"Women

 

In the 1950s, a teacher asked his students at a junior high school in Bali. “Who, among you, would dare to pioneer providing equal inheritance rights to your younger sister or your older sister?”

No one answered. The question was considered peculiar. Girls in Bali had been used to not getting any inheritance from her family because of the semeton saking purusa tradition, with the kinship line drawn from the men’s side. But for the teacher, the question was very critical. He is married to a Balinese woman from the knights caste. His late father in-law – a wealthy man – left the daughter not a single penny of inheritance. Everything was shared among his wife’s brothers. The teacher considered it very unjust because the one who took care of his parents in-law the most was his wife.

What he saw was that Balinese women are being harassed, regarded as people with low-dignity. When a Balinese woman from a higher caste married a lower caste man (including non-Balinese men such as him), her caste is stripped. On the contrary, a high caste Balinese man can raise his wife from a lower caste (including a non-Balinese) to a higher rank.

The teacher wondered why has not anyone ever protested. His own wife is not an uneducated person. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Gadjah Mada (UGM) and often voiced the rights and equality in a marriage. However, when faced with traditional custom, her hands are tied. If asked about the matter, she would be upset and feel the question cornered her. While in fact, since they only rely on his salary as a teacher, the education for their five children is lagging. Not one of them achieve university education. The comparison of his children to his nephews is like heaven and hell with the nephews all driving cars.

The teacher got curious. He asked the elderly people. Why did that happen. But the answer is killing him. Everybody answered: nak mula keta. Meaning, that’s the way it should be. That was always the answer that parents provided if anyone tried to dig, what exactly is planned and required by indigenous custom.

He could not hold his suspicion. Is the indigenous custom a man who hate women? Otherwise, why does it feel that within the custom there is discrimination, vengeance, and as if there is a streak of revenge from those who had been hurt. Have women hurt men?