PATRIARCHAL CULTURAL REPRESENTATION IN THE PROTESTANT CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMUNITY IN BALI (GKPB)
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E-Journal of Cultural Studies
DOAJ Indexed (Since 14 Sep 2015)
ISSN 2338-2449
May 2021 Vol. 14, Number 2, Page 21-32
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PATRIARCHAL CULTURAL REPRESENTATION IN THE PROTESTANT CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMUNITY IN BALI (GKPB)
Made Narawati1, I Nyoman Suarka2, Ni Made Wiasti3
1Departement of Religion, Gianyar Regency, 2,3Cultural Studies Study Program, Faculty of Arts, Udayana University
Email: 1[email protected], 2[email protected], 3[email protected]
Received Date : 05-03-2020
Accepted Date : 06-04-2021
Published Date : 31-05-2021
ABSTRACT
The Protestant Christian Church in Bali (GKPB) is the largest Protestant Church in Bali. The Protestant Christian Church in Bali (GKPB), in determining the number of strategic officials, refers to the 2014 Church Order regarding membership in Article 107 paragraph 1, 8 (eight) people elected at the Synod session must consist of at least 2 female elements and 1 youth element . Complete Synod Council Personnel (MSL-GKPB) Head of Departments and Chair of Special Institutions, 2016-2020 period, totaling 30 people; 27 men (90%), while only three women (10%). The patriarchal culture is very strong in determining strategic positions in GKPB resulting in male domination in leadership structures and policies that tend to be gender biased.
With qualitative methods and using the Theory of Power-Knowledge Relationships Michel Foucault, According to Foucault, knowledge and power have a reciprocal relationship. Continuous violation of power will create a form of knowledge, and vice versa, the administration of knowledge will have an effect on power. The second is Pierre Bourdieu's Structural theory, which describes how symbolic violence and the division of roles in society shape habitus.
Keywords: Representation, Patriarchy, Symbolic Violence
INTRODUCTION
The discourse on gender and in particular with the subordinate object of women is an interesting discussion and continues to be born in recent studies. There is a kind of historical circulation that makes the discussion of women as the main object of symbolic violence, which distinguishes gander from domestic roles and public roles (Bourdieu in Haryatmoko, 2016). Although currently, the role of women has entered the public sphere, however, the position held by a woman cannot be separated from jobs whose criteria seem more domestic, such
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as secretary or customer service. Only a few are able to enter the managerial or institutional leadership level. This imbalance cannot be separated from the stigma, from the values and morals embedded in a patriarchal society, as is still generally true in Indonesia.
Constitutionally, Indonesia is a nation that upholds gander equality. This can be seen in the mandate of the 1945 Constitution, in which Article 28D paragraph (1) reads, "everyone has the right to equal treatment before the law". Article 28D paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution of the second amendment mandates that "every citizen has the right to equal opportunities in government". Article 28H paragraph (2) which reads, "everyone has the right to get special facilities and treatment to get the same opportunities and benefits in order to achieve equality and justice". It is clear in the Constitution that women are entitled to equal treatment in government.
The legal basis above, provides a big picture that gender equality is one of the foundations of Indonesian social justice. But has this actually happened in an individual praxis step? It seems that this has not fully happened, or that subordination to the lives of women in Indonesia is still ongoing today, including the role of women in the Protestant Christian Church in Bali.
For Christians, the Bible is a source of teaching, a source of morals and a source of inspiration. In the creation that God did for 6 days, God created man on the sixth day after everything existed. Humans are made to protect the contents of this world. At the peak of all this, Allah created the first male and female human, Adam, but not alone, because Allah also created the first human, namely Eve, who is the mother of all living things. In the Old Testament, there is a tension between the dynamic of God that liberates his people and views men and women as equals. Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them". But this picture is sometimes translated differently,. So that the value is then understood as a social level in which men are the main and women are the second.
In addition, in the process of creation there is a division of domestic and public roles, which considers the domestic role only as a support for the public role, not seeing it as a balance and mutual benefit in building an equal social system. An example of this can be seen from the domestic roles that are generally played by women more dominantly, such as caring for children, gathering, and concubines. Meanwhile, men take public roles to protect the structure of a family, and participate in hunting groups that support the life of the social
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community, so that they become leaders in an organization. This difference then gets bigger inequality when it enters industrial society, which then castrates the role of women and brings them to the environment of economic production. which measures the value of work from the economic value obtained (Sanderson, 2010: 403). So that women who occupy domestic positions earn less than men who fulfill public roles. With the monopolization of high status professions by men, women who had a balanced division of roles in the early days were left out and only used as a support for men's lives.
This then enters almost all social structures of society, one of which is in the leadership of the GKPB institution. If you look at the explanation of the 2014 Church Order regarding membership in Article 107 paragraph 1, there are 8 (eight) people elected in the synod session consisting of 2 women and 1 youth element. It is hoped that there will be a female element, but in reality, women are only a complement to meeting the requirements of a “female element”. Based on datafrom Made Kertiyana, head of GKPB administration and personnel Complete Synod Assembly (MSL): 25 people consisting of 22 men (88%) and 3 women (12%). The Complete Synod Council (MSL) in which there is a Daily Synod Council (MSH) in the session and the implementation of the duties of responsibility is assisted by the Head of Departments and Head of Institutions totaling five people. Complete Synod Council (MSL) plus Head of Departments and Head of Institution consisting of 27 Men (90%) and 3 Women (10%),Head of Head: 10 people consisting of 6 Men (60%) and 2 Women (40%), Emeritus Pastors: 18 People consisting of 15 Men (83%) and 3 Women (17%), Active Pastors: 59 people consisting of 37 men (63%) and 22 women (37%), vicar: 19 people consisting of 8 men (42%) and 11 females (58%). From this data, it is stated that the number of female pastors is very large in GKPB. However, in terms of quantity, until now (2016-2020 period) these strategic positions have been positioned for men (90%, both pastors and nonpriests).
The existence of power and knowledge relations that bind the values and morals of society forms a continuous historical cycle in the domination of men over women. Foucoult (in Haryatmoko, 2016) Women are the object of violations of norms and morals that are most regulated in religious law, women's bodies become objects under community control which leads to a biopolitical system that gives male power to women's bodies. So it is not surprising, if this system is rooted in a religious institutional system that castrates women's rights to be in leadership positions.
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In the life of a country, if the relationship between women and men is still asymmetrical, it can be said that the society is still in a patriarchal culture. Marla Mies said that this culture is considered a value system that places men in a higher place than women, and this situation permeates various dimensions that exist in society, so that it is not an exaggeration in such a cultural system. men are on the side that dominates, while women are on the side who experience themsubmission (Mies, 1986: 37).However, from where the cultural system emerged, what knowledge supports it and how this form of symbolic violence can survive becomes an endless cycle. So far, these questions have not been adequately expressed so that it is interesting enough to be studied further. In this discussion, the focus of the problems to be studied are 1) how the power of GKPB knowledge in male leadership dominance, and 2) how the existence of church women in the circle of symbolic violence.
Research Methods
This study uses a cultural studies paradigm with a qualitative approach. The data collection technique was done by observing, interviewing and studying documents. The data analysis process was carried out in three stages in a cycle, namely data reduction, exposure, drawing conclusions and verification. In this research, the theoretical basis used is the theory of the power relations of knowledge by Michel Foucault and the theory of social practice by Pierre Bourdieu. According to Foucault, knowledge and power have a reciprocal relationship. Continuous violation of power will create a form of knowledge, and vice versa, the administration of knowledge will have an effect on power. According to Bourdieu in social practice there is a battle between agents for competing capital (economic, social,
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
GKPB's Power of Knowledge in the Domination of Male Leadership
The Protestant Christian Church in Bali (GKPB) is the largest Protestant Church in Bali, formed on November 11, 1931 which was marked by the baptism of 12 Balinese in the Yeh Poh River, Dalung Kuta Badung Bali. According to the records of the GKPB, in 1948, the spread of religion was carried out using a model that was tried to be applied using European culture, which was full of the spirit of change from its original religious roots, and its early adherents were sometimes called "black dutch". This process did not produce satisfactory results, so it was decided to adopt Balinese culture to bring Balinese people closer to
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Protestant Christianity. Blimbingsari village later became the first village to become a product of acculturation of Balinese culture and Protestant Christianity. But this is not easy,
Entering 1969, the population of church congregations increased. This increase was in line with the advancement of tourism in Bali, which then opened up business opportunities for the church community, and gave birth to the Dhyana Pura Hotel in the vicinity of Seminyak. This hotel later became the backbone of church funding in Bali, which is quoted in Dustien Wiebe's writing, "from the poorest church to the richest and strongest church in Indonesia". Now GKPB is located in all districts and cities in Bali Province, consisting of 68 churches and 17 Faith Development Centers (BPI) with 3,822 members of the family (KK) 12,875 people.
After surviving more than 100 years of acculturation of Balinese and Protestant Christianity, it had a big impact on the patriarchal system that was born in the GKPB institution, until in 2014 the church order rules clearly provided only 2 seats for women out of 8 people who were elected in the synod to sit. as a participant in the assembly session. With this imbalance, women congregations and women pastors began to be disturbed by discrimination of their voice in assemblies. According to Luh Debora Murthy (2004) this then also has an impact on injustice for women in Bali such as discrimination within the family, workplace, society, government and justice even in places of worship which ultimately causes losses for women because they are deemed incapable of lead things.
The patriarchal culture adhered to by the Balinese people, and several church theologies / GKPB as well as scriptural texts that are interpreted differently form a kind of patriarchal cultural hegemony. Foucault (1980) Knowledge is a way of how power imposes itself on subjects without giving the impression that it comes from the domination of certain groups, but comes from sources with independent theological logic criteria (in Haryatmoko, 2016).
The relationship between power and knowledge makes a discourse for the birth of power, in this case, it can be seen that women's discrimination is born from interpretations generally carried out by men, which makes the holy book vulnerable to gander discrimination, but because it is considered independent and born from logic. theology, then the knowledge formed in the interpretation becomes a suggestion to form the episteme of women who are under men. It is in this circle that the power in GKPB circles the dominance of men. Which is far from being the spirit of early Protestant Christians who became dissidents of the Church's authoritarian root rule.
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The male-dominated circle of power in the GKPB seemed to reverse the spirit of equality that Protestant Christianity echoed back to its starting point. This proves that acculturation for the spread of Protestant Christianity in Bali has setbacks in thinking, although it has succeeded in building its doctrine and increasing its congregation. This is almost similar to what Waber (2006) believed, that Protestantism was born to support the dominant culture by interpreting its verses. However, the idea of Protestianism is far from just supporting the dominant culture, because Protestianism is born from a modern spirit and change, but the circle of power is always tied to one big idea, which results in a pile of interests which then forgets the roots of Protestianism.
This interest then became the root of discrimination for women who were in the GKPB, especially in achieving strategic positions in the synod. During the establishment of the GKPB, which used a democratic system in electionsfour years as leadership, women pastors have not received the confidence to become leaders. The power factor that binds men to become the stigma of power in GKPB is born from the hegemony of power, which is increasingly influential in the praxis sphere, because the election consensus is also dominated by men. If you look at the GKPB document (2012) in the 45th Synod election session, the number of participants who attended the election was 73.16% for men and 26.83% for women while the 46th Synod election session of 2016, the number of participants who attended the election. selection of 72.03% was given for men and 27, 96% for women. So that it is impossible for female candidates who participate in the competition to win.According to Singgih (2019),
“Gender injustice is one of the contexts in Indonesia, including within the church. Realizing this context, there have been various attempts made by the church, one of which is by feminists, including feminist theologians, and by the GKPB to overhaul these regulations, and to provide the widest possible space for women to access strategic positions ”.
What Singgih said was true in his mind, but in reality and regarding leadership politics, this was only used as the GKPB democracy tagline, because the maneuvers of knowledge in the rules established by the GKPB were corrupt in determining its policies from the start. Slogically thinking the power has determined its absolute victory, at the end of the election by consensus. So that is the rule it is only used as a formality to support the ideology of equality in GKPB, but the role of men is absolute to be at the top of the leadership, which has been
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regulated in the power strategy in GKPB. So what Foucault said (in Haryatmoko, 2016: 17) The strategy of power as inherent in the will to know. Through discourse, the will to know is consumed in knowledge. The domination of discourse transmitted through knowledge from the interpretations of the gospel became the male power to become dominant in the church's power.
This deviation has become increasingly confused and far from the Protestant spirit described by Waber. Discrimination against women is used as a collaboration of knowledge of power which becomes the super dominant role of men in the church organizational structure, which results in women only getting a portion as a complement, or acting as a support for men at the top of the leadership. So that there is an episteme that shapes the values and morals of women not to move above men because of the manipulation of power that designs what is appropriate for women and where their position should be.
This fact, can be seen in the quote from the interview of the female pastor, Triasih Widhyati, which implies the position of women that the congregation does not trust and is less progressive in the election.
"The churches in GKPB, represented by the congregation council / presbyter, proposed very few female pastors as prospective MSL members to the verification committee to be selected by the synod session participants. The proof is that there is only one woman pastor proposed by several churches as a candidate for general secretary, that is myself, and I have to compete with five male pastors ”.
The hegemony of power, which Triasih Widhyati was not aware of in her statement, proves that the congregation's awareness has been manipulated to elect men as prospective members of the MSL, which is evidence of how the episteme of the church congregation has been in a circle of power that is controlled by their values and subconsciously to choose men. men as prospective members of the MSL. The selection should be done fairly through the competence of prospective MSL members regardless of the gander that binds them to their bodies. However, power which has become a form of values and moral power has blinded the congregation to submit and obey the provisions which position women as a support, not as the top leader, and prioritizing men as the first choice.
If around the 16-17 century power was exercised through physical domination such as war, struggle, prohibition, or against prohibition. At present, power is exercised in the form of energy management using knowledge, through written tests, interviews, opinion polls, and
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consultations which become rites of truth of the fruit of power. Without realizing it, we enter into this scientific form, and consider it a truth produced from justice, thus directing our values and morals to blindness to that truth. So that what the church congregation chooses is a form of power manipulation that encourages the idea of nominating men over women.
Foucault (1980) explains that there are certain techniques to shape individuals through knowledge. It is undeniable that the individual is the result of the ideological representation of society, but the individual is also a reality created by the technology of power, which Foucoult believes is a body discipline. Body discipline that is carried out in the form of patriarchy is the most visible, because the actions taken by men and women are very different and cannot be equated. This distinction is the fruit of the power strategy, which forms a general ideology, that men are the basic form of domination and power and women are a form of the subaltern which only becomes a support. So that the discipline of women's bodies will be the responsibility of men as those in control of power. Political,
Church Women in a Circle of Symbolic Violence
Symbolic violence in the GKPB power circle can be seen in the dominant role of men at the executive level (MSH) and the Complete Synod Council (MSL). This domination then brought women into a circle of symbolic violence which resulted in a patriarchal policy that silenced women in the GKPB organization. Generally, ideas that come from women pastors at meetings are time-limited, are reprimanded and are considered unimportant. This cannot be separated from the reference to the interpretation of women's morals in 1 Corinthians 14: 33-35 as follows,
"As in all the Congregations for the saints, women are to be silent in the meetings of the Jama'at. For they are not allowed to speak. They must submit themselves, as the law also says. If they want to know something, that is fine. they ask their husbands at home. Because it is rude for women to speak in Jama'at meetings. " The description of the above verse provides an illustration of how moral control over women becomes knowledge and power which becomes symbolic violence to discipline women's bodies. Bourdieu (2010) explains that the lack of capital from a dominated class causes the dominant class to gain control over the culture it deserves in its production, as a differentiator for their class. This explanation also answers that the dominance of men who have symbolic capital, social capital, and economic capital, based on patriarchy in Balinese customs found
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in the structural pattern of cultural change, gives men the power to produce cultural capital to differentiate their social status from women. .
Based on 1 Corinthians 14: 33-35 and a combination of Balinese customs which positions women as a second class society, it makes the development of patriarchal values and morals in the church structure. This cultural production then becomes a single reference and truth produced by men as absolute truths that must be followed by women. Whereas the spirit of Protestantism was inseparable from protests from politicized religious actions for the interests of certain groups, but what happened in GKPB group interests were re-formed to dominate, and left protests in women's bodies whose values and morals were exploited to submit to male power. The GKPB seemed to be a new domination structure that was opposed by Protestantism in its early days by Martin Luther.
This domination then forms symbolic violence that is perpetrated by men in a number of activities within the GKPB circle. One of the most obvious examples is at the Complete Synod Council election session, with the provision of two seats for women. It is clear that this form of regulation is the fruit of the knowledge that is produced into a culture that discriminates against the position of women which basically injures the democratic process in GKPB. The failure to understand equality in the GKPB then put women in a domestic position, with greater responsibility. Obviously, this is no longer the vision and mission of Christ but only the use of knowledge by the dominant group for the personal welfare of the group, thus as facilities, the habit of mecik mangosteen (don't want to speak the truth) prestige and salary are the main goals. This is in line with Lord Acton's famous expression. Power tends to be corrupt, absolute power is corrupt absolutely. GKPB is a male power circle that becomes absolute and corrupt in the arena of power struggle. The election activities for the Complete Synod Council (MSL) are often tinged with money politics and gender bias doctrines. This continued during the male leadership period, which tended to override the position of women in the structure. The simple language of women then becomes a subaltern that is directed and dictated to follow what is right according to men. GKPB is a male power circle that becomes absolute and corrupt in the arena of power struggle. The election activities for the Complete Synod Council (MSL) are often tinged with money politics and gender bias doctrines. This continued during the male leadership period, which tended to override the position of women in the structure. The simple language of women then becomes a subaltern that is directed and dictated to follow what is right according to men. GKPB is a male power circle that becomes absolute
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and corrupt in the arena of power struggle. The election activities for the Complete Synod Council (MSL) are often tinged with money politics and gender bias doctrines. This continued during the male leadership period, which tended to override the position of women in the structure. The simple language of women then becomes a subaltern that is directed and dictated to follow what is right according to men.
According to Bourdieu (in Haryatmoko, 2016), symbolic violence in the contemporary social system lies in the role of women in domestic work. Generally, women will occupy secretarial positions, and assistant assistants who still place women only as supporters of men's jobs. This was also expressed by I Nengah Rata:
“The patriarchal culture really influences GKPB, so that Bishop GKPB has never been a woman. Men are considered stronger. The leadership ability is not inferior, women's social matters are considered weak. Respondents chose men because of the field of service and women's social issues such as childbirth and breastfeeding ". This statement at the same time confirms Bourdieu's concept of symbolic violence that is felt by women as a result of male domination which is embedded as women's absolute duty. This situation then becomes one of the cultural productions born from the conversion of two capitals in the arena of power hunting, economic capital and cultural capital. Men who own economic capital will convert women's cultural capital to submit and obey according to the cultural production needed by men. So that the new cultural capital that is owned by women is the result of male cultural production that moves women's values and morals to be ethical in their every action. Under these conditions, there is almost no possibility of women occupying important positions in the GKPB organizational structure. when women are unable to establish their dominance and begin to produce a culture of equality. The equality that every woman desires is an idea of equality which is the most basic of all religions, races and ethnicities. However, this equality can only be realized, if there is resistance and struggle in the arena of power that can encourage the formation of women's culture in equality.
CONCLUSION
Gender bias that exists in the GKPB organizational structure and women's daily lives, shapes women's values and morals and produces a general culture that becomes a single truth. Women can only stay in a body that is rebelling against the domination of men who are at the helm of GKPB. Power and knowledge are intrinsic to the gender case studies in GKPB.
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The knowledge produced from the Holy Bible is used to form a series of rules, which discriminate against the position of women in the organizational structure and in women's daily lives. The power of men in dominating and shaping the justification in GKPB, which results in symbolic violence which is applied to the position of women who play a role in the domestic sphere.
This analysis also finds that there is a need for cultural production from the subaltern, which can be a counter-culture that is an alternative to the single truth produced by men. One concrete step, can be done by placing an equal number of seats between women and men at the MSL. In addition, it can be done by building women's confidence to be competitive and equal in everyday life.
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