But some supposedly smart men – who call themselves intellectuals – seem to think that an all-male world is the ideal. Or at least an all-male panel discussion. Or a book written by a man, on men. Or all these things combined.

An online discussion about a book called Fragmen Sejarah Intelektual (Fragments of Intellectual History), which contains the profiles of 17 men arbitrarily chosen by the author, Ignas Kleden, occurred on Jan. 27. The discussant was a man, as well as the keynote speaker and even the moderator. Testosterone overdose, anyone?

I sent the author of Fragmen a list of women figures, contemporaries of the men he discussed, who contributed equally to the nation. He admitted he was not a feminist. I replied, you don’t have to be, you just need to be an Indonesian and a human being.

About one and a half months later, on International Women’s Day, an initiative was launched by Cameron MacKay, the Canadian ambassador, to pledge to only participate in panels that include women. Thirty-nine other ambassadors in Jakarta and three directors general from the Foreign Ministry joined in the pledge.

At the beginning of the year, Valerie Julliand, the United Nations resident coordinator, had proposed the “No Manel Pledge” which was in fact a worldwide UN initiative (see “Foreign envoys in Jakarta pledge to end all-male discussions”, The Jakarta Post, March 8).

“‘Manels’ do not represent the diversity of the world we live in and deprive us of a more holistic, innovative and insightful perspective on any given discussion or topic … They are manifestations of sexism and exclusion, which may reinforce the gendered stereotype of men commanding authority or superior expertise, even when there are equally – if not more – qualified women whose contributions are undervalued or left out,” Julliand said in a statement on Jan. 14.

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