COMPLEXITIES IN DEALING WITH GENDER INEQUALITY: Muslim Women and Mosque-Based Social Services in East Java Indonesia

Abstract

This paper applies an Islamic legal sociology approach to criticize the typology of East Java society and their views on gender equality, women's empowerment, and women's roles in mosques based on the subcultures of East Java community: Mataraman, Tapal kuda, and Arek'an. The concept of male-female equality has not been fully accepted by religious leaders. There is a power relation in the Muslim society's high-power structure because religious leaders are still dominated by men while women are considered as subordinate and marginal groups. On the one hand, there is still a patriarchal cultural-based political configuration that affects gender discrimination. On the other hand, the Muslim community has not been completely established to protect women. Finally, the finding of this paper is that the role of mosque-based women in three sub-cultures of East Java shows different results. The subculture of Mataraman tends to be culturebased, whereas religion is considered as a supporting factor. The subculture of Tapal Kuda prefers to collaborate religious views with patriarchal cultures. Finally, the subculture of Arek'an is likely to dialogue religion with culture more inclusively. A progressive mosque that provides women's empowerment may break the chain of the gender-biased understanding and change the mindsets of patriarchal Muslim societies through dialogue, social interaction, and productive activities.

An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by the Tengger tribe in Ngadisari village, Indonesia

“…Interviews were conducted with selected informants including about 10% of the total heads of family units (52 informants) to determine and explore the traditional knowledge regarding the utilization of medicinal plant species, their usefulness, the utilized part, mode of preparation, or method of processing the plants. All of the head family units were males since norms, values, and local wisdom are based on patriarchal culture [ 17 ]. The age of the informants ranged from 25 to more than 45 years, where four were between the ages of 25–30, sixteen were ranging from 31–35, eighteen were between 36–40, nine were ranging from 41–45, and five informants were older than 45 years.…”

Contribution of Kartini’s Thought on Women Education

“…Furthermore, a mother should not differentiate the education given to either their sons or daughters. (Cholil, 2017) Educators in school referred to as teachers, should positioning themselves as mothers of their students. It should never be as if a teacher is only known as someone who has merely facilitated the students with the knowledge, but a teacher should also have an emotional closeness that is full of love with their students that ability to form their character.…”

“…Intellectuality also plays a role in creating an advanced civilization in this digital era. (Cholil, 2017) Other than personal skills and intellectuality, vocational education also develops vocational skills. Kartini emphasized vocational education for women through cooking, sewing, crocheting, and other skills that could support their independence.…”

Untitled

“…Secara umum di masyarakat, posisi perempuan ditempatkan pada titik subordinat dalam sosio-linguistik (Kuntjara, 2003), militer (Umar, 1999), atau kompilasi hukum agama (Hadi, 2014). Hasil riset Cholil (2017) menyebutkan, posisi perempuan di daerah Jawa Timur berada pada posisi subordinat; bahkan budaya patriarki terlegitimasi oleh realitas keagamaan. Dengan demikian, iklim (budaya) lembaga pendidikan Islam perlu dibangun berdasarkan pada landasan etik-normatif yang bebas dari penafsiran intoleransi, dominatif atau bias gender.…”