Akibat Segregasi Kelas pada Pembantu Rumah Tangga

Berita tentang kematian seorang pekerja rumah tangga dikarenakan pembunuhan oleh bosnya sendiri sungguh mengenaskan. Beberapa hari ini jasad-jasad pembantu tersebut telah ditemukan oleh aparat kepolisian beserta rekaman di kamera CCTV, yang ternyata peninggalan ini dimulai dari siksaan seorang bos, Syamsul Anwar CS sesuai dengan apa yang saya dengar.

Lokasinya bermula di MES tenaga kerja wanita. Setiap wanita harus bisa melakukan semua pelatihan yang diberikan oleh si bos. Jika salah satunya ada yang salah, ia harus diakhiri dengan kekerasan yang kejam; seperti pukul dan tendang bertubi-tubi, saking seringnya hingga tenaga kerja wanita itu harus menutup nyawanya. Setelah itu ia mengubur wanita itu dengan menggali di sekitar rumahnya, kemudian tanahnya disemen agar tidak ada yang curiga. Hal itu terjadi hingga 23 orang yang menjadi korban siksaannya, hingga dikubur berbarengan dengan jasad yang lainnya. Setiap jasad ia kubur, lalu kembali disemen. Tenaga kerja wanitanya pun terpaksa untuk memilih diam, bahkan ada yang mencoba untuk kabur. Namun usahanya tidak berhasil dikarenakan ketawan oleh si bos itu; sampai pada waktu yang tidak ditentukan salah satu tenaga kerja wanita dirasuki roh salah satu jasad siksaannya. Semua pun panik, lalu salah satu pekerja rumah tangga ada yang diduga bergegas kabur pada waktu sebelumnya, dan akhirnya dilaporkan pada polres Medan.* Dengan bantuan anjing pelacak, akhirnya bukti-buktinya telah ditemukan yang terdiri dari 23 tulang, 4 gigi, dan beberapa celana dalam jasad tersebut.

Kejadian ini sangat mengerikan sekali. Lebih parahnya lagi kejadian ini memang bukan pertama kalinya Syamsul Anwar CS dan tersangka lainnya membunuh almarhumah pekerja-pekerja itu, dan tidak hanya kasus ini yang menjadi marak di media sekarang ini. Masih banyak kekerasan pada pekerja rumah tangga yang terjadi, namun tidak dipublikasikan. Dari kejadian ini, menurut riset ILO pada tahun 2010, 90% pekerja rumah tangga adalah perempuan, dan sebagian besar dari mereka tidak meraih pendidikan yang cukup, sehingga mereka tidak mempunyai pilihan kecuali menjadi tenaga kerja wanita, ataupun pekerja rumah tangga, Sudah jelas perbuatan ini adalah contoh segregasi kelas yang besar, dan akibatnya bisa fatal pada hak asasi manusia untuk perempuan. Seperti yang dikatakan race theory, ketika kaum ras minoritas ingin menunjukan kemampuannya, namun kaum yang superior tetap memandangnya rendah. Sama seperti pekerja-pekerja ini. Mereka mengais rejeki dengan mengerahkan tenaga kerjanya, namun pada akhirnya disiksa, sehingga kehormatannya direnggut oleh si tersangka.

Sungguh menyedihkan melihat budaya kekerasan dalam rumah tangga dan buruh telah mendarah daging. Dikarenakan perempuan biasa dikategorikan sebagai kelas kedua, maka suara dari perempuan menjadi susah diakui. Bahkan dihantam oleh kekerasan yang tidak wajar, hanya karena ia perempuan, dan datang dari kelas yang lebih rendah. Ingat, mereka adalah manusia juga yang biasa membantu pekerjaan rumah menjadi lebih baik. Biarpun terkadang suka merasa jengkel dengan kelakuannya, ingatlah untuk menahan amarah yang tidak perlu pada pekerja rumah tangga. Lebih baik untuk menyelesaikannya dengan kompromi, sekaligus ketegasan, dan juga tambahnya komunikasi pada pekerja rumah tangga, karena biar bagaimanapun mereka membantu tugas rumah kalian. Ironis sekali, dulu pekerja rumah tangga 'dibudak' oleh Belanda, dan sekarang kita sendiri yang melakukan gap kelas sosial ini? Sepertinya tidak seharusnya ditertawakan. Walaupun susah atau gengsi untuk berkomunikasi dengan pekerja rumah tangga, namun ingatlah jika kita berada di posisi mereka. 





*Point ini diduga masih belum tentu benar.

Referensi:
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---ilo-jakarta/documents/publication/wcms_125953.pdf

Melawan Sepi

Secangkir kopi menemani kekosongan hati

Mendamping memori yang telah lama mengendap ditengah ruang ingatan

Membisu, hingga jiwa ragamu perlahan-lahan membeku

Tanpa disadari



Dikala kehilangan merenggut jiwa dalam memperjuangkan hati untuk meraih keikhlasan

Jiwa memberontak, memaksakan diri untuk melintas waktu

Mencoba untuk berdiri kokoh

Sembari mengharapkan sinar matahari yang bersedia menjadi kawan, tanpa menikmati waktu



Percuma saja jika mengejar waktu tetapi jaraknya tak terhingga

Percuma saja menari dengan angan-angan bersama tequila dan vodka

Percuma saja menyebar kata bjiak

Namun pada dirimu sendiri semuanya adalah semu



Selirih apapun kau lari

Hadapilah sebisamu

Sampai sepimu telah selesai :)

The Representation of Indonesian Soap Opera to the Image of Women based on Age Groups

   Indonesia has its own name of soap operas. It is called as Sinetron, which stands for Sinema Elektronik (Electronic Sinema), however in this paper writer will use the word soap opera due to the familiarity for the readers.

     In Indonesia, soap operas has captured many hearts of Indonesian fans through the use of body language that might be dramatic enough for some people, as well as the elevating ratings although the content might be slightly negative. Each soap operas targeted to different target audience in terms of age groups, such as for teenagers and housewives. During this period, each TV stations create a similar genres of soap operas for certain target audience. For instance, during prime time they provide teenager soap operas, such as Ganteng-Ganteng Serigala (Handsome Wolf), Cowokku Superboy (My boyfriend is a Superboy) and Diam-Diam Suka (Secretly Attracted) can reach the highest rating as the most popular soap operas in SCTV, according to the official website (Unggulan Hari ini, 2000-2012). While RCTI, in prime time period they provide two famous operas that are mostly put religious theme, which are Catatan Hati Seorang Istri (The Diary of a Wife) and Tukang Bubur Naik Haji (The Porridge Chef is going to Hajj). Each soap opera represents female characters that portray societal values. Regarding teen soap operas, every women are portrayed based on the part of societal demand, where most girls have to follow modern lifestyle, such as acting very feminine, seemingly just like a baby doll. On the other hand, religious soap operas encourage to cover women’s body as much as they can, as well as being a good Muslim woman; such as serving the husband and still do religious rituals. This paper will explain about the representation of women image, relating to globalization in soap operas. The focus of this paper will be about the history of hijab, as well as the influence of modernism in Indonesia.

     Firstly, the history of hijab in Indonesia came from the Muslim concept. The history of Islam transmission to Indonesia established during 7^th until 8^th century, when there was a free trade. During that time, Indian (Gujarat), Arabian, Chinese and Persian traders sold spices and gold in Malacca Strait. Then the interaction between the natives develop, as well as being a trading partner, until the traders spread the value of Muslim. This transmission gave a great impact to the natives, particularly who lived on the seaside. Then the teachings spread to rural areas through interaction and acculturation among the natives and the traders to 15^th century (Fahrul Rozi Limbong, 2013), as well as through marriage, and the transmission through social classes from peasants to bureaucrats through education. The most direct method of transmission is through dakwah, where the preachers spread Muslim rules and values to the society. The influence of Muslim expanded to several provinces in Indonesia, firstly by Walisongo, who were the palace advisor, and also the people who reached high spirituality in Islam (Fahrul Rozi Limbong, 2013). These people used acculturation method in spreading Muslim values, that’s the reason why they didn’t put hijab values due to accommodate Hindu and Buddhism culture in previous years, before the downfall (Jilbab dan Sejarahnya, 2014). During the decades of Indonesia, since Indonesia was controlled by foreign countries such as Dutch and Japanese, assumingly women might have limited access on wearing hijab, including the regime of Soekarno until Soeharto era, due to the fact that Soekarno wanted to create diversity without radicalism, also Soeharto gave limited access for society’s freedom of speech, including the restriction of hijab in schools and workplaces (Budiman, 2012). As a result many office required women to work without hijab, although they actually wear hijab; until the downfall of Soeharto and the economic crisis. From that reformation, many women started to wear hijab as the part of their rebellious act (Budiman, 2012). Then year after year more soap operas implement religious values inside the story since mid-2000, specifically in Ramadhan month, such as Doa dan Anugerah (Pray and Grace), Lorong Waktu (Time Alley), and many more. As many people put more interest in religious soap operas, soon more soap opera with religious values emerge.

     Nowadays, the rating of Tukang Bubur Naik Haji and Catatan Hati seorang Istri has reached its peak in RCTI. Tukang Bubur Naik Haji has seized over 1000 episodes, and Catatan Hati Seorang Istri keeps reaching into the highest peak. Based on the small observation and an interview, both Tukang Bubur Naik Haji and Catatan Hati Seorang Istri put similar religious values inside each soap opera, although each values represent different interpretations (Martina, 2014). Most likely, both of those soap operas encourage women to be more caregiving, and wear hijab as a part of conforming religious laws. Also, some women indirectly create the image of women as being more reserved; even if someone is being mean to them. For instance, one of the episodes of Catatan Hati Seorang Istri described when Hana, the main character with hijab, must set a divorce due to the fact that her husband, Bram, is cheating with his secretary, Karin, or nicknamed as ‘Hello Kitty.’ Even though she is divorced she must still be faithful to her ex-husband, by still keeping contact. In addition, Hana’s best friend, Annisa, has her problem of domestic violence in her family. There’s this one episode when she escaped from home by herself. She went to the mosque where there’s a preacher, Uztad Jufri (a preacher that she apparently already know), did a preaching session to women. He said, every women needs to obey their husbands’ rules. If they want to do something, they must ask permission from the husband’s agreement. While Tukang Bubur Naik Haji focuses on how women must have good relationship with the neighbors, as well as have less envy among the neighbors. Moreover every episode there’s constantly religious social norms that is depicted to the viewers (Martina, 2014).   

    Secondly, teenage soap operas also give different impact of globalization to the society, specifically the influence of modernism. Every soap operas portray romantic themes, consumerism, and beauty that (sometimes) can defy a person’s conception of beauty. In Indonesia, many actors and actresses are casted from their appearance. They don’t have to be good in acting or singing, as long as their looks are considered handsome or beautiful, due to fulfill the rating (R. Koesmaryanto Oetomo. S.Kom.). In addition, some soap operas seem to copy the story from western movie, with the genre of fantasy; such as twilight, that might inspire production teams to recreate a ‘new’ version of Twilight which is Ganteng-Ganteng Serigala (htt1). This story is somewhat plagiarized for the reason that Twilight hit many audience that many movie theaters are full, due to the high interest of teenagers in watching western movies (Felicia). According to Agnes Felicia, based on her qualitative research, most teenagers watch western movies because the plot is very clear, and the special effects are much cooler, comparing to local movies that usually don’t put special effects.

     The era of globalization of film in Indonesia was established in 20^th century by the Dutch colonies; the first company was Netherlandsche Bioscope Maatschappij which was first inaugurated in December 5th 1900, located in Tanah Abang. During the period, only middle-upper people can have access to watch those movies, and many citizens rather watch Komedi Stamboel that was more entertaining and populist, comparing to those movies who were still consist of silent films. Therefore only some people want to watch movie theaters. As the technology of American movie production developed gradually throughout many decades, soon western films influence many Asian countries, including Indonesia. As a result Indonesians soon would rather watch western movies more often than local movies (Felicia). Generally, many Hollywood movies also used beautiful actors and actresses to boost the marketing of film. This might create the misconception of beauty standards, which might make women in Asia think that perfect women should be perfectly shaped, and have white skin. According to beauty myth by Naomi Wolf, in 1960’s many companies want to recruit women, then use advertisement depicting women in a prefect beauty as a way to recruit beautiful women, as well as attracting stakeholders. As a result more profit comes to the company due to beauty attraction, as a result more and more company use women with certain standards as the face of the company, then this phenomenon affect every aspects, including movies that are expanded to Indonesia (Wolf, 2002), then re-created by soap opera production houses. Consequently some teenagers acting slightly precocious, give their time to have plastic surgery, even being bulimic and anorexic as a way to stay thin rather than to be who they are (Melinda Smith, 2014).

     The act of globalization is transmittable in different ways. Just like the acculturation among Muslims and native Indonesians. This method is called Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), where the dealers try to adapt with Indonesians surroundings by blend in with their everyday culture, as well as learning new Islamic beliefs without following Arabian culture, as well as the Dutch colonies when introducing modernization (Griffin, 2011) Since the expansion of technology to Indonesia emerge, many women can access many information anywhere and anytime, including watching soap operas. If a girl believes in the world of soap opera, she might misperceive the conception of reality. For instance, Indonesian soap operas mainly portrays conflict, just like most stories in film and books. However, most soap operas always have antagonist girls who are always with makeup, and usually become the boss’s secretary. This antagonist character always wants to put the protagonist girl in danger. While protagonist girls are depicted as powerless and always have limitless patience in solving their problem, although the character must deal with sexual violence, whether it is men or women (Menjual Budaya Materialistik Kepada Remaja Perempuan Indonesia Melalui Sinetron Putih Abu Abu, 2013). If the audiences are not that critical, she might be easily influenced by soap operas then become more consumptive and operates serious bullying action (Menjual Budaya Materialistik Kepada Remaja Perempuan Indonesia Melalui Sinetron Putih Abu Abu, 2013). This might be the effect of hypodermic needle, as a part of the influence of globalization through soap operas (University of Twente, n.d.), for the reason that most viewers come from middle-low class (Nielsen, 2011).  Therefore, because of this globalization women in every age groups behave differently from the way media depicted; such as teenagers must hang out in hip places constantly, show off and be fashionable. Otherwise they are considered as nerds, even geeks (Menjual Budaya Materialistik Kepada Remaja Perempuan Indonesia Melalui Sinetron Putih Abu Abu, 2013), as well as compulsive verbal bullying, due to the fact that media portray violence as a part of life (Film Televisi (FTV) Indonesia dan Tayangan Kekerasan terhadap Perempuan, 2013). Moreover, housewives are expected to be obedient to husband, as well as restrain their desires of choosing paths for their lives due to ‘fulfill’ responsibility as a housewife, while they might actually feel hurt in dealing with sexual violence (Jurnal Perempuan, 2011).

     Regarding to the theory, CAT theory is relatable to the exchange of globalization because writer believes that globalization takes interaction, whether it is through cyber space or face-to-face. If not people would not have new point-of-view, and there would not be globalization. Furthermore, hypodermic needle might put a part on society, but this theory could not be fully used because many people now can watch other media, and many society become more critical in seeing soap operas (Film Televisi (FTV) Indonesia dan Tayangan Kekerasan terhadap Perempuan, 2013).

     In conclusion, according to some Indonesians, Indonesian soap operas are not educational because they teach hatred, and the acting is very exaggerating. This impact of globalization is very negative for middle-low class people, due to the fact that not all women have access to good education, but thanks to the rapid internet technology, all social classes can have wider choice of learning new knowledge, as well as to have more choice in selecting what media they should watch.

Works Cited

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganteng_Ganteng_Serigala

Budiman, A. (2012, November 14). Politik dalam Secarik Busana Muslim. Retrieved from dw: http://www.dw.de/politik-dalam-secarik-busana-muslim/a-16378714

Fahrul Rozi Limbong, F. R. (2013, November 24). Sejarah Perkembangan Islam di Nusantara. Retrieved from sildeshare.net: http://www.slideshare.net/LydiaAgnesGracia/sejarah-proses-awal-penyebaran-islam-di-kepulauan-indonesia

Felicia, A. (n.d.). Komunikasi Lintas Budaya - Budaya Anak Muda Menonton Bioskop di Indonesia. Retrieved from academia.edu: https://www.academia.edu/5249291/Budaya_menonton_bioskop_di_Indonesia

Film Televisi (FTV) Indonesia dan Tayangan Kekerasan terhadap Perempuan. (2013, Oktober 29). Retrieved from mediadanperempuan.org: http://mediadanperempuan.org/2013/03/28/komisi-penyiaran-indonesia-kpi-dan-pencitraan-perempuan-di-media/

Film Televisi (FTV) Indonesia dan Tayangan Kekerasan terhadap Perempuan. (2013, October 29). Retrieved from mediadanperempuan.org: http://mediadanperempuan.org/2013/10/29/film-televisi-ftv-indonesia-dan-tayangan-kekerasan-terhadap-perempuan/

Griffin, E. (2011). A First Look At Communication Theory 8th Edition. Montreal: McGraw Hill.

Jilbab dan Sejarahnya. (2014, November 12). Retrieved from wordpress: http://jilbabterbaruonline.wordpress.com/2014/11/12/jilbab-dan-sejarahnya/

Jurnal Perempuan. (2011). Kekeraasan dan Kekuasaan.

Martina, L. (2014, November 18). Element of Muslim Values in Soap Operas. (M. D.J, Interviewer)

Melinda Smith, M. a. (2014). Anorexia Nervosa. Retrieved from helpguide.org: http://www.helpguide.org/articles/eating-disorders/anorexia-nervosa.htm

Menjual Budaya Materialistik Kepada Remaja Perempuan Indonesia Melalui Sinetron Putih Abu Abu. (2013, July 25). Retrieved from mediadanperempuan.org: http://mediadanperempuan.org/tag/sinetron/

Nielsen. (2011). Media Adspend Jumps 23 per cent. nielsen.

R. Koesmaryanto Oetomo. S.Kom., M. (n.d.). Pengaruh Tayangan Sinetron Remaja di Televisi Terhadap Anak. Retrieved from stiks-tarakanita.ac.id: http://www.stiks-tarakanita.ac.id/files/Tarakanita%20News%20Vol.%2011%20No.%201%20September%202012/Opini/32_%20Pengaruh%20Tayangan%20Sinetron%20Remaja%20di%20Televisi%20Terhadap%20Anak.pdf

Unggulan Hari ini. (2000-2012). Retrieved from SCTV: www.sctv.co.id

University of Twente. (n.d.). Hypodermic Needle Theory. Retrieved from utwente.nl: http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Mass%20Media/Hypodermic_Needle_Theory/

Wolf, N. (2002). The Beauty Myth. New York: Harper Perennial.