Why Always Women?: Gender Inequality in Rusmini’s “Kenanga” (A Feminist Criticism Study)

Abstract

The issue of gender equality is no longer a new one. It arises along with the stereotype of men who have a higher nature than women. In addition, in terms of strength and rights women are also below men. This aspect of gender inequality is one of the aspects developed by Rusmini in her novel "Kenanga". It tells the story of women who live under the pressure of men due to their gender. This research was then made to examine every gender inequality behavior that occurs in this novel. Using a qualitative method, the research then applies a feminist approach in analyzing each event of gender inequality that occurs in Rusmini's novel "Kenanga". The results show that, gender inequality against women mostly occurs due to stereotypes from the society in which they live. This gender inequality occurs starting from the aspect that women's nature is under men, therefore women must always obey men. Moreover, in terms of education, women are also prohibited from getting a proper education than men because basically, women's job is only to take care of men. In addition, women from the poor are often treated harshly because the customs enforced in society greatly differentiate between castes. From this research, a new direction is given that gender inequality needs to be a concern because considering today's developments, it allows everyone including women to develop and have a career.