A Long Road to a Gender Equality in the House of Representatives in Indonesia

Abstract

The issue of gender equality in Indonesia has been widely discussed, especially by the younger generations who are starting to become aware of the disadvantages of male domination. However, these discussions in the government sphere are only a ploy to gain a reputation for favouring women’s rights. Thus despite the 30% quota for the parliamentary elections, the number of women in the legislative assembly never reached the target. The construction theory in the field of International Relations considers the discourse on gender equality to be closely related to the formation of social facts that occur in the community. The anachronistic idea that women’s roles should solely comprise cooking fulfilling their husband sexual desires is unfortunately still entrenched in Indonesian culture. Using qualitative-deductive research methods, this study demonstrates that the Patriarchal system as a cultural heritage from ancient times is still adopted today. This is proven by the small number of women sitting in the power of the legislative body. Keywords: Gender, Legislature, Politic, women’s rights