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Good bedtime stories make our daughters strong women
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Illustration of bedtime stories. (Shutterstock/File)
A
t the beginning of this year, in order to write another children’s book, I conducted an objective appraisal of Indonesian folktales. It involved 25 folktales from all over the country as samples.
I evaluated language and/or discourse to find out interpersonal positioning and relationships between the characters involved in the stories, helped by a linguist theory of appraisal introduced by James Martin and Peter White.
All samples involved both male and female characters and their social relationship. Twenty of them have females as leading characters, largely portrayed as remarkably beautiful. However, they are described as lacking the power or right to express opinions or exert control over important issues in their life, such as marriage or domestic violence.
Like in Bete Dou no Mane Loro, a folktale from East Nusa Tenggara, the female character does not voice her objections when her father confines her in a tree house to ensure she stays a virgin. Bete Dou stays silent even when her brother hits her as a consequence of her secret marriage to Mane Loro.
In Batu Badaong, a folktale from Maluku, the female character does not express her disapproval when the children treat her very badly, including by beating her for not preparing their meals. Instead of complaining or cursing, she asks a big stone to eat her alive so that the children cannot see her anymore.
Female characters’ objections, refusals or opinions are identified in just seven stories. But still, their voices are disregarded, and moreover, in standing up for themselves, they are helped by princes, brothers, assistants, or magical creatures and power.
For example, in Putri Hijau, a folktale from North Sumatra, the female character refuses to be married to a king from Aceh. Her rejection angers the king and prompts him to declare war. In order to stand for her refusal and save the kingdom, her brothers help her. The brothers are known as incarnations of a cannon and a giant snake.
