Unspun

Unspun got into a conversation with the prolific Jennie S. Bev, a “Chinese-Indonesian” now living in the US, about the issue of race, gender and minorities first in Should Unspun or Shouldn’t Unspun. Not wanting to dilute the discussion of that posting from the issue at hand, Unspun asked Jennie to guest post on an issue close to her heart: being a Triple Minority in Indonesia – female, non-native and non-Muslim. Here’s her take:

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By Jennie S. Bev (http://www.jenniesbev.org)

As a person who was born in Indonesia, I belong to the so-called “triple minority” category: female, non-native, and non-Muslim. I was boxed into this category early from the beginning, from the day I was born into this world from my mother’s womb. It is a class in its own, which comes with consequences and treatments from the society. It is as if my soul, which is neutral and equal with anybody’s, wears a Minnie Mouse’s outfit. But instead of looking like a cartoon character, it is in the form a Mongoloid-looking female.

According to American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (Third Edition), “class” is a group of people sharing the same social, economic, or occupational status. The term “class” usually implies a social and economic hierarchy, in which those of higher class standing have greater status, privilege, prestige, and authority.

I use the term “Mongoloid-looking” instead of “Chinese” because race or ethnicity is an obsolete concept. Genographic Project (https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/index.html), a joint effort between National Geographic and IBM, will be collecting DNA markers in the following five years to create the largest database that would record human migration patterns and ancestral origins. Eventually, this project would provide some evidence that all people from all “races and ethnicities” are related to one another and most likely every person on earth possesses multiple DNA markers coming from multiple ethnicities. It would prove that skin color is merely a small part of one’s genetic makeup, not an identity for belonging to a certain class in the society. (Thus, please note that I don’t call myself of Chinese ethnicity, instead of Chinese “culture.”)

I was, however, born and raised in a Shanghainese sub-culture. Both of my grandfathers (patriarchy) were born in Shanghai, which was and is still known as China’s most sophisticated and westernized city. I consider myself quite fortunate to be raised in this sub-culture, which is known as less conservative and forward thinking. In Chinese culture, the Shanghainese have been known as innovators, scholars, and artists. They are known as the “radical bunch.”

Being born and raised in Indonesia, Jakarta sub-culture has been my adopted culture whenever I was outside my parents’ household. This explained why I felt the so-called “double standard” in the society. I needed to be both more Chinese and more Indonesian culturally to be accepted. Alas, my look did not provide such convenience. Indonesia’s ius sanguinis principle (citizenship based on parents’, not based on where a person was born –ius soli) did not help either.

Being a critical person, I was an “outsider” many times over. A misfit in the society. Being born a woman did not help either, as in both cultures (Chinese and Indonesian), a woman’s place had to be a few steps behind a man’s. While I’m not a feminist, I believe in meritocracy and fair job distribution between a man and a woman. Jobs may be interchangeable and should be done with a lot of respect with each other.

For instance, when it is time for a woman to be a breadwinner, she should be able to make decisions and be engaged in business agreements without having to consult her husband first. Of course, she would do the things she does with a lot of respect for her husband, which should go without saying. In Indonesia, however, it is “culturally incorrect” for a woman to be independent from her husband in many ways, including when dealing in business. (Correct me if it is already obsolete, there is even a law for a married woman to ask for permission from her husband or have her husband co-sign an agreement to be valid and binding. It is such a big loophole in the legal system because marriage and life are not perfect. And a man as a husband may not be perfect either.)

In a nutshell, being boxed into “Mongoloid-looking female” in Indonesia is not an easy thing to be. It took me a lot of courage to live day-by-day, as it had to deal with internal and external issues that had been hindering me as a person to shine.

I now reside in the United States. Here, I can be a person of three cultures (Indonesian, Chinese, and American) and still being a human being and a woman who can stand tall in my own tiny spot. In my soul, I keep Indonesian and Chinese cultures closely.