of their organizations. Indonesia has two large
Islamic women’s organizations. Aisyiyah was set
up in 1917, as the women’s wing of the Muham-
madiyah movement. One of their major contribu-
tions was the demand to install female judges in the
courts dealing with marriage issues. This demand
was met in the 1950s. The other Islamic mass
women’s organization is the women’s wing of the
Nahdlatul Ulama, the Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama,
which was set up in 1946.
President Sukarno’s polygynous marriage in
1954 evoked major protests from women’s organi-
zations. Again the major Muslim women’s organi-
zations kept silent, as did Gerwani. They aspired to
become a mass organization and followed the
directive of the Communist Party to always sup-
port the national hero, Sukarno. Many individual
members deplored this, for Gerwani had always
been in the forefront of the struggle for equal mar-
riage rights. In 1958 two draft marriage laws were
discussed in parliament, one proposed by the gov-
ernment, and a more radical one proposed by a
feminist member of parliament. The discussions
were stalled because of opposition from Islamic
organizations.
In 1973 again a draft marriage law was proposed
that stipulated monogamy and civil marriage.
Islamic groups and parties strongly opposed it,
both on the streets and in parliament. A compro-
mise was agreed which stipulated that monoga-
mous marriage was the rule, but which allowed
polygyny when a woman did not have children,
was not able to fulfil her marital duties, or had an
incurable illness. Interreligious marriages were pro-
hibited (Saptaningrun 2000).
The fact that polygyny is still allowed provokes
much debate. The rules affecting the military and
civil servants have been tightened. Men of other
groups feel they are free to contact polygamous
marriages, even without the consent of the court,
which is stipulated in the law. They see it as a deed
sanctioned by Islam. Pro-polygyny groups even
organized a contest for a Polygamy Award in July- This provoked strong protests from women’s
groups, including many Muslim women. A group
of veiled women wanted to climb onto the stage
where the award was being given, claiming that
they as women belonging to polygynous groups
had the right to be heard. They were prevented
from reading their protest statement by security
forces. At the time the mass media trumpeted
around that the four wives of the men who received
the award were happy with him. Yet the first wife
openly stated that she was sick at heart at his be-
havior. Interestingly both pro- and anti-polygamy
638 political-social movements: protest movements
groups based their arguments on particular inter-
pretations of the Qur±àn and used Islamic symbols,
such as the veil. This testifies to the plurality of
views on Islam, its practices and teachings, in
Indonesia. This plurality has become more manifest
since the 1990s, when gender issues were widely
discussed for the first time within Islamic organiza-
tions.Conclusion
Interests of the state or of Islamic groups have
often been superimposed on women’s interests,
even if these had been formulated since the be-
ginning of the women’s movement. This has been
possible because the major Muslim women’s or-
ganizations, as well as the largest socialist women’s
organization, Gerwani, were formed as women’s
wings of male-dominated parties or organizations,
even if they were independent in name. Inde-
pendent Muslim women’s groups have been better
able to fight for women’s rights. Only since the
1990s have women both within Islamic organiza-
tions and outside them touched on areas that had
previously been considered male monopolies. Gen-
der analysis and feminist interpretations of Islam
have gained wide currency with the translation of
many books on such topics into Indonesian. Fem-
inist debates also have a great influence on the gen-
eral discourse in Indonesia, which is still very much
male-oriented. Indonesian feminist interpretations
also serve to stem the influence of the Middle
Eastern culture that has been promoted by funda-
mentalist groups who have become stronger since
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