Meaning Kartini Day In The Digital Age

Self-portrait of RA Kartini, the pioneer of the women's emancipation movement in Indonesia whose birthday on April 21 was then commemorated as Kartini Day. (AMONG)

JAKARTA - Kartini Day is celebrated every April 21, in accordance with the birthday of Raden Ajeng Kartini on April 21, 1879. Currently the role of women in various aspects of life is always associated with the struggle of RA Kartini, 140 years ago. When talking about literacy, Indonesian women cannot be separated from the figure of a pioneer of Indonesian emancipation and feminism.

Throughout her life, RA Kartini continued to fight for the emancipation of equal rights for women in Indonesia. Education is one of Kartini's efforts to change the position of women in her nation.

In her book After Dark Terbitlah Terang published by Balai Pustaka, Kartini's struggles are summarized in the sentence, "If a woman is educated, she is more capable of educating her children and more capable of taking care of her household, and the more advanced her nation will be."

It can be seen that this Jepara-born woman makes education and science a matter of struggle for the sake of demanding equality.

Interior of the Kartini Museum in Jepara, Central Java. (AMONG)

In the Big Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI) feminism is defined as a women's movement that demands full equality of rights between women and men. Freely, feminism can be understood as a claim to empower women to participate through various approaches.

And a feminist is someone who adheres to feminism. With this understanding, Kartini can be called a feminist. She is Indonesia's first national feminist. Kartini demanded that women also have the right to get the same education as men to create a generation of intellectual women.

Working Woman

Currently, society accepts the role of women with various professions, becoming leaders, or choosing to be housewives.

According to 2018 Central Statistics Agency data, the average female job applicant in Jakarta is 7,786 people per month, or more than half of the total number of male applicants with an average of 13,268 per month.

Although Jakarta is booming with female office workers, half of them prefer to be housewives (IRT). The choice to become an IRT is still viewed positively by the community.

Throughout 2018, according to BPS data, the female workforce in Jakarta reached 36.9 percent or 1.7 million people. The rest chose to become IRT. While more than half of the other people think that IRT has an equal role. Only 8.6 percent of respondents rated their role as domestic workers lower than women workers.

Illustration of a working housewife. (Unsplash)

And regulations to protect the rights of women workers have also been stated in Law Number 13 of 2003 concerning Manpower.

The law prohibits working hours from night to morning for workers under the age of 18 and pregnant women. The right to vacation for working women during menstruation. The right to a period of rest for three months before and after giving birth. Until the opportunity for lactation on the sidelines of working hours for working women who are still breastfeeding their children.

Digital Age Emancipation

Time goes on, the expression of women's freedom and emancipation metaformoses in various forms. Women also enter the information age aisle where freedom is no longer confined in space and time. Advances in information and communication technology (ICT) bridge every individual to see the window of the world, and are connected to the global community.

And women are also involved in the advancement of digital technology, equalizing themselves in various empowerment efforts. In order to have digital literacy skills that have a position in development and globalization.

However, the struggle for women's emancipation in this digital era faces many challenges, because the use of technology is still dominant in the male world.

One thing that cannot be ignored is the phenomenon that even though the world has entered the digital era, patriarchal culture is still a challenge for women's emancipation and digital world. Because, as has been written, technology is a man's job and is a masculine domain.

Being an online motorcycle taxi driver is now not a taboo for women. (AMONG)

Like fate that the digital world is not friendly to women is real. Because women today are very vulnerable to being the object of cyber crime. Online sexual harassment, discrimination, violence, to disinformation.

The gender justice organization in the United States, Stop Street Harassment 2018 noted that 77 percent of women experienced harassment in cyberspace. In Indonesia, cases of violence against women in cyberspace have increased by 300 percent since 2018.

Indonesian women's digital literacy is quite low, so they are vulnerable to hoaxes and then spread them. There are still many women who do not filter the information they receive from social media.

To escape discrimination and oppression against women in the digital era is to maximize learning. Because digital literacy for women will increase knowledge, and be critical of overcoming the abuse and injustice of the digital world.

The biggest challenge for women's emancipation in the digital world is: defeating women's self-doubt.

Happy Kartini's Day.