Abstract - This article investigates how the notion of fatherhood was played in the portrayal of masculinity in contemporary Indonesia, focusing on recent edition of men’s lifestyle magazines available in Indonesia. As a patriarchal country, men and masculinity was always treated as a norm resulted on the lack of men’s studies in Indonesia. This article argues that being the norm doesn’t always mean being the hegemonic. Fatherhood that have always been the essence of being a man in Indonesia apparently have been redefined in order to secure the what so called stereotyped masculine behavior.
“being a son means having a bigger responsibility because in the future he will become the head of the family” (Best Life Indonesia, 2012)
The above quote
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Indeed, being a dedicated father and husband is a man’s way of acquiring status. In the Indonesia male hierarchy, young men are subordinate to father and older male relatives until they have married and have formed family of their own. Several works focus on gender in Indonesia has indicated fatherhood as the idealized notion of masculinity (Blackwood, 1998; Graham, 2001; Clark, 2004; Nilan, Donaldson & Howson, 2007; Nilan, 2009). Man was expected to devote his life as reliable provider for his children and wife. No matter how wild man’s youth, once he is married and become father, he is expected to take care his family. Hence, family was man’s priority in life regardless his ambition and passion during …show more content…
As a result, fatherhood, which rooted in Indonesia’s masculinity, now is being detached. This research discovered contemporary men’s lifestyle magazines available in Indonesia do not consider fatherhood as their topic. Indeed, being a father and a husband were not on the magazine’s discourse about men’s life. After careful study from 7 most popular men’s magazines available in Indonesia including Esquire Indonesia, Men’s Health Indonesia, Men’s Folio, Best Life Indonesia, only the later provides fatherhood segment on each edition. While the other magazines focus more on men’s sex life, work life and men’s appearances. Therefore, in the following chapter, the article will discussed on how fatherhood was played in the portrayal of nowadays masculinity in Indonesia by (1) looking at historical and sociological factors that influence gender construction in Indonesia, (2) studying the changing of masculinity discourse and, (3) investigating the portrayal of fatherhood in Best Life Indonesia toward masculinity. Approximately 23 editions of Best Life Indonesia (BLI) were published during the years 2008-2012 and the whole editions from 2014 including three special editions on fatherhood were analyzed. Targeted on mid 30’s mature middle-class man, BLI was first published on November 2008. As a
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It has been said that “Society has always defined for us what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman, what a man should be like and what a woman should be like, and these traditional definitions of gender roles have limited and even harmed individuals”. The theme of sexual politics comes to mind for this quote. One can define sexual politics as the relationship of the sexes, male and female regarding power. Society’s definition of this can limit an individual in their gender role and restrain a person to not be themselves.
Since the beginning of time, fathers have had a profound effect on their child’s development. Over the years, the norm for traditional family dynamics of having a father figure in the household has changed drastically, and so did the roles of the parents. It is not as common as it used to be to have a father or father figure in the home. In this day and age, women are more likely to raise children on their own and gain independence without the male assistance due to various reasons. The most significant learning experience and development of a person’s life takes place in their earlier years when they were children. There are many advantages when there is a mother and father combined in a