Pembungkaman Perempuan Pekerja Seni Korban Kekerasan Seksual di Media Sosial Studi Muted Group Theory pada Unggahan Instagram Stories Penyanyi Dangdut Via Vallen (@viavallen)

Abstract

This study aims to describe the muting of female art worker who was a victim of sexual violence in social media. In addition, this study also aims to identify the cause of her muteness. The conceptual framework of this research is derived from muted group theory, previous studies about art worker, definitions and types of sexual violence, women in patriarchal culture, sexual violence and patriarchal culture, Instagram, women and social media. This study uses critical constructionism paradigm and descriptive qualitative research type. The analytical units in this study are two Instagram stories which were posted by a famous dangdut singer Via Vallen and exposed her sexual harassment experience to the public. Roland Barthes’ semiotics analysis is used in this study to explain denotative and connotative meanings also revealed the myths behind the displayed symbols. The results of this study indicates that although female art worker has access to social media, where she can express their resistance towards sexual harassment in front of millions of her followers, at the end she remains muted. Muting occures when female art worker can not articulate her experience of sexual violence in front of the dominant group. This is caused by patriarchal ideology which roots in our society and operates systematically to mute the expression of female art worker who was a victim of sexual violence on social media. Systematic patriarchal operations are carried out by constructing the position of female art worker in society, fostering stigma and stereotypes about them in our daily life, naturalizing many forms of sexual violence that afflicted them, and ignoring their expression about sexual violence.