Erwin Arnada

Erwin Arnada may soon officially be a man on the run. His crime? Publishing a toned-down version of Playboy Magazine for an Indonesian audience. Playboy Indonesia did not use any nudity in any of its pictures. Critics, like those in the video below, even claim that there are racier magazines available for sale throughout the country, but that it was the word Playboy and its link to American culture that fundamentalist religious groups had a problem with.

I will not argue with countries trying to protect their culture from American momoculture, but if you look at the headlines on the cover of one of the three issues of Playboy Indonesia that made it into print, you see that it features an interview with one of Indonesia's foremost political and cultural icons: Pramoedya Ananta Toer.

The laws used to put Erwin Arnada soon on the run are Indonesia's ant-pornography laws, which are also used to subjugate gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) people. Sticking to the subject of my blog, the question is: is this sexist?

It's certainly problematic on many levels, especially those involving human rights, but many people would argue that pornography is sexist as well.

Personally, it's my hope that Erwin Arnada doesn't wind up becoming a fugitive or going to jail.

This leaves me wondering how left-handed people get by in Indonesia.

A while ago, while researching my story, I came across the interesting custom of avoiding the use of your left hand in Indonesian culture. Apparently, it's considered dirty for bathroom reasons. It's only used to handle the bucket and ladle provided near toilets, instead of toilet paper.

In my effort to double-check that fact before positing it here, I came across Journeywoman's blog and discovered a couple more interesting facts.

1. Delhi Belly can happen in Jakarta.
2. "Jam keret" is an Indonesian expression that means rubber time and is used to reinforce the idea of being patient because people are not in so much of a hurry as they are in Canada.
3. Everyone wants to know where you are from and how many people are in your family.
4. Always carry toilet paper, unless you are really interested in learning about the above mentioned bucket and ladle. Oh, and...
5. DON'T USE YOUR LEFT HAND!

Now, this Journeywoman didn't seem to share Fisher Steven's impression that Indoesia is a sexist society. She called it modest, said she was never sexually harassed, and said that people are usually curious about a woman travelling alone. Modesty is good, as is an absence of sexual harassment matched with a healthy sense of curiousity (in fact the last two together are usually rather pleasing), but I'm not sure how I feel about the spectacle of the lone woman traveller.

Does it indicate a lack of freedom? Is it indicative of anything or just interesting? After all, women are expected to travel about without men often enough that they deserve their own carriages on commuter trains.

I'm afraid, the jury is still out on this one.

The title of my blog

The title of my blog comes from a Fisher Stevens quote that I found while googling Indonesia. Yep, that's right. Blame this guy:

That being said, my aims with this blog are three-fold: one is to disprove Mr. Steven's statement; two is to research my novel; and three is to share fun facts about Indonesia.

My first fun fact is that that they have recently introduced women-only carriages on commuter trains in Jakarta. This was in response to popular demand - from women, who felt they were subject to sexual harassment in the regular carriages, where men would take advantage of sudden stops to grope them. Does this make it any less sexist? My opinion is still divided on this one, but... the carriages are PINK and I think that's pretty cool!