Heels in a Man’s World: Power, Patriarchy, and a Pop of Lip Gloss
I couldn’t help but wonder… Is it really “a man’s world” or just a poorly lit room we forgot to redecorate? In Indonesia, you don’t have to look far to see who holds the mic. As of 2024, women make up only 21% of the national parliament. In the business world? Just 5.7% of top leadership roles in major companies are held by women. And don’t even get me started on religious or customary leadership structures where women are often expected to speak only when spoken to, and preferably after making the coffee. Meanwhile, women are everywhere on the frontlines of community organizing, running small economies from their kitchens, and holding families together with emotional duct tape. We are working twice as hard for half the recognition, all while being told to be sabar, lembut, dan tidak banyak bicara. Well surprise. We’re talking now. We walk into meetings where men casually call us ibu-ibu like we’re all the same breed of harmless. We pitch ideas only to have them mansplained back to us....