by Soe Tjen Marching

It was merely two years before the Indonesian independence was announced that Inggit had to witness her husband taking another much younger woman.  Soekarno, who had been married to Inggit for about two decades, decided to take another wife, Fatmah or Fatmawati.

Although Inggit refused to stay with Soekarno and his Fatmah in a polygamous relationship, Inggit had to leave without creating any conflict, as was portrayed by the autobiographical book of Inggit, Kuantar ke Gerbang which was written by Ramadhan KH.  Her son in law then said:

Ini jalan satu-satunya, Bu.  Negeri kita memerlukan Bapak.  Dia kepunyaan kita semua.  Rakyat memerlukan Bapak sebagai pemimpinnya, tidak yang lain.  Dan apa yang akan terjadi dengan Indonesia, kalau Bapak hancur?

[This is the only way, Mother.  Our country needs Father.  He belongs to all of us.  The people need Father as their leader, not anyone else.  And what will happen to Indonesia, if Father is destroyed?] (Ganarsih, 1988; 291).

For the sake of the people, a man’s ego must be supported with a woman’s sacrifice. It was Soekarno who could do something for the nation.  It was Soekarno who was important for the nation, not Inggit.  Although she was the one who accompanied Sukarno and had even funded his activism, when facing the conflict between the two, Inggit’s merits were not to be regarded seriously.  As a woman, she had to keep making self-sacrifices for the benefit of the country.

However, while this sacrifice may imply Inggit’s submissiveness to Soekarno, her sacrifice may make her greater than Soekarno.  If it were not for Inggit, the nation would crumble.  In this case, Inggit’s sacrifice is not only for one man, but for the entire nation.  Inggit, who had given moral and financial supports to Soekarno.  She was the one who had smuggled books, newspapers, letters and various information from Soekarno’s political mates when he was imprisoned.  She was the one who had winded up her brain to insert codes and messages in the prison.  Inggit, who bravely accompanied Sukarno in his exile and suffered with him there, was no longer with her husband when he was about to reap the rewards of their long struggles and sufferings.

Rob Willer states that individuals are encouraged to make sacrifice for the greater goods of the society, because the promise of higher status or respect.  The reward for Soekarno, the man, is a national recognition and status, as the first President of Indonesia and the Father of the nation.  And the reward for Inggit?

For her sacrifice, Inggit is elevated more than the other wives of Soekarno, as Poeradisastra states in the introduction:

Inilah bedanya Inggit dari yang lain-lain: naraka katut, suarga ora nunut. . . .  Dengan kebesaran jiwa Inggit memaafkan “Fatimah” [Fatmah], bekas anak angkatnya, yang menjalin kasih sayang dengan ayah angkatnya.

[This is the difference between Inggit and the other (wives): carried to hell, but not following to heaven . . . With her big heart, Inggit forgives “Fatimah” (Fatmah), her ex-adopted daughter, who had had a love affair with her adopted father] (Ganarsih, 1988; ix).

In this case, Inggit is judged by her reaction to Soekarno’s infidelity.  She is considered more prominent than other women (that is, the other wives of Soekarno) because of these characteristics.  In this “competition”, a woman’s merit is thus based upon her service to her husband.  The woman who shows the most devotion will be appreciated, not the one who rebels and transgresses.  It is Inggit who “wins” the “competition” because she has proved to be the most dedicated in relation to her husband Soekarno.

Hence, the picture of Inggit that the text produces is still mainly that of a faithful woman who is devoted and caring to her only lover, Soekarno.  And this is the irony: that while Soekarno claimed that he promoted women’s rights and supported the growth of women’s organisations, the interest of his own wife was somehow ignored.  While his view on women was quite progressive for that era, he did not seem to apply the idea of gender equality in his own house.  Soekarno entered the palace with Fatmawati, whereas Inggit had to return to her simple home in a village in Bandung.

Somehow the portrayal of Inggit in this biographical book is what has been popularised in public and the expectancy of women to self-sacrice for the sake of men becomes a kind of a norm.

This “legacy” is to be found nowadays, when women are to be at the background, when their role in politics is merely as the supporter of men.  When their role in politics is still discouraged.  Although the 30% quota for women was finally introduced, this was without a struggle and the result was rather disapointing – as many feminists still found out that the patriarchal ideology still plays a huge role in controlling who could or could not be selected.  As after the quota, several women who are involved in politics have not been active in voicing women’s rights.  Many elected female legislative members are merely ornaments who could get the top because of their skill in attracting publicity and funding for their campaign.  The majority of women can still only win the heart of the society if they conform to rather than rebel against patriarchal system.  For this reason, we also found that many women were in support the anti-pornographic law and also of polygamy.  Women have still been competing in pleasing the men and supporting the patriarchal culture around them.

Indonesia’s independence has indeed not been the privilege of all of its citizens![]

This article is exclusively published by Center for Minority, Gender, and Human Rights.