A Digital Story by
Dwiani Indraningsri
Being born as the only girl in her family, Dwiani often feels that her brothers have more advantages than her. While her male siblings were told to pursue their dreams and go for their careers, Dwiani was taught to prepare herself for marriage and motherhood. This made her question, what does it mean to be a woman?
Gender stereotypes have been something that Dwiani struggled with for a long time.It started when she was young, and as she grew older, she realized how big the social pressure of being a woman.
In modern society, she learned that the concept of marriage has changed a lot. In addition, more and more women are deciding to abandon the social pressure to have children. Dwiani understands that having children is more than just getting pregnant and giving birth --- there's a lot to consider, including financial and mental stability.
But being an Indonesian woman, she knows that she'll be stigmatized if she decided to ignore the woman's purpose of becoming a mother, especially since religion is a big part of Indonesian culture. And when it comes to strict religion practice, sometimes there's only a small wiggle room for discussions and arguments.
In The Cookie Jar of Womanhood, Dwiani is trying to make sense of her identity as a woman. She reflects on how her life journey shaped her into the woman she is today.
REFERENCES:
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Reighter, C. (2017, December). I don't want children -- stop telling me I'll change my mind [Video]. TED Conferences.
Stryker, S. (2020, March). What Does It Mean to Be a Woman? It's Complicated. Time. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/06/the-perfected-self/8970/4/?single_page=true
The Indah G Show. (2022, March 2). Opinions on Religion, Feminism, Hijab, Child-Free & GLBTIQA ft. GitaSav (Part 2) [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/-v1w4yfqKoc
United Nations, OHCHR Research and Right to Development Division Rule of Law, Equality and Non-Discrimination Branch, Gender Stereotypes and Stereotyping and Women’s Rights, September 2014, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Women/WRGS/OnePagers/Gender_stereotyping.pdf
Vox. (2021, July 28). Do I Want Kids? [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/4kfcsOhgzRA