Sumbadra vs Srikandi

The Jakarta Post   |  Sat, 06/28/2008 6:19 PM  |  Global Style

In your opinion, who is the more powerful of these two strong women?

Do you know Sumbadra? Or Srikandi? No, Sumbadra is not the name of a beauty specialist, and Srikandi is not the head of an organization.

You don’t know these two names, and yet you identify yourself as a person with broad knowledge, who speaks English and reads the WEEKENDER, a magazine that many consider to be targeted at clever folks, not the stupid kind from the song by Ada band.

First things first: Sumbadra is the wife of Arjuna in Javanese folklore. An elegant, gentle and faithful spouse, she is very different from Srikandi. The latter is not afraid to argue with her husband (and you know who her husband is, right?). She will willingly fight for an honorable cause; to the Javanese, she is an energetic, ambitious and gracious figure. Indonesianist Benedict Anderson, in Mythology and Tolerance of the Javanese, writes that Srikandi is actually a male figure from the Indian Mahabharata who has been changed into a female persona.

Who do you see as more powerful? Ms. Cool, Calm and Collected, or Ms. Firecracker at the ready to take on all comers? For me, it’s something in between – the woman who can use her God-given womanliness in her own dynamic way. And get what she wants.

There is nothing masculine about the designs on this page, no manly cuts or weighted-down big shoulder pads (if that is your persuasion, it’s OK, too). For I believe that, like those soap commercials paying homage to the beauty of the female form, being the way that nature intended is sufficient to melt the hardest heart.

 

+ Samuel Mulia

 

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