December, 27th. Twilight.

Five graduates of International Relations were on their way back to Jakarta after attending a party outside the capital city, taking a public communter, the trans-Jakarta. As they sat on a long perching  green velvet bench, they started to discuss issues pertaining to the current political events in Jakarta. On one side of the coach, fellow passengers seemed to pay attention on the topic these young adults were talking about. On the other side, a group of people couldn’t care less about such hogwash or maybe, they were just too far to overhear. For them, it sounded like just another distant chatter blurred by the sound of the brisk locomotive. The train was moving fast toward the final destination like a piece of flying arrow thrown with a full force, only stopping briefly at designed stations. Station by station have passed but the five students, four lads and one girl, were not even close to their destination. Yet, none of them seemed to care as they were so carried away by the discussion until one point, when one member with a tall and slender figure admitted that he was recently involved in a social engineering plot and contributed to a past political unrest in Jakarta. The other four were astonished  by the confession. They couldn’t believe the information to be true but intrigued to hear more about the story. However, each of them realised that such information shouldn’t be a public consumption unless they wanted to be interrogated. being cautious, they curbed the eagerness and postponed the conversation until they reached their destination, a small coffee shop near the city planetarium. Now, all that remained was silence, allowing the sound of moving rails to fill the air.

An hour later,  the group finally reached the last station. Once they disembarked from the coach, they moved briskly towards their chosen public sphere. When they arrived at the rustic coffee shop, where broke students or penniless musician-wanna be came to sip their cheap but tasty cappuccino, they quickly placed their order. The started the communion with four cups of black-coffee and a glass of cappuccino, accompanied by the typical snack of Indonesia, fried bananas. Having gone through a long trip, they decided not to rush with the anticipated talk and chose to relax their nerves by drinking their hot drinks and breathing in the humid evening air of the capital city. After that, the conversation was eventually started again and the wooden gazebo where they sat on then became a silent witness of what a young man from Eastern Indonesia can do. The conversation ended with an admirations and disbelief. “What valor!”, said they. However, they preferred not to prolong the topic and proceeded to pick another topic to talk about.

This time, it was the chance for a slightly-short, bald but intelligent member of the group who stepped in and spoke about his personal goals. Shortly after the first bit, everyone jumped in. It was apparent to the everyone nearby that these young adults are keeping ambitious plans for their future. Most of them are now back at school in advance level and it must be fascinating to hear about possible positions they may attain after graduation. So once again, the conversation got heated. At least, that was how the only female member felt. An issue concerning gender and how woman’s role fit in the society was brought up to the table as they talked about a fellow student, who is planning to pursue her doctoral study.  In contrast to the only female member, the other four lads who are using their patriarchal perspective were enjoying the conversation because it was the only time where they can share their judgemental opinions without having to worry about being misogynistic. Yet, to the only female member, the discussion was rather  another type of social engineering plot, where men could be petty to girls who dreamed big.

Focusing the discussion to one fellow student who will continue her doctorate study, the lads showed concern about the timing. In their eyes, it was risky for a single woman in her late 20s to embark on an intellectual marathon. For them, the better plan was to first get married and make the society happy, before attending another four years of study, abroad. They claimed that they are not misogynists. Yet, they seemed to agree to the traditional view, where the society renders a single, mature woman, despite her education, as undesirable. Additionally, they stated that a woman who focuses too much on education might abandon her interest in producing offspring, which is supposedly to be their assigned duty.

It is apparent that these noblemen somehow believe in the fundamentalist propaganda. Fortunately, technology in medicine has rapidly developed, giving hope to the women who want to pursue career and academic achievements first before settling down. Gradually, people should realise that breaking-through experiment named oocyte cryopreservation will enable women to freeze their eggs. Major companies such as NASA, Apple, and Facebook are willing to pay for such expenses for their female employees by including this treatment their medical benefit. Even though the success rate for oocyte cryopreservation merely hit 30% to 50%, it helps the women to relax about societal rules and focus on catching their dreams.

Technology development is just one of the reasons why women shouldn’t be too worry about the social construction. Besides, the social construction is evolving. Girls movement is taking place underground and soon or later, women’s empowerment will be the new trend. Girls will no longer forced to submit to subjugation. Four men with high-education and exposure to the world, different cultures and traditions, should have known better. While their concerns might be genuine, they should have worried more about their own bright future and not about how those bright women will find future partners and when they will have children. To the contrary, these men should be joining the cause and help the social change to become a reality. After all, these fantastic four have ambitious plans for the future, so why not starting by eradicating inequality and building a community where their daughters could enjoy the same privilege. Maybe, it can be started by joining #HeForShe.

With Regards,

The Female Member.