The Girl Child and Indonesian Television
Gloria ARLINI (Singapore)
Sinetrons or drama series are reportedly the most frequently watched television
programme in Indonesia. Adopting a telenovela format, their storylines typicallyrevolve around the theme of complicated family drama and love triangles. At thecentre of the turbulent romance and family intrigues is the main character, usually ayoung girl who faces multiple hardships before she finally attains happiness.
The most popular sinetron actresses in Indonesia today range from 14 to 18 years old,whom in the UN standard and Indonesian laws are considered as children. The girlchild is therefore at the centre of the Indonesian electronic media discourse. With itspervasiveness in the local entertainment culture, sinetrons’ representations of thegirl child would strongly shape public perceptions of the girl child in Indonesia.
Unfortunately, these representations have not been particularly positive.
The central character of any sinetron is typically a beautiful young girl who is kindhearted, quiet, humble, and often religious. Despite the hardship in her ‘life’, thestoryline portrays her as never harboring ill feelings towards those who have
mistreated her. As she continues to endure her abuse in silence and tears, viewers
are implicitly reminded that “good” girls should possess the virtues of being sabar(patient) and pasrah (submission or resignation) to their fate, while holding on to thebelief that God will reward the virtuous. The moral of the story is consistent: that
goodness would prevail over evil in the end, and good girls should patiently wait.
Portraying girls as weak, passive and subjected to abuse is disempowering andperpetuates the stereotypes of girls as the weaker sex in Asian societies. In manysinetrons, there are minimal, if at all, hints of the girl’s initiative, strength or ability
to defend herself. Instead, the girls are usually defended by the male lead which,again, perpetuates the male stereotype of masculine heroism. Most sinetrons portraythe male characters as successful young professionals who fall in love with thefemale characters from lower class background. On the contrary, the girls areusually cast as belonging to the underclass of society, such as beggars, street
peddlers, domestic workers, office cleaners, etc., who later becomes instantly
successful through chance meeting with these powerful men.
Such portrayals are meant to reflect the social reality of Indonesians, the majority ofwhich lives below the poverty line. However, the almost consistent portrayal of girls
as weak—both in the physical and socioeconomic sense, as opposed to the more
powerful men, is stereotypical. The girls’ characters become “successful” not throughtheir own hard work but through the men’s interference in their lives. Such onscreen roles and characteristics that make girls dependent on men indicates a very
subtle, yet pervasive, differential gender treatment and perception which forms thebasis of discrimination.
Admittedly, recent sinetrons have somewhat varied their portrayals of the girl childby showing more lively, exuberant, independent and carefree girls. The morale of thestory has shifted somewhat: that optimism could overcome hardship although values
like kindness and honesty continue to be underscored. The girls are shown to be
braver in speaking out and fighting (both figuratively and literally) for justice andtheir rights, competing and excelling with boys in school, play or work.
However, these main characters are usually younger in age, between 8 to15 years ofage, where their antics and enthusiasm are attributable to their childish naivety andinnocence. Upon reaching late teenage years, their spiritedness and strength to fightfor their rights seem to mellow down as their on-screen characters become moredemure with age. This is a regression in the portrayal of the girl child, pushing forth
the message that she could and should be brave and competitive against boys.
However, as she enters young adulthood, she should become more submissive.
The inconsistent portrayal of women and the desirable traits they must possess does
little in alleviating the discrimination against women as a whole in Indonesia.
Despite the overt efforts at the national and grassroot levels to fight discrimination
against the girl child, the media portrayal of girls through sinetrons undermines
these by perpetuating the message that girls should be subservient. The media,
moreover, passively resigns her fate in the patriarchal society.
The media is a pervasive force in society, especially in urban Indonesia, and thediscourse it advances would shape a nation’s worldview. By portraying girls andwomen as generally weak and helpless, Indonesia has a long way to go to actualize
its pledge to eliminate discrimination and exploitation against the girl child andwomen.