Abstract
The link between family, fear and women’s bodies has a complicated history in Indonesia, tied to both international aid and economic development—as well as, in more recent years, to consumerism and transnational capital. Yet, if the ‘small happy and prosperous family norm’ is now the aspiration of many young Balinese, this was not always the case. Today advertisements for family planning technology encourage women to overcome fears of discomfort and physical side-effects in order to realize ‘the family of their dreams’. But the fears of earlier days were not so easily allayed—incited by stories of infertility, infection and death resulting from use of the IUD. What do older Balinese remember of the early days of the KB program? How does this compare with the aspirations of younger Balinese as they pursue the pleasures of life in a ‘small family’ and experience its anxieties? This article presents preliminary reflections on a new project exploring how Balinese differing in gender, generation and social class talk about and act on their plans for the future. Given its importance for both state bureaucratic and commercial representations of domestic life, the ideal of the patriarchal nuclear family figures centrally in these reflections.
Highlights
This article offers some preliminary reflections on a project that I have recently begun, exploring how Balinese differing in gender, generation and social class talk about and act on their plans for the future—and how articulations of gender, generation and social class may be transformed in the process
The study has taken as its point of departure a collection of recorded – yet more or less informal – conversations in which Balinese reflected on what makes for a good life, how this might be realized and what obstacles may lie in the way
What do older Balinese remember of the early days of the KB program? How does this compare with the aspirations of younger Balinese as they pursue the pleasures of life in a ‘small family’ and experience its anxieties? What new forms of intimacy, embodiment and achievement are characteristic of this ideal? Through what sorts of practices are the requisite virtues cultivated? And what are some of the more important antagonisms that arise as a consequence?
Summary
Hlm. 213–248 bantuan internasional dan pembangunan ekonomi — dan juga, dalam beberapa tahun terakhir, terhadap konsumerisme dan modal transnasional. Jika ‘norma keluarga kecil bahagia dan sejahtera’ sekarang menjadi aspirasi banyak orang muda Bali, ini tidak selalu demikian. Iklan untuk teknologi keluarga berencana mendorong wanita mengatasi ketakutan akan ketidaknyamanan dan efek samping fisik untuk mewujudkan ‘keluarga impianimpian mereka’. Ketakutan pada masa-masa sebelumnya tidak mudah hilang — disengaja oleh cerita tentang ketidaksuburan, infeksi dan kematian akibat penggunaan IUD. Bagaimanakah ini dibandingkan dengan aspirasi orang Bali muda saat mereka mengejar kesenangan hidup di ‘keluarga kecil’ dan mengalami kecemasannya? Artikel ini menyajikan refleksi awal tentang sebuah proyek baru yang mengeksplorasi bagaimana perbedaan bahasa Bali dalam jenis kelamin, generasi dan kelas sosial yang membicarakan dan bertindak sesuai rencana mereka untuk masa depan. Dengan IUD Andalan saya tidak perlu memikirkan KB selama 10 tahun.
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