KnE Social Sciences
ISSN: 2518-668X
The latest conference proceedings on humanities, arts and social sciences.
Marginalization of Women's Identity in a Matrilineal Community: A Study of Semende Community in South Sumatra, Indonesia
Published date: Jul 30 2024
Journal Title: KnE Social Sciences
Issue title: 2nd International Conference on Gender, Culture and Society (2nd ICGCS)
Pages: 82–105
Authors:
Abstract:
This paper explored the marginalization of women in the Semende community, which is claimed to be matrilineal. According to Semende custom, the eldest daughter is given the power to inherit, manage, and utilize the family’s assets of housing and agricultural land. Those women are known as the tunggu tubang. However, according to custom, Semende males are also given the authority to influence the inheritance management carried out by the appointed women. The Semende custom allows the men to “judge” and test the appointed women to see if they are unable to carry out the management of the inheritance and even gain legitimacy if they want to manage the inherited property. This custom suggests that the Semende woman’s claim to have power over the inheritance must be questioned. The customary legitimacy of men being allowed to take over the inheritance if needed also confirms that the Semende females have been lulled away from their position as inheriterse. They appear to have the power over the inheritance, but in reality, they have been marginalized in the social structure of their society. For this reason, this article tries to describe the basis for the justification for taking over authority and power from women and the implications for the inherited customs of property and the social structure of the Semende community.
Keywords: inheritere; male domination; marginalization; matrilineal community; Indonesia
References:
[1] Alihanafiah, Mengenal sepintas masyarakat hukum adat Semende [Recognizing the Semend customary law community]Palembang: Pemda Provinsi Sumatra Selatan; 2008.
[2] Arifin Z. Politik Perkawinan. Dualitas Praktik Sosial Masyarakat Minangkabau [Politic of marriage: the duality of the social practice of Minangkabau society]Yogyakarta (Yogyakarta): Histokultura-Graha Ilmu; 2018.
[3] von Benda-Beckmann F, von Benda-Beckmann K. Political and legal transformations of an Indonesian polity: the Nagari from colonization to decentralization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2013.
[4] Blackwood E. Webs of Power: Women, kin, and community in a Sumatran village. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; 2000.
[5] Krier JM. Displacing distinction: Political processes in the Minangkabau backcountry Harvard: Cambridge, MA: Harvard University; 1994.
[6] Parkin R, Stone L. Kinship and family: an anthropological reader. Malden (MA): Wiley- Blackwell; 2004.
[7] Poewe KO. Matrilineal ideology: Male-female dynamics in Luapula, Zambia. London: Academic Press; 1981.
[8] Puspitawati H. Gender dan keluarga: Konsep dan realita Indonesia [Gender and family: Indonesian concepts and realities]Pt Penerbit IPB Press; 2012.
[9] Sakai M. The nut cannot forget its shell: origin rituals among the Gumai of South Sumatra. Canberra: Doctoral dissertation, The Australian National University]; 1999.
[10] Adhuri, Supriyadi D. Antara Desa dan Marga: Pemilihan struktur pada perilaku elit lokal di Kabupaten Lahat, Sumatera Selatan [Between the village and the marga. Local elite behavior structure selection in Lahat Regency, South Sumatra]. Antropol Indones. 2014;68:1–12.
[11] Arifin, Zainal, Delfi M, Sidarta Pujiraharjo S. Harte dan tungguan: Redefinisi adat tunggu tubang pada komunitas Semende migran [Harte and tungguan: Redefinitioan of tunggu tubang tradition on migrant Semende community]. J Masy dan Budaya. 2020;2(2):31–43.
[12] Arifin, Zainal, Delfi M, Sidarta Pujiraharjo S. Tunggu tubang and the extended family property inheritance system in Semende community, Indonesia. Soc Identities. 2023;29(3):243–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2023.2210075.
[13] Best, Deborah L, Luvender KL. Gender development: Cultural differences. James D Wright, ed, Int Encycl Soc Behav Sci. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2015. p 742.
[14] Bhagavatheeswaran, Lalitha, Sapna Nair, Hollie Stone, Shajy Isac, Tejaswini Hiremath, Raghavendra T., et al, The barriers and enablers to education among scheduled caste and scheduled tribe adolescent girls in northern Karnataka, South India: A qualitative study Int J Educ Dev. 2016;49:262–270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2016.04.004.
[15]Boe, Ole, A possible explanation of the achievement of gender and gender identity. Procedia-Social Behav Sci. 2015;190:17–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.910.
[16] Gender and research publishing in India: Uniformly high inequality? 1 J Informetr. 2019;13:118–131.
[17] Cahyono, Fridiyanto. Kepemimpinan Meraje Keluarga Semende di Rejang Lebong Dan Relevansinya dengan Ajaran Islam [The Meraje Leadership of the Semende Family in Rejang Lebong and Its Relevance to Islamic Teachings]. Manthiq. 2022;7(1):71–82.
[18] Crompton, Rosemary, Brockmann M, Lyonette C. Attitudes, women’s employment and the domestic division of labor: a cross-national analysis in two waves. Work Employ Soc. 200519(2):213–233.
[19] Harris, Richard J, Firestone JM. Changes in predictors of gender role ideologies among women: A multivariate analysis. Sex Roles. 1998;38(3-4):239–252.
[20] Hatton, Erin, Trautner MN. Images of powerful women in the age of ‘choice feminism’. J Gend Stud. 2013;22(1):65–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2012.681184.
[21]Jufri, Martini, Watson CW. Decision making in rural households in Kerinci and Minangkabau. Indones Malay World. 1998;26(74):13–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639819808729908.
[22] Madsen, Højlund D. Gender, power, and institutional change–The role of formal and informal institutions in promoting women’s political representation in Ghana. J Asian Afr Stud. 2019;54(1):70–87. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909618787851.
[23] Moyer, David S. Cultural constraints on marriage: anti-exchange behavior in nineteenth-century South Sumatra. Journal Humanit Soc Sci Southeast Asia. 1983; 139:2(3): 247–259. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134379-90003443.
[24] South Sumatra in the Indonesia field of anthropological study. In: de Josselin de Jong PE, editor. Unity Divers. Dordrecht, Holland: Foris Publication; 1984. p. 88.
[25] Quisumbing, Agnes R, Otsuka K, Land inheritance and schooling in matrilineal societies: evidence from Sumatra. World Dev . 2001;29(12):2093–2110.
[26] Sakai M. Remembering origins: ancestors and places in the Gumai society of South Sumatra. James J Fox, ed, Poet Power Place Comp Perspect Austronesian Ideas Locality. Canberra: The Australian National University; 2006. p 43.
[27] Still remembering the origins: The continuity of syncretic Islamic practice among the Gumay (Gumai) in South Sumatra, Indonesia. Indones Malay World. 2017;45(131):44– 65.
[28] The origin structure of Kute among the Gumai: An analysis of an indigenous territorial institution in the highlands of South Sumatra. Shar earth, Divid L L Territ Austronesian World. Canberra: The Australian National University; 2006. p. 39.
[29] Setiawan, Hatta, Darmawan C. Upaya pelestarian adat Semende di Desa Ulu Danau, Provinsi Sumatera Selatan [Preservation of Semende customs in Ulu Danau Village, South Sumatra Province] J Urban Soc Arts. 2016;3(2):57–63.
[30] Setiawan R. “Status Dan Peranan Tunggu tubang Serta Perubahannya Pada Masyarakat Semende Desa Muara Tenang Kecamatan Semende Darat Tengah Kabupaten Muara Enim [Status and Role of A Tunggu Tubang and Its Changes in the Semende Community, Muara Tenang Village, Semende D” (2013) Univ Sriwijaya, Palembang.
[31] Syawaludin, Mohammad, “Kontribusi Teori Fungsionalisme Struktural Parsons; Pengelolaan Sistem Sosial Marga di Sumatera Selatan [Parsons Structural Functionalism Theory Contributions; Management of the Marga Social System in South Sumatra]” (2015) 10:01 Sosiol Reflektif 175–198.
[32] Vermeule A. Optimal abuse of power. Nw UL Rev. 2014;109:673. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:12073911
[33] Villamor, Grace B, Noordwijk M. Gender-specific land-use decisions and impli- cations for ecosystem services in semi-matrilineal Sumatra. Glob Environ Chang. 2016;39:69–80.
[34] Vindhya, Undurti. Quality of women’s lives in India: Some findings from two decades of psychological research on gender. 2007;17( 3):337–356. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353507079088.
[35] Wegren, Stephen K, Alexander Nikulin, Irina Trotsuk, Svetlana Golovina, Gender inequality in Russia’s rural informal economy. Communist Post-Communist Stud. 2017;50(2):87-89.
[36] White G. Gender inequality amid educational expansion in India: An analysis of gender differences in the attainment of reading and mathematics skills. J Res Gend Stud. 2016;6(2):153. https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=470849
[37] Arifin Z. Diversity, and Patterns of Ethnic Formation in Indonesia (Learning from cases in South Sumatra Province, Indonesia). Contemporary Indonesian History, Culture, and Society, 25 -26th August 2023. Indonesian Studies Departement, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU-HCM. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2023.
[38] Guspitawaty E. Penyimpangan sistem pewarisan yang terjadi pada masyarakat hukum adat Semendo di Pulau Beringin Kabupaten OKU, Propinsi Sumatera Selatan. Semarang: Master’s thesis. Program Pascasarjana Universitas Diponegoro; 2002.
[39] Iskandar, Kedudukan anak tunggu tubang dalam pewarisan masyarakat adat Suku Semendo di Kota Palembang Semarang: Master’s thesis. Program Pascasarjana Universitas Diponegoro; 2003.
[40] Murdiati E, Taqwa R. The Local Wisdom of Tunggu Tubang Culture in the Challenges of the Times (Study on Ethnical Semende District Muara Enim South Sumatera). EDP Sciences; 2018. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20186802011.
