women, first in Semarang in 1912, followed by more schools in places throughout Indonesia, such as Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Malang, Madiun, Cirebon.
This month, at a Kartini function at Erasmus Huis, the cultural center for the Netherlands in Jakarta, neither the State Minister for Women`s Empowerment nor the speakers bothered to wear a traditional costume.
The discussion about Kartini as an Indonesian heroine turned out to be a presentation of guidelines from the State Ministry for Women`s Empowerment. Another speaker used the recent election campaign to discuss equality for Indonesian women.
At three overseas universities that offer Indonesian studies — the University of California at Berkeley, Holland`s Leiden University and Monash University in Australia — annual Kartini seminars and conferences focus on her fight for women`s education and against polygamy; the fact that she married a man twice her age who already had 3 wives and 6 children, goes ignored.
But it might also be good to remember that at about the same time that Kartini was writing her letters from the comfort of her home, Tjoet Nyak Dhien, the so-called Jihad heroine of Aceh, joined her husband in the jungles leading armed troops fighting for independence from the Dutch.
She died in West Java in 1908 after being captured and tortured by the Dutch. Also around the same time, Maria Walanda Maramis, an activist in North Sulawesi Province, also established schools for girls and championed the right for women to vote.
Is the pen mightier than the sword? Does a woman whose account of daily life in the Dutch East Indies during the early 20th century published by her oppressors deserve more recognition than a woman who took up the sword to fight for independence?
Today, many Indonesian women will celebrate Hari Kartini, wear the kain kebaya and participate in domestic female indulgences. But 105 years after the death of Kartini, have Indonesian women really achieved equality?
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com (20 April 2009)
