Bali Echo Magazine Edition 52 | Balinese Outsider

What makes a Balinese woman different from others? A visitor to Bali in the 50s would have had answered the question: "A woman is different from another in her personality. A Balinese woman's difference from others is also in her personality. Balinese women have a special personality." "What is that?" "They are laborers" Then of course it would be the women who worked breaking rocks at a roadwork taken as an example. Those who gathered sand from rivers and had to carry them over the steep river banks. Those who carried rice pots or various farm produce on their heads on the streets. Or those young women watching their cows on the hills. Meanwhile Balinese men spent their time only looking after their fighting cocks or getting drunk at the palm wine tuak warungs. Or spent their time gambling, playing card and "togtog" at a place where someone had died.

Balinese women were presented as responsible workers and providers of sustenance, while the were artist because of the few maestros who became famous in the West. Balinese women were thought of to have learn well how to become wives of artists. They were the best partner for artists. Now days if the question of who a Balinese woman is still important, the answer would be more than one. There are many Balinese women who are successful business women, although their school education background is not high. Many of them are intellectuals, such as engineers, doctors, and even speakers in various important intellectual forums. Balinese women are no longer just a partner but they are now the decision makers themselves. Today if one asks a little Balinese girl what she wants to be when she grows up, Her answer would be certainly not "to be a good wive to her husband".

That kind of answer is outdated nowadays. She would at least say "l want to be a president". "Balinese women are different now," says a tourist who used to admire them. "They have become just like any other women everywhere. They are no longer a mother, an ideal partner, or a hard worker for their family. They are chasing after careers now, defending their rights, and demanding justice. They have become global." Today Balinese men can no longer marry more than one wive or desert a woman that he does not love anymore. Divorce, which Was formally unknown of in the past, is a fact of life today. It is shameful now for a Balinese man to have more than one wive although it used to be a symbol of social status and pride. On the other hand Balinese women will refuse to have their husband have another wive, or to marry a married man. They are now equal with men. "A Balinese woman is an ordinary woman, just like any other women anywhere. What makes them different is
only their name. Balinese women have never changed," says

an observer of women issues. "What changes is the society itself and the concept of what a Balinese woman is. People didn't recognize this in the past, so they made their own conclusion based on a few examples that they encountered. Now all that make up "Bali" have been exposed and the real identity of the Balinese woman has become more clearly understood." If that is so, then there is no real changes in the concept of what a Balinese woman is. They are still a very important element of life, harmonizing the existence of men. "Then, what should l have to understand about a Balinese woman if l want to marry her?" asks a tourist. We probably better to give him. this answer: "If you marry a Balinese woman, you marry a concept of harmony.

If you are strong, then she would become weak. But if you arc weak, then she would become strong." "But that is a common theory of harmony." "That's right. Because it also applies to the Balinese men. If one marries a Balinese man, and she is strong, then her husband would become weak. Otherwise, if she is weak then the husband would become strong. This concept of harmony has become a kind of instinct to the Balinese and is reflected in the whole of the Balinese life. You don't have to be a Balinese yourself but if you stay here long enough, for sure, you would also start to grow this instinct for harmony of life in your self." The person who is inquiring about Balinese women becomes silent. He knows a Balinese woman who does not match any of that. He wants to protest. Complaining. That what often happens to tourists who wish to enjoy Bah as it's been advertised. They are disappointed because they discover that things are different. Isn't that the truth of any advertisements? Always more beautiful than they really are. "Our biggest problem now is not how to increase the number of tourists coming to Bali, but how to make those who come not disappointed. By teaching them the concept of harmony which is embedded in the mind of any Balinese woman," says a Balinese woman attacking her male friends. Why must she attack them? Because there are still men who think like their grandfathers, believing that Balinese women are only manual laborers.

jakarta 13-03-01
Translated by Saut Situmorang