ABSTRACT
On International Women’s Day 2000, Indonesian women in the industrial city of Surabaya took to the streets in a noisy protest about the failure of the postSuharto Reform government to provide adequate legal protection for workers, especially women workers. The leaders of the protest were young women, wearing jeans and using megaphones to call out to onlookers. The television images showed a group of elderly women seated in becak (pedicabs) accompanying the protest. These elderly women in their print frocks created a demure picture compared to their younger sisters, but as the TV news camera panned over the crowd, one of the fragile old women raised her arm in a triumphant gesture, reminding us that in Indonesia, the struggle for democracy and women’s rights has a long history. This chapter explores the contestations over gender relations as part of the struggle for an Indonesian nation.
