http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20060212.C01&irec=1
Gadis Arivia on pornography, philosophy A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta "Gender influences all aspects of life -- arts, politics, culture and economy," says feminist thinker Gadis Arivia of University of Indonesia's (UI) school of philosophy. Gadis, who is also co-founder and former chief editor of Jurnal Perempuan feminist magazine, told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview that gender bias and discrimination against women was also found in education and sciences, including philosophy. "Many philosophers should be held responsible for the current discrimination against women. Their discriminative thoughts have been applied to many aspects of life," said the mother of two children, Anissa Joice and Benyamin Arif, from her American husband Rick Polard. Born in New Delhi on Sept. 4, 1964, Gadis is not new to philosophical thinking, feminism and women's right movement in Indonesia. Two years ago, she released her first book, Filsafat Berperspektif Feminis (Philosophy with Feminist Perspective), which was based on her doctoral dissertation at UI. Philosopher Franz Magnis-Suseno once encouraged people interested in philosophy to read the book. Gadis, who obtained her master's degree from the Ecole Haute Etudes Scietifique Sociale in France, was once arrested and tried for an illegal rally protesting against shortage of infant milk during the last days of Soeharto's era in February 1998. "Academicians should be involved in the real problems of society," argued Gadis, who claims to have been influenced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida. "Silence is golden, one proverb says, but voicing out (our ideas) is better, especially for women who have been silenced for years." During the interview, Gadis, who is planning to launch another book in March, talked about various issues -- politics, economy, culture, body, sexuality and pornography. "We don't need a bill on pornography and pornographic acts," she said firmly. The House of Representatives is now deliberating a controversial bill against pornography and pornographic acts. Do you think we need a law on pornography? According to me, we don't need a law on pornography. We already have a criminal code which is adequate. Moreover, in the bill, there is no clear definition of pornography, eroticism or sexuality. Those three terms are very different. If we look at the sanctions stipulated in the bill, many women would fall victim to the regulation. The bill regulates (women) on how to dress and behave, which will cost women a lot. According to me the bill is not useful at all. Furthermore, the bill curtails the development of arts and culture in the country. Theoretically, among feminist theorists, there are two different camps -- one supports and the other rejects pornography? There is the McKinnon camp (Chaterine McKinnon, a law professor of Chicago University) that is anti-pornography. But the camp never proposed any law to ban pornography. It just suggests on the level of regulation, which should carry more limitations. McKinnon is often included in the radical cultural feminist camp. The other camp is called the radical libertarian feminist. Both camps, however, agree that regulations have to be established to ban pornography for children. They agreed that people who have business in pornography -- writings or pictures -- should be highly taxed. In so doing, people would think twice before entering into the business. Any regulation should state that pornography could only be accessed by people 18 years and older and that it should only be sold in certain places. But the current bill on pornography only targets women. It also suggests a supervisory agency that will be funded by the state budget or local government. Do we need such an agency? It would be better if such funds were allocated to health or education. Moral standards are used more in the bill..." It seems that moral reasons are used in the bill, but it has an arbitrary definition of moral. What kind of morality is used in the draft? It relates to how women should dress up and behave. It does not regulate men wearing tight pants or being half naked. Clearly, the target is women. Many women, if not all, would go bankrupt because the bill carries heavy penalties of between Rp 50 million and Rp 1 billion for offenders. It's no secret that our country is one of the most corrupt in the world. We can already predict that the law would become fertile ground for corruption. It would be better for offenders to bribe officers Rp 1 million than to pay the heavy penalty. How can the use of words such as vagina, penis, sexual and intercourse be considered pornographic? Could the literary works of Ayu Utami and Djenar Maesa Ayu become victims of the bill? Education is critically important in reading literary works. One has to be taught how to interpret signs critically. People should not use a dualistic way of thinking. They should not conclude that there is a fire when they see smoke. Probably, it's just a barbecue. People should use a triadic way of thinking that requires contemplation and process. People who view Djenar's works as pornographic are people who use the dualistic way of thinking, without a contemplation and process. I've read Djenar's book many times and I never get sexually aroused. Actually, language is neutral. The problem is on how you use those words. The book Vagina Monologues (a famous play written by Eve Ensler) tells of how women were being alienated from the word vagina from generation to generation. The generation did not know the meaning of the word, their own body. Violence happens when we repress the language. So, that's why I teach my daughter to use the word vagina, instead of other words. I hope that she will get complete information. Certain groups think that the bill will protect women from violence, including rape. What's your comment. According to me, the argument is not valid. In Arab countries where women wear clothes that cover them from head to toe, the number of rape cases is still very high. The problem is not dress, but on the understanding and how we educate our people. There is a theory on sexuality by (Sigmund) Freud which says that when sexuality is being repressed, society become sicker. In the early 20th century, sexual education was introduced in an effort to make a healthier society. I don't know if there are any political concessions for conservative groups in the deliberation of the bill. I think bills on health and human trafficking are more important. The Indonesia edition of Playboy magazine will be published soon. What is your comment? Many local media, such as Popular magazine and several tabloids, carry pornographic pictures. Is it just a symptom of imitation?. I once read a Playboy magazine. They carried articles on sex which were informative. My position is the same -- if we repress it (sexuality), it will create chaos. We'd better look at the reality. We manage the facts (pornography) and make it productive. We should give a special place (for pornographic materials), instead of defying or condemning it. How do you see local mass media in terms of coverage on pornography and violence? Media cannot be held totally responsible for the problems the country is facing. They are just one of the pillars. In the current information era, the media seem to lose control, but there should be truth that can serve as 'a common ground' which must be respected. I disagree on the idea of establishing a censorship agency. I agree that people should develop their critical thinking. So, they could select media which is suitable for them. This is the importance of institutions, including educational institutions. Media coverage on violence could be educative. Media should be critical and not write in a sensational way. Journalism with empathy is needed here. Many laws, bills and bylaws discriminate against women. How do you see them? In the past, during the New Order era (of former president Soeharto), we thought that the concept of regional autonomy was a 'magic word' in Indonesia. But we never thought or took into account that regional leaders were not ready to carry out regional autonomy. They don't have deep understandings of democracy, transparency and human rights. We should prepare the leadership first. So, the bylaws, and the excessive application of Islamic sharia which may harm human rights, should not occur. It's because the low participation of women in local politics? It's not the low participation of women. Based on our research in nine cities across the country, women's voices are just not listened to. They were not being involved in decision making. They were not invited. One of the examples is the approval of Qonun (bylaw) in Aceh. The women protested. It's because of the strong patriarchal culture in local government. So, women are considered unnecessary to be involved in (political) decisions. The Bill on citizenship is also controversial, especially regarding mixed marriage. What's your comment? It clearly violates the principles of CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly). I could not think why the bill was proposed by the Supreme Court, instead of by civil society or the House of Representatives. In hearings at the House, the Supreme Court argued that the bill aims to protect women from foreign men by requiring them to pay deposit of US$50,000. It's illogical and unacceptable. Women's groups want that their children be allowed to have dual citizenship. Women married to foreign men want to be able to sponsors their husbands to find jobs here. Indonesian men can sponsor their wives, so why not Indonesian women for their husbands? Why do we often think about the amount of money. In a meeting, the Supreme Court said the money was aimed to protect women from domestic violence. But it's a weak argument. Domestic violence happens in marriages among Indonesians too. By the way, after writing book 'Philosophy with Feminist Perspective', do you have any plan to write more books soon? Hopefully, my new book will be released in March. It's the result of my ten years of involvement in feminism. It's a compilation of my thoughts on politics, economy, culture, body, sexuality and family. It's in the editing phase. Through the book, I want to say that gender influences all aspects of life. The title of the book is Feminisme Sebuah Kata Hati (Feminism, A Heart Word). It's because the writings are more on words from heart than the brain. There is sensitivity. There are more personal experiences. Is there significant difference between philosophy with feminist perspective and mainstream philosophy that we read in books. Mainstream philosophy focuses more on ethics of justice which starts with liberalism, the thought of John Rawls (a philosopher at Harvard University and author of A Theory of Justice). We learned from Soeharto's era that justice on economy and distribution was not enough. There are problems of culture and marginal voices. There is a need for politics of recognition. During Soeharto's era, different cultures and languages were not recognized. Current problems related to immigrants in the Netherlands and France also related to the politics of recognition. Justice is not only in terms of economy and distribution. But we should be careful with the politics of recognition because we could fall into fundamentalism. Placing my culture as different to your culture could be dangerous. Theorists say that culture is dynamic and is changing all the time. The theorists think about post-nationalism, cosmopolitanism, but it's still a discourse. It's against state-sponsored nationalism. We called it banal nationalism. I always believe in the importance of balanced politics of recognition. The doctorate program on philosophy at the University of Indonesia has been closed down, prompting one student to stage a hunger strike. Why?" It's an administrative thing. We should have fulfilled the accreditation requirements (from the Ministry of National Education). So many sheets have to be filled in. But with the university's full autonomy, the program will soon resume. Yes, I knew about the hunger strike (conducted by Adriana Venny, chief editor of Jurnal Perempuan feminist magazine). I supported the strike. Venny dropped out because she could not pay the tuition fees when she took leave. She gave birth. Her baby was sick and she could not pay the fees. But her parents-in-law finally lent her money, but she found that she had been dropped without any notice. But finally, the university rector allowed Venny to continue her doctorate program. Bias and discrimination against women are often found in education and sciences, including philosophy. What's your view? Who is your favorite philosopher? Philosophers, old and modern, are responsible for bias and discrimination against women. Aristotle and Plato were very discriminative against women. But post-modern philosophers, many of them were women, question the 'old philosophy'. Many philosophers influenced me. They liberate our way of thinking. One of them, probably Derrida (French philosopher Jacques Derrida) who introduced ethics of 'deconstruction' which should take the side of marginal people. According to Derrida, academicians should involve themselves in settling the problems of the world. Derrida passed away (on Oct. 8, 2004). Finally, he was 'deconstructed' by God. He...he...he.. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/aYWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Milis Wanita Muslimah Membangun citra wanita muslimah dalam diri, keluarga, maupun masyarakat. Situs Web: http://www.wanita-muslimah.com ARSIP DISKUSI : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wanita-muslimah/messages Kirim Posting mailto:wanita-muslimah@yahoogroups.com Berhenti mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Milis Keluarga Sejahtera mailto:keluarga-sejahtera@yahoogroups.com Milis Anak Muda Islam mailto:majelismuda@yahoogroups.com This mailing list has a special spell casted to reject any attachment .... Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wanita-muslimah/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
