Hari Perempuan Internasional 2025: 5 (+1)Buku Bertema Perempuan

 

Tema Hari Perempuan Internasional tahun ini adalah #AccelerateAction. Aksi saya hari ini adalah merekomendasikan 5 buku tentang perempuan, versi saya dan @setarasejahtera

The Color Purple- Alice Walker

Yang brilian dari buku pemenang Pulitzer Prize ini adalah penulisan *"epistolary” nya. Walker membuat kita melihat perkembangan jiwa dan kecerdasan Celie- si karakter utama yang hidup di masa 1920-an. *surat menyurat

The Vagina Monologue- Eve Ensler

Buku ini merupakan episodic play yang mengeksplorasi isu seks consensual atau nonconsensual, serta objektifikasi perempuan dari sudut pandang perempuan dengan berbagai latar belakang.

Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk- Ahmad Tohari

Bagi saya ini adalah maha karya dari Ahmad Tohari. Lewat buku ini, kita diajak melihat berbagai elemen (juga paradoks) dari kehidupan seorang penari Ronggeng bernama Srintil.

Namaku Hiroko- Nh Dini

Disini, Nh Dini bercerita tentang Hiroko, seorang perempuan muda dari sebuah desa kecil di Jepang. Daya tarik buku ini adalah perjalanan cadas Hiroko dan perkembangan karakternya dalam mencapai cita-cita.

Gadis Pantai- Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Novel ini bercerita mengenai perempuan muda dari desa nelayan yang terpaksa menikah dengan priyayi. Gadis Pantai menuturkan gambaran mengenai situasi feodalisme di daerah Jawa pada zaman dulu. Dan saya baru tahu bahwa cerita ini terinspirasi dari nenek Pram sendiri.

Untuk Perempuan Biasa- Yours truly

Kumpulan prosa-prosa pendek yang membahas berbagai isu perempuan, khususnya yang dipengaruhi oleh konstruk sosial dan budaya di Indonesia.

Semoga rekomendasi saya memperkaya wawasan literasi teman-teman semua.

Selamat merakayan Hari perempuan Internasional dan wujudkan #SetaraSejahtera!

Happy International Women’s Day. Now what?

First held in New York City on February 28, 1909 as “Women’s Day”, the United Nations first celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8th, 1975, making this year’s celebration the 46th International Women’s Day. The second one to be held during the Covid-19 pandemic period.

This is also the year where David Bowie’s question, “Is there life on Mars?” may soon be answered. Meanwhile a long list remains of unmet women’s demands. Legal and political equality, freedom from violence, gender discrimination in the workplace, to name but a few. And do not forget   a griming fact of women being paid 11 percent less than male counterparts.

Every 8th March, we look forward to seeing trending hashtags and relevant postings, pictures and quotes highlighting the topic. The future is female, girl boss, viva vagina. I am all up for it. But put your screen down for a second, preferably after you read this, and ask yourselves: How can we reduce this list of unmet demands? 

We do not need to wait for the day to launch our own company and hire hundreds of women. 

There are also small steps we can take at home and work on a daily basis. Following this year’s theme #ChooseToChallenge, here are some, but please feel free to add more of your own ideas!

    Illustration by @runiscribbles

1. Pick a cause and stick with it. It can be a support group for victims of abuse, signing a petition supporting a legislative bill for the elimination of sexual violence (RUU PKS... DPR, we are looking at you), or participate in campaigns and small businesses founded by women. You can also check here: UNWomen 

2. If you have a woman working for you at home; a helper, a gardener, or a dog-carer, ask them this: “Do you have your own bank account? Be prepared to hear them say “No.” or “No, but my husband does.” 

Accompany them to the bank, help with the application form and suggest that you transfer their salary into that account. Owning something with your name on it is truly a positive boost for self-actualization. And that is a big step in owning their identity as they begin to consider saving for the future. 

 3. If you are Indonesian, you will be familiar with the BPJS. This government-funded insurance scheme is a world apart from the smooth-sailing process you get if you enter a private hospital - but it is still a huge help for those in need. I am nowhere near to close in working with them, nor am I part of the government force, but with bittersweet experience with family members fighting cancer, I can say first hand that BPJS works - big time! The lowest premium is less than IDR 50,000 per month, and I like to believe we can all afford to absorb that for our maid or gardener. Once that they have that sense of security, their work ethic and loyalty will be even stronger

4. Some domestic workers cannot afford to pay someone to watch their kids while they work. So, allow them to bring their kid to work if possible. Set some ground rules but let them understand that you are doing this so that she (your maid) can work and provide for her family (for example, in my case, my helper’s kid cannot play with some of my dogs, as they are very wary of strangers) 

5. It is time for the media and also us, to stop prefixing job titles with gender: for example, FEMALE CEO, FEMALE Chef, and FEMALE General Manager. Unless we want to cite MALE in every single professional position too

6. Have conversations with young girls about their favourite sports, most exciting subject at school (three of the girls I asked said: Recess and Maths!), and what they like most about their friends and family. We tend to default to commenting on their looks and their clothes, things we do not ask boys! They are good conversations, but there is more to little girls than only that. And that is on us

7. Understand an individual’s right to choose. Women can decide to live their lives differently. Differently from one another. Differently from social expectations. Differently from their mother’s, and father’s, expectations. Differently from family and friend’s expectations. It is an individual’s choice that is not an attack to others just because it's different.

So often we are caught up in society’s construct of “ideal” that we judge other women for their way of life, and sometimes, we lean into the nuance of sexism, bigotry, and sometimes victim-blaming. “Why are you still unmarried?” “Why not a natural birth instead of a C-section?” “Are you sure you can be a full-time working mum, without a tradeoff someplace?” 

But toxic patriarchy is not the only force we need to confront. There is an equally toxic so-called culture amongst us women, where we are too quick to judge other women, instead of understanding, supporting and seeing the bigger picture. Let us be careful that a woman’s worse enemy does not become other women. 

If you have already decided on your next move, let’s pick up our smart gadget again and post your hashtags to celebrate this important day!

Untuk Perempuan Biasa

Yang karirnya saat ini tersenggal-senggal,

tak jauh beda dengan percintaannya  

Yang masih tinggal dengan orangtua, atau mungkin bertetangga kos dengan yang usianya puluhan tahun lebih muda. Berisik tiap malam, katamu.

Tapi mau bagaimana? Mampunya bayar disitu walau usia hampir empat puluh. Kau menggerutu

Untuk perempuan yang sering tak masuk hitungan

Yang dari jaman sekolah, terseok paling akhir saat pertandingan

Yang walau tahu jawaban, kadang memilih untuk diam

Yang nilai 7 dicapai dengan belajar semalam suntuk, berikut tenggakan vitamin yang katanya menambah daya ingatan

Untuk perempuan yang kerja sedikit lebih keras

Dari yang lainnya

Yang lemak di perut kerap bertambah walau hanya makan nasi sesuap tambahan

Yang presentasinya di rapat perusahaan sering tak diunggulkan

Yang berharap ada keajaiban supaya orangtua, adik, bahkan kemenakan mungkin bisa masuk daftar tanggungan

Untuk perempuan yang memblokir nomor mantan

Lalu menyesal

Perempuan yang mendaftarkan diri di klub kesehatan, lalu alpa sampai tahun depan

Perempuan yang sering tak diundang ke perhelatan,
yang hasil blow rambutnya tak pernah sempurna, yang eye-liner nya sering luntur di bawah mata

Perempuan yang suaranya seperti tertahan

Karena memang, ditahan

Untuk perempuan biasa-biasa saja

Yang memutuskan untuk  tetap sendiri,

yang baru mengiyakan untuk menikah lagi. Yang ketiga kali? 

Edan! Kata orang

Perempuan yang memilih susu formula untuk sang bayi

Atau yang memijit payudaranya dengan ramuan khusus tiap malam 

supaya kencang lagi setelah memberi ASI

Itu juga kata orang... 

Dan juga,

Untuk perempuan yang baru menghabiskan seluruh upah satu bulan untuk sepasang sepatu baru

Demi mengobati sakit hati ditinggal teman kencan yang bahkan saat makan malam

mengajak patungan

Percayalah, banyak yang berdiri bersamamu

Seperti aku

Dan hari ini,

dunia yang sibuk, lelah, dan tua ini... 
sedang merayakan kita!

Kita semua...  

Perempuan yang biasa-biasa saja ini...

Run the world (Girls)!

Here's a post I wrote for What's New Indonesia:

Have we overused Beyoncé’s song the past few years when talking about and creating campaigns for International Women’s Day? What other options can you think of? The late Aretha Franklin’s “Respect”? Or Bob Marley’s “No woman, no Cry” that has been misunderstood as Sir Nesta meaning without women, there will be no more sorrow?

Songs or no songs, we take pride in this special day that is celebrated in many countries around the world.

International Women’s Day first emerged from the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe. It is a day when women are recognized for their role, work and achievements regardless of ethnic, national, cultural, economic or political differences. The month of March itself is recognised as Women’s History Month in the USA.

Here in Bali, Indonesia, we too have been celebrating this estrogenous day. Hotels organise activities to voice the objective of the day; from holding leadership seminars, to fun workshops ending with a spa treatment. Other companies treat their female employees with special perks like a movie day out. Social media has been raving about the topic, connecting communities to support each other’s work in facilitating women’s success. The #WomensDay hashtag goes viral every year and the annual campaign theme continues in popularity throughout the year.

But it’s not just about creating trending based content.

• The annual International Women’s Day campaign provides a year-long point of reference and direction for women, offering a framework for uniting global activities aimed at improving gender parity.
• If we look closer it is also about women realising their true power, and raising the bar higher for themselves. It is a moment to talk to our daughters so they know they can become astronauts, play soccer, and that it is not weird to like both dance and karate lessons.
• It is an opportunity to seek out ways to help sister women, and children, who may not be as exposed as we are, when it comes to education, healthcare access, or career options. It is a day to also be thankful for the sister women before us who fought a likely harder battle so women can now vote, become president, run a marathon, or simply write this editorial and feel all giddy about all the future possibilities for our daughters.
• Most important: So that all the time and effort we put into this annual occasion be a part of our natural daily routine and activities.
• About staying true to ourselves, and simply… just.be.kind

Moderating for Celebrating Women Event at Westin Nusa Dua

Overhyped, or not – Beyoncé, Aretha Franklin, and Bob Marley’s melodies – we pledge to still be talking about the phrase “Independent Woman” until it becomes as absurd as “Independent Man”.

It is no coincidence that the word feminism is still the most looked up word over the past year.

PS: At time of writing, all the aforementioned songs were booming in this writer’s office.

International Women's Day

Oh how I have been saying this phrase in countless of times: I love being a woman! And I really do. I enjoy the confusions, the struggle to understand men and the long winding road to simplify things, the so-called menstrual crams, the power to be independent yet at the same time having the freedom to cling  to someone when you feel like you need to, the freedom to choose (or not), the make-ups, shoes, hand bags,... oh hand bags !

But of course most of all... I love what many legendary women before me has brought into this world. I was raised in a society that "already" allows women to be as equal, to be able to speak up and to decide. I love how choices for us are now so many and it does not make us respect men any less (I respect and adore you as always, Adams!).

So to honor to the day of feminism, here are some ways to celebrate:

• Learn more about International Women's Day. 
• Sponsor other sister(s) out there through UniFem.
• Have an easy, chill-out ladies' night out. Or a wild one.
• Order three desserts. And actually finish them.
• No make-up... or Doll up!
• Have a lot of sex with your lover. You lead.
• Share this post of beautiful... I repeat.. beautiful photos about how we should look at Women today.
• Buy that bag.
• Support a child.

And the most important thing: Be even more thankful, respect your man, love your family... and be the woman you intended to be:)

One gift for you: Re-posting one cute poetry from "One Angry Girl"

I am not a feminist, But...

I am not a feminist, but I appreciate the right to help choose my government representatives.  
I enjoy the option of wearing pants or shorts if I want.
I’m pleased that I was allowed to learn to read and write. It can be very convenient to control how many babies I want to have.
It’s awfully useful to be able to open a bank account and own property in my name.
I like knowing that my husband or boyfriend cannot legally beat me.
It’s really swell to keep the money that I earn.

Bottom picture is my fave from Women today :

Women today

Bring it on!

Happy International Women's Day, ladies, girls, sisters...and bitches all around the world!
No heavy or substantial content here in this post but let me tell you, I cannot express how much I love this picture below :))

ps: If you like, you may want to read my previous post on International Women's Day or about how I define feminism, inspired by this brilliant angry girl. 

From here

International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day to all the women in the entire world. 

Be thankful for who you are; your curves, your heart, your life, your function, your weaknesses, your strengths, your incapability in reading maps (or if you are good at it), your income, your dependency to your man, your flaws, your children, your future, your wrinkles, flabby thighs, fetishes, dreams... 
Everything. Every.single.thing.

from Super Kitina