(Re)negotiating Gender Hierarchy in the New Order

Central to the organisation of gender roles and hierarchical structures in the traditional societies of South Sumatra (and elsewhere in Southeast Asia) is the concept/emotion of malu, which can be translated as shame, embarrassment or shyness. Malu is regarded as providing the foundation for the development of moral consciousness. It supports the hierarchical power structure of society by signalling behaviour that does not demonstrate the respect due to a superior. It also signals behaviour which is gender inappropriate. This paper, based on in­depth interviews with students and faculty at the University of Sriwijaya and the Raden Fateh IAIN, the state­supported Islamic university in Palembang, is aimed at understanding why students in South Sumatra have chosen a form of Islam that emphasises the authority of men over women and greater restraint for women, as compared to men. I argue that the New Order government and the Dakwah movement have mobilised anxiety over social change by defining women’s freedom as dangerous, thereby evoking in women the deeply rooted emotional and ethical response of malu. Thus, women in Indonesia become more important economically, they continue to accept the authority of men over women, and men’s control over the family and society is maintained

Coercion (linguistics · Embarrassment · Geography · Hierarchy · Indonesian · Indonesian government · Islam · Negotiation · Political science · Power (physics · Shame · Social science · Sociology · Asian Studies and History · Gender and Women's Rights · Gender Studies · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology

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