Institutional-ideological reproduction of gender relations in the matrilineal community of the Bunaq tribe on Timor island

Yoseph Andreas Gual, Sahid Teguh Widodo, Bani Sudardi, Sri Kusumo Habsari

Abstract


One interesting area of academic study to explore is the gender relations of indigenous peoples, especially matrilineal minority communities, which are often considered egalitarian where the distribution of power is formed through tough interactions between customary values, social structures and ideologies. However, various studies show that this view is not entirely acceptable because in reality gender relations in these communities are ambivalent, complex and sometimes lame. Such gaps make the study of gender relations in the matrilineal community of the Bunaq tribe on Timor Island important and relevant. Explaining the working pattern of the gender structure and the mechanism of matrilineal kinship of the Bunaq tribe in reproducing gender relations that are not fully matriarchal or patriarchal is the purpose of this research. This research uses ethnographic methods by interviewing 45 informants, group discussions and field observations by living with the local community for 90 days. This research found that gender relations in the Bunaq matrilineal community are asymmetrical. Women control ownership but are marginalized in the public sphere, while men, despite losing material wealth rights, have symbolic and spiritual power. In the individual dimension, embodiment is the initial foundation for Bunaq people to build and see gender relations. Based on this, the relational dimension of gender relations that is built is complementary but hides substantial inequality. In the macro dimension - custom, the Catholic church and the government play an ideological role in reproducing the morality of harmony as an unconscious mechanism to perpetuate the asymmetrical gender relations. In the end, the gender equality lived by the Bunaq matrilineal system is not as understood as the Western view. Their view of gender equality is unique. This relationship survives because it is supported by an ideological tripod, namely custom, religion and government.

Keywords: asymmetrical gender relationship; gender ideology; gender structure; cultural narrative; matrilineal society; Bunaq; Timor


Full Text:

PDF

References


Althusser, L. (1971). Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses: Notes Towards an Investigation. In In Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays (pp. 79–87). Monthly Review Press.

Azzahra, A., Shadrina, S., Wardana, G. A., Yandrizal, D., & Hasim, R. (2021). Islamic Education and Concept of Gender Using a Culture Approach in Minangkabau. Khalifa: Journal of Islamic Education, 5(2), 155. https://doi.org/10.24036/kjie.v5i2.129

Banerjee, R. (2015). “Matriarchy” and Contemporary Khasi Society. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 918–930. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156662?mag=what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-matriarchy

Battaglia, D. (1985). “ We feed our father ”: Paternal Nurture among the Sabarl of Papua New Guinea. The American Antrophology Association, 427–441. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.1985.12.3.02a00020

Beck, J. C. (2022). Ideology. In The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements (pp. 1–5). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470674871.wbespm106

Bhutia, Yodida & Liarakou, G. (2018). Gender and Nature in the Matrilineal Society of Meghalaya, India: Searching for Ecofeminist Perspectives. The Journal of Environmental Education, 49(4), 328–335. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2017.1407283

Blanchy, S. (2019). A Matrilineal and Matrilocal Muslim Society in Flux: Negotiating Gender and Family Relations in the Comoros. Africa, 89(1), 21–39. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0001972018000682

Brulé, R., & Gaikwad, N. (2021). Culture, capital, and the political economy gender gap: Evidence from meghalaya’s matrilineal tribes. Journal of Politics, 83(3), 834–850. https://doi.org/10.1086/711176

Chuzaifah, Y. (2002). Dekonstruksi Makna Kuasa dalam Matriarki. Studi Islamika, 9(2), 167–184. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.15408/sdi.v9i2.670

Damanik, E. L. (2021). Patriarchy Canonization: Comparing Women’s Political Participation in Matrilineal and Patrilineal Orders in Sumatra, Indonesia. JPPUMA Jurnal Ilmu Pemerintahan Dan Sosial Politik Universitas Medan Area, 9(2), 208–223. https://doi.org/10.31289/jppuma.v9i2.5660

Elfira, M. (2023). Minangkabau Mothers and Daughters in Contemporary “Rantau” Society; Regaining Power with Modified Matrilineal Principles and Patriarchal “Rantau” Norms. Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia, 24(2), 197–224. https://doi.org/10.17510/wacana.v24i2.1170

Flinn, J. (2013). Pollapese Catholicism as Strategy. Oceania, 83(1), 16–30. https://doi.org/10.1002/ocea.5004

Grana, I. (2021). La Ley General de Educatición Y La Ignesia: Encuentros Y Desencuentros. Historia y Memoria de La Educación, 14, 143–175. https://doi.org/10.5944/hme.14.2021.29127

Gray, A. (2013). Research Practice for Cultural Studies. Sage Publication.

Gual, Y. A., Widodo, S. T., Sudardi, B., & Istadiyantha, I. (2025). Shifting Gender Relations in The Farming Culture of The Matrilineal Community of The Bunaq Tribe in Dirun Village. Atlantis Press SARL. https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-418-1_9

Guenther, E. A., Humbert, A. L., & Kelan, E. K. (2018). Gender vs. Sex. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management, March, 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190224851.013.58

Hartati, Niken; Minzab, Marina Wenty & Yuniarti, W. K. (2021). How Children of Divorce Interpret the Matrilineal Kinship Support in Changing Society? : A Phenomenology study from Minangkabau, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 62(4), 276–294. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/10502556.2021.1871836

Hendrianto, C. (2017). The Roles of Matrilineal System Toward Integrating Religious and Cultural Values in Minangkabau Community. Jurnal Ilmiah Peuradeun The, 5(3), 373–386. https://doi.org/10.26811/peuradeun.v5i3.170

Johnson, J. (2018). Feminine Futures: Female Initiation and Aspiration in Matrilineal Malawi. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 24(4), 786–803. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9655.12917

Keeni, M., Takashino, N., Nongkynrih, A. K. ., & Fuyuki, K. (2018). Women Empowerment in a Rural Matrilineal Society of Meghalaya, India. Journal of Asian Rural Studies, 2(2), 144–152. https://doi.org/10.20956/jars.v2i2.1417

Kennett, D. J., Plog, S., George, R. J., Culleton, B. J., Watson, A. S., Skoglund, P., Rohland, N., Mallick, S., Stewardson, K., Kistler, L., Leblanc, S. A., Whiteley, P. M., Reich, D., & Perry, G. H. (2017). Archaeogenomic Evidence Reveals Prehistoric Matrilineal Dynasty. Nature Communications, 8(14115), 1–9. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14115

Kooria, M. (2021). Matrilineal negotiations with Islam. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 23(2), 192–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616742.2021.1905260

Kooria, M. (2023). When Men Get No Share: Matrilineal Muslims and Their Laws of Succession. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 43(2), 163–175. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1215/1089201X-10615635

Kusnadi, K., Yuliyanti, A. Y., Ilyas, D., Zulfikar, E., Thought, I., Negeri, I., Fatah, R., Negeri, I., Fatah, R., & Djati, S. G. (2024). Minangkabaunese Matrilineal: The Correlation between the Qur ’ an and Gender. HTS Teoloeses Studies, 80(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i1.8643

La Ferrara, E., & Milazzo, A. (2017). Customary Norms, Inheritance, and Human Capital: Evidence from a Reform of the Matrilineal System in Ghana. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 9(4), 166–185. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20150342

Laheij, C. (2021). Promises of gender justice in matrilineal Malawi . Journal of Southern African Studies, 47(1), 151–153. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2020.1820176

Larrain, J. (1996). Konsep Ideologi (T. Bottomore (ed.); Pertsms). LKPSM.

Levy, P. D. (2022). Patriarchy. In The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. Wiley Online Library. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosp010.pub2

Loughlin, T. O. (2022). Equality as a Theological Principle within Roman Catholic Ecclesiology. Ecclesiology 1, 18, 35–56. https://doi.org/10.1163/17455316-18010004

Lowes, S. (2022). Kinship Structure and the Family: Evidence From the Matrilineal Belt (No. 30509). http://www.nber.org/papers/w30509

Ly, G., Laurent, R., Lafosse, S., Monidarin, C., Diffloth, G., Bourdier, F., Evrard, O., Toupance, B., Pavard, S., & Raphaëlle, C. (2019). From Matrimonial Practices to Genetic Diversity in Southeast Asian Populations: the Signature of the Matrilineal Puzzle. Philosophical Transacsions of the Society B, 374(1780). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0434

Mundine, R. G. &, & Mundine, G. (2014). Aboriginal Inculturation of the Australian Catholic Church. Black Theology, 12(2), 96–116. https://doi.org/10.1179/1476994814Z.00000000024

Nongbri, T. (2000). Khasi Women and Matriliny : Transformations in Gender Relations Khasi Women and Matriliny : Transformations in Gender Relations. Gender, Technology and Development, 4(3), 359–395. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/09718524.2000.11909976

Okan, A. (2024). Factors Influencing Gender Equality. Current Approaches in Psychiatry, 16(4), 753–766. https://doi.org/10.18863/pgy.1394700

Pham, C., & Hang, M. (2023). Division of Labor by Gender in the Matrilineal Stieng family in Bu Dop District, Binh Phuoc Province, Vietnam. Central European Management Journal, 31(1), 521–527. https://doi.org/10.57030/23364890.cemj.31.1.55

Prasetyo, B. D., Ekawati, D., Handoyo, Djaenudin, D., Indartik, Suryandari, E. Y., & Sari, G. K. (2021). The Social Construction of Gender Relation Reality: An Analysis of Time Management Applied on Sustainable Bamboo Forestry among Families in Ngadha, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 917(1). https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/917/1/012016

Pullen, A., & Simpson, R. (2009). Managing Difference in Feminized Work : Men, Otherness and Social Practice. Human Relation S, 62(4), 561–587. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726708101989

Risman, B. J. (2012). Gender as a Social Structure: Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries to Advance Science and Equality. AG AboutGender, 1(2), 1–29. http://www.aboutgender.unige.it/ojs

Risman, B. J. (2018). Gender as a Social Structure. In Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76333-0_2

Robinson, A. L. &, & Gottlieb, J. (2021). How to Close the Gender Gap in Political Participation: Lessons from Matrilineal Societies in Africa. British Joirnal of Political Science, 51(1), 68–92. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123418000650

Romadona, M. T. (2020). Louis Althusser dan Filsafat Sebagai Yang Politis. Jaqfi: Jurnal Aqidah Dan Filsafat Islam, 5(2), 197–236. http://journal.uinsgd.ac.id/index.php/jaqfi/article/view/9060

Smith-Greenaway, E., Weitzman, A., & Chilungo, A. (2019). Child Sex Composition, Parental Sex Preferences, and Marital Outcomes: Evidence From a Matrilineal Context. Journal of Marriage and Family, 81(5), 1126–1143. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12591

Tarin, A. (2016). Issues in Ideology: Althusser’s Marxist Theory. In M. H. N. R. & A. Tarin (Ed.), Philosophy in Practice (Spring 201, Vol. 10, Issue 4, pp. 36–50). Department of Philsophy California State University. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4812661

Villanueva, C. F. (2010). La equidad de género : presente y horizonte próximo Gender equity : present and next horizon. Quaderns de Psicologia, 12(2), 93–104. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/qpsicologia.809

Westbrook, L., & Schilt, K. (2014). Doing Gender, Determining Gender: Transgender People, Gender Panics, and the Maintenance of the Sex/Gender/Sexuality System. Gender and Society, 28(1), 32–57. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243213503203


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Proceedings of Culture, Education, Literature and Language International Conference

published by Faculty of Language, Literature, and Culture, Universitas Islam Sultan Agung, Jl. Raya Kaligawe Km 4 Terboyo Kulon, Kec. Genuk, Kota Semarang, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia