Adolescent Gender Identity during the Rise of Conservatism and Land Disposition in Semail Village, Indonesia

• In Event: Confronting the Tasks of Development in Challenging Circumstances

Abstract

Semail Village in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, is an indigenous community living in a protected zone from ecological destruction. Conservative political parties and agents are moving to destabilize land care organizations that women have upheld for generations, curtailing acts of daily field cultivation that mark both indigenous land stewardship and collective livelihood (Sebastian et al., 2020). Many women leaders received threats and were approached in a form of compensation promises in exchange for women's isolation (Nguyen, 2011). This common trend facilitates gender segregation, isolation, and the surveillance of women and girls as a form of gender-based violence.
With the rise of conservatism in the community, Semail children and adolescents then face potentially harmful identity crises due to land acquisition that works with gender-based violence. The crisis circumstance stimulates a long-term and multigenerational impact on their identity development (Dowds, 2019) as the increase of surveillance and control over their body to follow the dominant religious affiliation. The purpose of the current research was (1) to explore how children and adolescents perceive gender identity and expression through their interactions within the community and (2) to understand how educational institutions intervene in conservatism. As participatory action research, this project collaborated with a cultural and education institution, Oemah Larasati, and community members to develop an art performance created to challenge conservatism.
This research employed Bronfenbrenner's ecological model of human development to Oemah Larasati's roles in response to Semail children's development processes. The methodological framework was informed by the principles of feminist ethnography, which emphasizes the reflexivity of the researchers’ positionality. The data analyzed for this research was drawn from multiple qualitative datasets collected by the two authors, such as in-depth interviews and observations. Twenty four people participated in the participatory action research, which consists of 5 women, 9 children and youth, and 10 community leaders and members. Semi-structured interviews with 4 people including school teachers, parents, and community members were conducted for about 60-90 minutes. Field notes were utilized during the observations to capture moments and reflections. The documentation of the performance such as pictures and video recordings were gathered for triangulation. All of the collected data was in the national language or ethnic group language (Javanese) and analyzed as the original languages. The authors then developed a coding system and discussed the emerging themes.
The results showed a more nuanced understanding of Semail Village as part of the ecological environment in which child development occurs. Semail children have agencies in presenting their gender identity, especially through the art performance, despite the way they express their identity sometimes does not align with the conservative social norms and expectations. Furthermore, Oemah Larasati as an education and cultural institution is a trusted place for parents and community members in preserving children’s authenticity in perceiving and expressing their gender identity in everyday life by providing a safe place to learn and explore.

Authors

• Cahya Haniva Yunizar, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Presenting Author

• Rachmi Diyah Larasati, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA