Democracy and Continuing Marginalization of Women in Indonesian Politics

Abstract

Although much progress and efforts have been made to increase women’s participation in politics, the main idea of women’s involvement in politics has not yet penetrated into the mainstream of Indonesian politics. The main idea is not only a representation of the number of female population but also the representation that will bring new norms for Indonesian politics that has been so far dominated by the assumption of masculinity based on power politics and struggle to control resources by one party for the loss of others. This paper seeks to see how this marginalization of women continues to occur. One of the reasons for this cannot be separated from the waning of the reform spirit that inspired the reformation. Slowly but surely Indonesian politics is re-defined in term of power struggles by all means including by corruption, collusion, and nepotism that was once the object of criticism of reform groups. In this context, it is often the case that if women want to succeed in politics, they must follow such political norms and abandons the idealism of their struggle. In fact, such women politicians not only abandon the ideal of feminist struggle but reinforce the assumption that politics is the world of men.