A Triple Loyalty: Feminism, Socialism and Nationalism

Abstract

This book traces the history of Gerwani, the communist women’s organization that existed between 1950 and 1965, in the context of the wider Indonesian women’s movement from the beginning of the twentieth century until the Old Order of President Sukarno ended with the ‘events’ of 1965. Three major theoretical strands have, in different ways, influenced Gerwani: feminism, socialism and nationalism. Islam, too, has been an important influence on Indonesian women’s organizations, but as it was relatively insignificant to Gerwani’s ideology I will touch on it only where relevant. Gerwani was neither a full-blown women’s wing of a communist party, such as the Chinese Women’s Federation, nor the kind of embattled, marginalized women’s organization associated with a communist party on the defensive during the Cold War (as were many women’s wings in the West (Brown 1999; Withuis 1990)), nor a fully feminist organization. Gerwani may be best described as semi-autonomous, with a triple loyalty to the imbricating discourses of feminism, nationalism and socialism. In this chapter I will consider how these three strands relate to the Indonesian context, beginning with the concept of gender.

Sarinah!

Tell them

how you were called to the ministerial suite

and how he spoke long and deeply to you

about the national struggle

then suddenly — without even finishing what he was saying

calling you the inspiration of the revolution

undid your bra.

Prostitutes of Jakarta — Unite! (Rendra 1974: 212)