TI 112008128 Full text
The Analysis of Readers’ Perceptions toward Lesbians in the Movie of Yes or No
Introduction
Watching movies is an attractive way to kill the time. Movies have certain goals why
they are made. They must have a message or represent people‟s lives, conflicts and cultures.
Generally, movies are made based on the issues that appear in the society. Movies can bring and
show many kinds of stereotypes which are good or bad. When people hear about lesbians, many
ideas and opinions may come to their mind. Commonly, in Indonesian society, lesbians are
stereotyped as something unusual and they are humiliated as suggested by Knauer (167-168) and
Barnard (14) who stated that gay and lesbians have been over looked, ignored, and marginalized
from society.
This study actually, connects what the movie tells and the participants from stereotypes
and religious points of view. So, the aim of this paper is to analyze the participants‟ perceptions
toward lesbians. The movie of Yes or No is used as a tool whether it can influence the
participants or not after watching it. So, this study comes up with a research question what are
the participants‟ perceptions about lesbians before and after watching the movie of Yes or No?
Moreover, society takes a significant role in determining a stereotype. When lesbians are
described as abnormal, it will create a bad mind-set. Because of this bad mind-set, lesbians will
be marginalized and ignored. When this mind-set spreads to society, it becomes a stereotype
which means that most everybody will use it to see the behavior of lesbian in general.
Movies are a good media to connect people to a new knowledge. Therefore, the opinion
about lesbians may be changed after watching the lesbian movies; or it may be stay the same. Yes
or No is a Thai movie which tells about lesbians. Kim and Pei are the main characters who are
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lesbians. They live as roommates. In the first scene, Pei does not like Kim because Kim looks
like a Tom or a manly lesbian. Kim looks like a boy, who has short hair and how she behaves is
similar to males. As the time goes on, Kim falls in love with Pei, and vice versa. However, their
love is not going smoothly. Pei‟s mom does not agree that she becomes a lesbian.
Theoretical Foundation
Lesbians in Thailand
Thailand has some well-known places for homosexual communities and nightclub, such
as: Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket. Thailand has no law prohibiting homosexual sex identity and
relationship, but same-sex marriage is not accepted. The homosexual couple is also not allowed
to adopt any children. Livingthai.org listed four types of lesbians in Thailand. They are dee (the
girly girl lesbians), tom (the dyke), les bi (the bisexual), and two way (the original lesbians). Dee
is the lesbian who hates man because of any traumas. The examples are being raped and being
hurt emotionally or physically. Tom dresses like a man, has short hair, walks and talks like a
man. Tom also likes to wear tight clothes to hide her breast. Les Bi is a lesbian who loves both
man and woman. Two way lesbian is a lesbian who does not act out, does not dress out, and only
enjoys the relationship with woman. Two way usually keeps her virginity for long time.
The countries which legalize the same-sex marriage are Belgium, Spain, and the
Netherlands. After those counties, there are other countries which legalize same-sex marriage
too. They are England, Hungary, America (certain states), Canada, South Africa, Norway,
Sweden, Portugal, Argentina, and Mexico.
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Reader Response Theory
Reader response study is the main theory that supports this analysis. Barthes describes
reader response as everything about the work that is centering on the participants‟ or readers‟
opinions or giving a role for readers in determining the scope of the derivation work‟s right (qtd.
in Heymann 446-447). As its name says, reader-response criticism focuses on readers‟ responses
analysis in any works. According to this theory, there is no right and wrong answer because it
interprets the readers‟ responses which no one of them will have exactly the same responses or
answers.
The movie of Yes or No is chosen because it tells a controversial issue about lesbians.
Because of the controversial issue, the finding is expected to be interesting and it has various
perceptions. Emerson states that the most important thing is the effect of a work on a reader that
produces the participants‟ perceptions (132-133). So, it is very important to choose the right
movie because it may affect the readers‟ perceptions. Why Yes or No is chosen? The reason is
the society that the movie shows closes to Indonesia. Indonesia has the same scope with
Thailand—ASEAN. Moreover, the participants are Indonesian. So, it is right to choose this
movie.
Using reader response in this research seems to not match because its name is “reader”.
“Reader” is the participant who should read the literary work. However, understanding the movie
deeply also needs an understanding like reading a book. In other words, using the term of
“reader” in this study is appropriate. So, the focus on using this theory is to analyze the
participants‟ perceptions by understanding about the concept of lesbians in general and in this
movie.
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Lesbians/Gay Criticism
Lesbian/gay criticism is needed to make or create sexual orientation „a fundamental
category of analysis and understanding‟ (Barry, 140). Jeffords et al. describe the meaning of
“sexual orientation” simply as heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality (2). So, sexual
orientation is very important to define who he/she is. Through lesbians/gay criticism, people can
be identified as male or female or otherwise like transgender and hermaphrodite based on their
gender. It means that a man can be male or female and a woman can be male or female.
Lesbians
There are many reasons why somebody becomes a lesbian. Some people believe that the
causes come from environment. Some people also say that lesbians were born with that kind of
feeling. Haider-Markel and Joslyn restate Weiner‟s theory that the origin of homosexuality can
be divided into two; they are controlled (learned, environmental or an individual choice) and
uncontrolled (biological or genetic) (291). Briefly, there are three causes or reasons why women
become lesbians, they are: (1) sexual orientation, (2) life style, and (3) ideology.
Sexual orientation takes a big part on this study because it identifies someone as male or
female. Sexual orientation has two definitions; they are as gender and sex. Charlesworth
interpreted the word “gender” as cultural expressions of masculinity and femininity (379). In
addition, Greenberg (qtd. in Kramer 211) explained that “sex” refers to physical and biological
traits; that is, a person‟s maleness or femaleness. For further explanation, Tyson explains that
biology determines sex as male or female; culture determines gender as masculine or feminine
(92).
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The relation of this study and sexual orientation is that sexual orientation of everyone
affects people‟s perspective. People usually use stereotypes to judge someone‟s behaviors. So,
people create their own perspectives to evaluate others. The evaluation identifies people whether
he or she is on the right way or not. For example, sex says that lesbians are female, however
gender identifies lesbians can be both, male and female. So, the perspective which may be
created is that lesbians break the stereotypes.
The root of lesbians happens step by step. At first, lesbians only feel something different
until they find themselves that they are less normal. It is like slowly having awareness of
themselves as someone who is different and unusual from others, but it seems very natural for
them (Martin & Lyon 26). So, most of lesbians believe that they were born that way.
Nevertheless, being lesbians can be influenced by environment, culture and where and with
whom somebody lives (Martin & Lyon 109) (Prensky 3). Take an example, when the work
place has a lesbian worker; another worker who is close to her may become a lesbian too. It is
because the job makes them work, interact and even live together. Frayser and Whitby find that
what lifestyle lesbians is determined by how much she is inhibited by cultural conditioning,
religious persuasion, family ties, and economic dependence on the situation (334).
Patriarchy also may cause someone to be a lesbian. Tyson states that patriarchy promotes
the belief that women are innately inferior to men (85). He also explains that the belief which
says men are superior to women has been used and feminists have observed it. It is proven by the
male monopoly of positions of economic, political, and social power, in other words, to keep
women powerless by denying them the educational and occupational means of acquiring
economic, political, and social power (86). In other words, lesbian is a personal reaction to
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patriarchy which believes that it creates independence among men. This situation is claimed
makes women decide themselves to be lesbians.
Participants
The participants of this research are four people and all of them are heterosexual.
Heterosexual is chosen because if the participants are homosexual, the finding is predictable.
Most of homosexual will support the existence of lesbians and gays. So, that is why the
participants chosen are heterosexual. Herek describes heterosexual as the sexual relationship
between a man and a woman with power being attributed to people remaining obedient to the
roles associated with their gender (19). The participants are in the range between 15-30 years
old. It is the productive period for getting formal education. This research chooses this period
because this age usually has larger communities and experiences outside the family area. It is
needed to get various and complex data.
Method
The descriptive qualitative approach is selected because of its capacity in examining the
information and to find out the participants‟ perceptions. The chosen data collection
methodology is important because it can affect the availability of the data. It means that we have
to choose methods that can enrich our data. In other words the method chosen can provide many
data that a researcher needs. So, an in-depth interview is significant for this research to gather
information. Boyce and Heale (3) described in-depth interviewing as a qualitative research
technique that involves conducting intensive individual interviews with a small number of
respondents to explore their perspectives on a particular idea, program, or situation. The research
has tended to focus on face to face interview, so that it needs intensive interview. In preparing
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the data collection, to let the participants know the purpose of the interview is better idea. It will
make the participants relax and be able to tell more about the information the data collector
needs (Boyce and Heale 3).
Materials and Procedure
Participants will be interviewed twice, once before and once after they watch the movie
of Yes or No. The questions will focus on the participants‟ perceptions about lesbians before and
after they watch the movie. The researcher will ask the interview questions to the participants in
a relaxed situation while recording the data. After that, the recording is transcribed to be
analyzed and then will be drawn the conclusions.
Data Analysis
The purpose of this study is to analyze the four participants‟ perceptions, feelings,
opinions, or any ideas about lesbians. Perception may be regarded as a process of communication
between the perceived object and the perceiving subject that always takes place in a certain
cultural, social, and historical context (Kessler and Puh 1). So, there is an interaction on both
sides. Because of the interaction, perception is created. The perception becomes thought which
leads people to know how they should behave. This spreading perception leads society to make a
stereotype. Beside stereotypes which are used to see people‟s behavior, religious references also
take a significant part in determining the behaviors.
Because stereotypes and religious references can influence the participants‟ thought, this
study will use them to specify the analysis. The analysis of this research will be about the
participants‟ perceptions toward lesbians before and after watching the movie.
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Stereotype
Perception creates stereotypes and stereotypes guide someone to make perception. They
are sometimes connected like a circle. Stereotypes are generally considered to be “beliefs about
the characteristics, attributes, and behaviors of members of certain groups” (Hilton and von
Hippel 240). Literally, stereotypes are very influential to see something in society. Because
stereotypes are very influential, having standard of morality of stereotypes is needed. This
research standardizes the stereotype by its normality. Take an example of lesbians; it is known
by some as less common or “bad” behavior. It means that lesbians are stereotyped as abnormal.
The first participant is Farah (22 years old); she is a student. She is studying English in
STIBA and this is her second year. She lives in Salatiga and loves making many kinds of
handicrafts. Before she watches the movie, she says that a lesbian has a kind of psychological
disorder which is caused by the environment. To make it clear, this is the diagram of what Farah
understands about lesbian:
Sexual
harassments
Traumas
+
Man‟s bad
treatment
Lesbians
Depression
Psychological
disorder
(Figure 1.1 Farah)
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From the chart, she thinks that being a lesbian is not natural. Farah believes that lesbians happen
because of traumas of men‟s bad treatments and sexual harassment. She obviously believes that
traumas have an important part in why someone becomes a lesbian. She also says that
experiencing trauma make someone becomes depressed. This depression has psychological
effects as Prensky affirms that social psychology also provides strong evidence that one‟s
thinking patterns change depending on one‟s experiences (2). After getting depressed, Farah
explains it can lead someone to have the psychological disorder. The psychological disorder can
lead someone many ways; one of them is being a lesbians.
After she watches the movie, the first impression about the movie is funny and she likes
it. There are many silly things which make Farah laughs. Yet, after she finds some parts which
show the lesbians‟ behaviors like kissing each other, her perception is different; as she says:
“bahkan opini saya tentang lesbians malah cenderung ke arah yang lebih negative lagi.” (Even
more my opinion about lesbians are much more negative). Farah‟s perception becomes negative
because of what the lesbians have done in the movie. For her, it doesn‟t look like a common
couple. She only cannot imagine them as lovers. She thinks it clearly breaks the normality in
society.
According to Farah, trauma is not the only cause to be lesbians, but also environment can
lead people to be lesbians. Environment can influence someone to be a lesbian and she thinks
that the movie of Yes or No can influence the audience. To be honest, Farah says that the main
character, Kim, interests her. She says that Kim looks like a handsome boy. She realizes that the
percentage of lesbians is only a small number, but it can affect her perception. At first she is fine
with lesbians in the movie. However, after Farah finds the part when Kim and Pei kiss, she
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changes her perspective that lesbians are not good. It means Yes or No can be influential. So, she
thinks that this movie is not recommended for audiences, especially teenagers.
Farah also says that lesbians will have difficulties to live in society. She says: “Ya itu
nanti bakalan susah diterima di kemudian hari.” (It probably will be difficult to be accepted in
the future). There will be pro and cons with their existence. Farah knows that it seems unfair
because lesbians are part of society, but lesbians are contrast to the stereotype which says that
lesbian is less common. Lesbians are contrast because the stereotype says that lesbians are not
natural and less normal. So, rejections of lesbians happen. She can do nothing because she is
only a small part in society. So, she just follows the stereotype and rules existent. However,
frankly, Farah wants to help lesbians to find the right way like she says by finding psychiatrics or
institutes which are concerned with mental issues. It is very interesting because Farah still obeys
the rules in her society, but she cares about the lesbians. It seems like 50:50 or playing safe to
deal with lesbians. Farah seems to not have real actions or statements about her feelings and
perceptions that lesbians are allowed or not. In conclusion, she still uses the social stereotype
point of view to guide herself to limit her behaviors and thoughts.
The second participant is a student from STIBA Salatiga too. She is 19 years old, named
Dian. Her first impression towards lesbians is disgusting; briefly, she says: “eewh banget, jijay.”
(It disgusts me). This coffee lover interprets lesbians as a relationship between girls who engage
in sexual intercourse and have romantic feelings about other women. However, after she has a
friend who is a lesbian, she changes her mind. She thinks that her friend becomes lesbian
because of traumas. The trauma here is bad treatment from her ex-boyfriend.
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She believes that the result of being a lesbian is not the lesbian‟s mistakes, but the lesbian
here is the victim. Here is the schema that Dian believes why someone becomes lesbian:
Trauma
+
Environment
(having
lesbians
Lesbians
+
Nature
(Figure 1.2 Dian)
In the interview, she says: “Soale kaya gitu gak ada yang bisa disalahin lah. Soalnya itu
naluri banget gitu loh. Natural, gak ada yang dibuat-buat.” (Lesbians should not be blamed. it
comes from instinct. It is human nature, it cannot be created). She believes that it is not her
friend‟s choice; it is her condition which makes her to be a lesbian. NARTH (National
Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality) strengthen Dian‟s opinion by reporting
that 50 percent of lesbian women are caused from a history of sexual abuse (3). By the cause of
sexual abuse, for Dian, there will be an exception to accept the lesbians‟ conditions if there are
clear and acceptable reasons why someone becomes a lesbian.
Society sees lesbians as something unusual, but Dian believes that lesbians are natural.
For her, lesbians were born that way to love the same sex. The fact that environment also affects
someone to choose to become a lesbian or not, she still believes that lesbian is human nature. It
means that she does not care why someone becomes a lesbian. She only believes that lesbian is
human nature. It is different from Farah‟s perspective who tells that trauma takes a big part of
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someone becomes lesbians. She says that it is not only trauma; human nature also infects
someone to be lesbians.
From the schema above, Dian shows that lesbians do not have any relationship to any
physical or mental disorder. The third cause, nature, only appears in Dian‟s perception. She adds
that lesbians shouldn‟t be blamed or underestimated because it is natural. Actually, her
perceptions change after she meets a new friend who is a lesbian. At first, she feels disgusted
about lesbian, but after she meets her lesbian friend, she understands that lesbian is not always
wrong. She also adds that in fact, sometimes there must be reasons why someone chooses to be a
lesbian.
Dian states there is no excuse for lesbians who are involved in sexual intercourse. Dian
thinks that sexual intercourse between girls is very loathsome. For her, it is fine to be lesbians as
long as only engage with “feelings”. Like her friend, Dian believes that her friend only engages
with her feeling. So, she feels safe hanging out and getting closer to her friend. In this case, Dian
doesn‟t think about the social stereotype to make friendship. She also doesn‟t care about the
negative stereotypes about lesbians.
After she watches the movie, she is touched by the relationship between Kim and Pei.
She also thinks that she might be part of them because she feels what Kim feels. Dian also has
bad experiences with men and when she watches the movie, she thinks that she will be safe and
happy with a girlfriend. The story of Kim and Pei really touches her and it influences her mind.
She also recommends this movie for audiences. Analyzing what Dian feels, she has the
perspective to agree with lesbians because of two reasons. First, she has bad experiences with
men. She says that she feels “numb” to men and is still afraid to make a relationship with men.
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The second reason is her environment. She explains that she was a new student in her high
school and her first friend was a lesbian. She does not care that her friend is a lesbian because at
that time she does not have other friends. Until today, Dian and her friend love to hang out
together.
The third participant is a 22 year old guy named Agung. Now, he is finishing his thesis
for his first degree of IT in UKSW Salatiga. His definition about lesbians is relationship
between girls. In detail, Greenberg (151-152) describes lesbians as having equal biological sex
factor and a gender self-identity that conforms to her biology, but she does not fit clichéd norms
of how men and women should behave. Agung has already known the term of lesbians since
elementary school. He knew it from television and newspaper. It means that the topic of lesbians
is old for him, as lesbians/gay criticism said that lesbians have been discussed and marginalized
since 1990‟s. Agung feels the relationship between two same sexes is weird because the common
couple is male and female. There is no other deeper explanation and feeling toward lesbians
because he only believes that lesbian is unusual like what the stereotype says.
Agung has some experiences about homosexual friends from facebook who randomly
added him as a friend. He tells that one of them came to his house. He was afraid of the guy who
is a gay. He realized that the guy was from facebook who declared that he was gay. Agung did
not welcome his friend or want to know him more, but he directly asked him to go home. It
shows that experiences do not always lead someone to see homosexual because Agung was
unlike Dian who does not care to the fact that her friend is a lesbian.
After Agung watches the movie, he believes that becoming a lesbian or homosexual is
caused by environment. He says: “Mungkin karna keluarganya… dia sama ayahnya… semua
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karyawannya cowok kan? jarang banget ketemu cewek.” (Perhaps it‟s because of her family…
She lives with father and all of her father‟s employees are men. It makes her rarely talk to
women). He explains that Kim‟s condition here influences her to be lesbians because she lives
with her father and all her father‟s employees are male. So, Agung indicates that those people are
the environment which plays a significant part that makes Kim to be a lesbian.
Agung is a homophobia as he says: “aku gak mau deket sama yang kaya gitu, takut
ketularan.” (I don‟t want to be close to lesbians; I‟m afraid of being infected). Homophobia is
described as individual antigay attitudes and behaviors (Herek 19) or fear and loathing of
homosexuality (Tyson 319). His fear attitude toward gays was shown when he did not let his gay
friend visited him. He thinks that the “infection” means it is contagion if there is a connection.
He states that environment is the best connector to channeled homosexuality. So he thinks that it
is better to live far away from homosexuals. Another thing, he believes that there is no
connection between lesbians and human nature. This is the schema of Agung‟s perception how
lesbians happen:
internet
friends
social
intercours
Environment
-
Lesbians
(Figure 1.3 Agung)
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The schema above shows the environments can be created from social intercourses, friends and
internets. It is similar to Agung who knows the lesbian issue for the first time from television and
newspaper. So, according to him, environment is influential for someone to be a lesbian.
After watching this movie, his feeling to lesbians is still the same. It is perhaps because it
is his habit not to really care about the message of the movie. He explains: “Sama sih
sebenarnya. Filmnya gak spesifik ke lesbians sih, itu lebih ke film remaja.” (I still have same
opinion. It does not specifically talk about lesbians. It focuses more on a teenage-movie). His
feeling toward the movie is not specifically about the lesbians because it does not tell the
lesbians‟ life in detail. For him, movies are very important to relax his mind. He does not really
care whether the movie is in line with the culture or stereotype in society or not. As a result, he
only sees lesbians as an unusual thing and is not affected by the movie. Agung also does not
receive the moral value in movies because he believes that movies are fictions. So, from his
whole explanation, Yes or No does not have any influence to his perception, especially toward
lesbians. It means that clearly, he does not use the movie to reflect on how he should behave
toward any phenomenon toward lesbians.
Agung‟s opinion is different from the beginning which says that he feels disgusted about
homosexuals in general. After he watches this movie, especially the part when two lesbians are
kissing, he enjoys it, as he says: “Mungkin kalo cowok sama cowok jijik ya, berhubung cewek
sama cewek saya malah menikmati.” (I may feel disgusted if I see gays, but because it is lesbian,
I enjoy it). It shows that Agung feels that female-female relationships are as pornography. What
Agung feels represents misogynic. Misogynic describes when women are positioned as objects
of men‟s desire (Ussher 33). It is like men create women's sexuality through the words and
images of society. It is similar to Agung who sees the kisses of lesbians in this movie as his
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object to pleasure himself. In this part, he does not think about stereotype, but he thinks about his
desire.
Radit is the last participant; he is 26 years old. This STIBA student has a very short and
clear definition on lesbian which is similar to Agung. He says that lesbians have a romantic
sexual relationship with girls. Radit‟s statement is different from Farah who says that lesbian is
a kind of illness, whereas he says that lesbian is not kind of an illness. As Johnson writes that
nowadays all major professional mental health organizations reports that homosexuality cannot
be classified as a mental illness or moral depravity (1). Radit explains that lesbians have a sexual
inclination. He explains inclination as love or attraction to someone or something. So, sexual
inclination means loving someone and it includes sexual intercourse.
Radit tells that lesbians are weird in his society. Like Agung and Farah, he thinks that
lesbians are not natural because a normal couple is a relationship between opposite sexes, male
and female. He believes lesbians happen because of certain reasons, like traumas and
environmental influences. To make it easy to understand, here is the schema:
Environment
Lesbians
Trauma
(Figure 1.2 Radit)
He considers that environment and trauma become the significant reason to be a lesbian. So,
there is no natural matter which makes a woman becomes a lesbians.
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Yes or No does not change Radit‟s perception toward lesbians. He says: “Kalo ilfil ndak.
Kalo open dari awal sudak open. No change lah. No change .” (I am not disgusted or ill to see it.
I‟m an open-minded guy. My opinion doesn‟t change. No change).That is what Radit says after
he watches the movie. It indicates that before and after he watches the movie, he has the same
perception that the issue of lesbians is common for him. From his explanation, this movie
doesn‟t affect the way he feels and thinks about lesbians. He adds lesbians and homosexuals
have become a world culture today. So, how he reflects on this movie and considers lesbians as
world culture indicates that Radit does not use stereotypes to see lesbians.
On the other hand, Radit states that women are expected to have a husband. He states:
“Dia diharapkan bersuami, terus membina keluarga .” (She is expected to have a husband and
look after her family). What he says actually shows his unstable perception toward lesbians. At
first he says that he does not think about what the stereotype says about lesbians. However, he
also says that lesbians are a poor person because lesbians cannot marry a man because they love
another woman. The lesbians‟ condition who cannot love a man makes them marginalized by the
stereotypes of the society. Knowing what Radit feels about this marginalization, he shows that he
cares to lesbians. So, he does not a hundred percent not care about lesbians.
Radit believes that lesbians can heal themselves if they want to. He thinks that the first
way or thing which can heal lesbians is themselves. As he explains before that lesbian is an
inclination, it comes from inside of someone‟s soul. It does not appear naturally, but it is created
by lesbians themselves and environment. He explains that it means the thing that can heal
lesbians is by looking back inside of her. He believes that a lesbian lifestyle stops by rebuilding
and persuading their feeling to understand that lesbians are away from normality. In other words,
the approach focuses on psychological aspects.
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After Radit watches the movie, he has a different opinion about lesbians. It happens when
he finds the kissing part in the movie. He says: “Sayangnya kalo cowok liat dua cewek ciuman
itu berbeda, gak ..sama sekali gak jijik.” (Unfortunately, if men see lesbians kissing, it is
different; I don‟t feel it‟s disgusting). He thinks that it is bad to see males kiss. However, seeing
females kiss has the opposite effect. In this occasion, Radit positions the lesbians (female) as
objects to desire or pleasure him. His idea connects to Ussher‟s when Radit states that if it is only
a pornographic images or lesbians, it has a goal to serve male pleasure (34). Radit focuses on his
pleasure now rather than the stereotype.
Radit also has the same feeling with Agung about this movie. He is not influenced by this
movie. For Radit, this movie is only an entertainment tool which contrasts to Farah and Dian,
who see the value of this movie that can change the audiences‟ mind-sets and feelings. When he
sees the relationship like the one between Kim and Pei, he doesn‟t react by ignoring the lesbians.
He will take steps if the one who does it is his relative. In general as part of society, he does not
worry about lesbians. From his explanation, it shows that the movie doesn‟t influence him
because he thinks that this movie is fiction. From what Radit feels shows that stereotyping does
not always guide the way he thinks. He can avoid the lesbians if they mingle with his personal
business.
Religious
Perception is influenced from many aspects, such as stereotypes and religious points of
view. Commonly, people use the religion reference to set a parameter to control life. The belief
that is accepted or learned may mingle with the environment. Prohibition is always taught in
religious life, but what way would be chosen depends on the follower. In this research, the four
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participants come from different beliefs. How does their belief work in affecting their
perception? Will they use their religious view to support their beliefs about homosexual or not?
What does their religion say toward lesbians?
The first participant is Farah who is involved in many religious activities since high
school. This is what she says about lesbians: “Satu hal yang saya tahu, ya kalo itu sebenarnya
gak diijinkan di dalam Alkitab”. (One thing that I know is that actually lesbians are not allowed
in The Bible). She knows that lesbians are not allowed in her religious references. She inserts the
word “actually” because at first she still believes that lesbians also need justice. In her
understanding, justice for lesbians is confessed in society. She believes that the only important
thing for lesbians is that to be legalized and have the same right like other people. Lesbians do
not want to be marginalized. However, her religious reference says different from what she feels.
She follows her religious perception. So, Farah‟s perception is controlled by religious references
which believe that lesbians are not allowed. She also quotes from the bible:
Then the Lord made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought
her to the man (The Holy Bible, New International Version, Genesis 2:22).
What Farah understands from this biblical word is that God creates a woman to help the man
because God sees that it is bad if the man lives alone. God does not create another man to help
Adam, but God creates a female, Eve. So, she believes that man should always be with woman
like what the God says.
Farah‟s opinion corresponds to what Tygart (2000) says that homosexuality is frequently
considered a sin or crime against nature (qtd. in Haider-Makel & Joslyn 295). What the Bible
says leads Farah not to believe that lesbians are natural; as it is said in Genesis 2:22. Naturally,
19
she considers that a couple is always male and female, not the same sexes. She adds: “Sama kali
gak setuju … mereka istilahnya menyalahi kodrat ciptaannya Tuhan .” (I strongly disagree…
they seem like they are disapproving the nature of the God). She says that lesbians seem to be
like disapproving the fate or nature. She believes that against nature means against God. What
she says infers that religious reference takes an important part in her perception toward lesbians.
So, she believes that lesbians are wrong because it is in opposition to her parameter that is her
religious reference.
Farah finds the scene which exposes lesbians clearly in Yes or No, she feels that the film
does not go with the norm. She confirms: “Seakan-akan kalo film itu disebarkan, itu kaya
mengajarkan orang-orang bahwa lesbians itu acceptable.” (If this movie is overspread, it seems
like it is showing to people that being a lesbian is acceptable). She says that the movie seems to
be approving of lesbians. She adds that it is shown when Kim and Pei finally live together. Since
what the ending tells, Farah worries if the audience will think that Yes or No lets audience
becomes lesbians. So, she advises that Yes or No is not recommended.
Dian, the second participant in the beginning has the same perception to Farah. She
seems to disagree with lesbians and says that lesbians are not right. She also explains a little bit
about her religious reference. She says: “ya nggak boleh lah, soalnya manusia itu diciptakan
berpasang-pasang dan beda jenis kan?” (It is not allowed because human is created in pair with
different sex, right?). She accepts that lesbians are against the nature. She also agrees to Genesis
2:18 similar to what Farah says. It means that she uses her religious reference in how she sees
lesbians. In other words, her religious reference influences her perceptions toward lesbians.
20
On the other hand her perceptions toward lesbians change. After she reflects on her
experience having a closed friend who is a lesbian, she has a different perception toward
lesbians. Dian is the only participant who seems against the religious reference. She explains:
“aku kan gak begitu fanatic banget gitu ya sama agama.” (I am not too fanatic in religious
matter). She does not want to explain more about lesbians and her religious reference. When the
interview goes to the point how she sees lesbians from her religious reference, she says that she
is not a fanatic. Her saying “not fanatic” indicates an excuse. She does not want to admit that her
perception does not flow with her religious reference. It means that she has her own perception
which is not influenced by her religious reference.
As she reflects on her best friend‟s story who is a lesbian, she believes that lesbians are
natural. Although as Christian she agrees to Genesis 2:18, she also believes that being a lesbian
is not because of lesbians‟ mistakes. As lesbians are natural and it is given, she states that women
cannot choose not to have that kind of feeling. It is shown from her statement: “… mereka itu
gak bisa disalahkan juga soale kalaupun dia bisa milih pasti dia juga gak pengen punya
perasaan kaya gitu…” (They (lesbians) cannot be blamed because if they can choose, they don‟t
want to have that kind of feeling). Her perceptions change because of her close friend who is a
lesbian. Her close friend is one of the society. Because Dian is close to her friend, indirectly, she
influences Dian. So, her close friend takes an important part to change her perception toward
lesbians.
From Dian‟s perception, it says that religious reference is only a matter of knowledge.
She knows it, but does not want to do what the religious reference tells. She tends to see lesbians
as human nature because she is influenced by her friend. Moreover, she thinks that she will be
safe to go with a female. She feels that lesbians related to the women‟s feeling. This feeling
21
sometimes cannot be connected to the religious references or another thing. Her explanation
indicates that she does not use religious references as her parameter to control her perception.
Agung is the only participant who is Muslim. He does not say clearly about his opinion
about lesbians. He does not say that it is a sin or bad attitude. He only knows that in his religion,
lesbians are not allowed, but he does not want to state it clearly. He believes a story taken from
Al-Quran which tells about one of a prophet named Lut. Lut lives in an awful place. In that place
there are so many bad things happen like free sex and homosexuality. One day, Allah sends an
angel to investigate that place. It is true that there are many bad things that happen, so Allah
destroys it. By the story, he believes that homosexual is one of the bad things. By his
explanation, he has strong and clear religious reference that lesbians are not allowed.
On the other hand, his perception is different from his religious reference. He says: “ ya
itu terserah sih. Standar moral setiap orang kan beda ya.” (It‟s up to them. The morality
standard of each person is different). He does not want to claim that lesbian is bad or good. He
explains that what is bad for him is not always bad for people; and what is good for him is not
always good for people. That is why he tends to say nothing. He does not care to what lesbians
do. Except if the lesbians are his close friend or family, he is willing to help them to find the way
back into normality called heterosexuality. No matter what his belief says, he has his own
opinion about lesbians. Form what Agung has explained, it indicates that he is quite liberal about
lesbians. Liberal in this situation means he respects another opinion. So, for him it is fine to be a
lesbian, as long as the lesbians do not meddle with his life.
Agung tells that this movie will not influence the audience perception. He says: “Kalo
film selama 2 jam aja gak ngaruh banget.” (A two-hour movie is not too influential). For him,
22
that short duration cannot change someone‟s perception or belief easily. Moreover, this movie
functions as entertainment for him. So, this movie is one positive way to relax his mind.
However, it will have a negative effect for a certain audience. He explains if the audiences are
lesbians, they will be motivated and strengthened that lesbians are acceptable like the movie
says. So, the effect of this movie will work differently one to the other. It depends on who the
audience is.
Religiously or not Agung believes that lesbians are not natural. He states: “Kayanya yang
saya tahu belum ada penelitian secara genetic.” (I think there is no research which studies
lesbians genetically). He adds that lesbians occur because of environments. What he understands
by the meaning of environments are friends, society, and public media, such as television, book
and internet. He believes that someone cannot live without those elements. Finally, he believes
that those things affect someone‟s perception toward lesbians. What he has mentioned is
something close to everybody. It means that actually, everyone has possibilities to be a lesbian
by those influences. The decision depends on two things. First, it depends on the people, whether
they want to be a lesbians or not. Second, it depends on how big the influence is.
Radit is the last participant who is a Catholic. He has a different opinion about lesbians
from a religious point of view. Radit thinks his belief never talks about lesbians and stuff. He
says: “Katolik as far as I know, katolik itu gak pernah membahas ke sana sih ya. Homosexuality
itu gak pernah disentuh sebagai sesuatu yang tabu.” (As far as I know, catholic never discuses
about lesbians. Homosexuality is never claimed as taboo). According to Oxford Advance
Learner‟s Dictionary, “taboo” is described as a culture or religion custom that does not allow
people to do, use or talk about a particular thing as people find it offensive or embarrassing. He
believes that lesbians are not claimed as bad. According to what he knows, his religious
23
reference never talks about lesbians which mean that there is nothing wrong with lesbians. So,
what his religious reference says is that homosexuality is only a common thing and it is not
taboo. This belief influences Radit not to have bad perception toward lesbians. When he states
that lesbians are not taboo and feels fine with it, it indicates he follows his religious reference.
He believes that his religion gives freedom or liberty to the Catholics to be a lesbian or a
heterosexual. He strengthens his statement by saying: “Kalo dosa aku gak pernah baca di alkitab
yang ngomong seorang lesbians atau homosexual itu dosa .” (I never read in The Bible which
says that lesbians or homosexual is a sin). He explains that his religious reference does not
mention that lesbian is a sin. He thinks that lesbians are not forbidden, but it is only not
suggested. His perception indicates that he uses stereotype. When he says “forbidden”, it means
he knows that lesbians are stereotyped as not good. Although he says he does not want to claim it
as bad thing, he follows the lesbians‟ stereotype. It means that stereotype works better that his
religious reference.
Radit compares between lesbians and incest. He says: “… kita gak dilarang untuk
mencintai sesama jenis. Cuman pada awalnya di Alkitab disebutkan ada Adam dan Hawa,
cowok dan cewek. Kalo itu kita ambil mentah- mentah, itu susah, karna itu gak mungkin seluruh
dunia ini tercipta cuman dua orang manusia. Kalo kita mengatakan seluruh dunia ini berasal
dari dua orang manusia, maka akan menyentuh hal tabu, seperti inses.” (We are not forbidden
to love same sex. The Bible only mentions that there are male and female, Adam and Eve. If we
believe those words literally, it will be difficult. It is impossible that all people in the world were
born from these two persons because it will lead us to the taboo thing called incest). Incest is
sexual activity between two people who are very closely related in a family, for example brother
and sister or a father and daughter (Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary). What he is trying to
24
say is that lesbians have deeper definition. It is beyond the concept of sexual intercourse between
girls. It is similar to the story of Adam and Eve who fill this world but which began from people
who had incest. He believes that lesbians are forms of love to each other which involves deep
feeling.
Radit believes lesbians and religious matter has its own scope. It cannot be connected
without any strong reasons. He adds that the issue of lesbians, religion and movie of Yes or No
stand by itself. His opinion about the lesbians in the movie and in the real life does not have any
connection to his religious point of view. So, he does not use the religious view to see the social
matter like lesbians. The result of the interview of the last participant, Radit, indicates that he
tends to consider to the stereotype existed rather than the religious reference. Moreover, he
thinks that his religious reference never talks about lesbians and stuff.
Conclusion
This research analyzes the participants‟ perceptions from the scope of stereotype and
religious point of views. From the discussion presented in the previous chapter, the context of
lesbians is connected to stereotype and religious reference. It was noted down that stereotypes
created people‟s mind-set about lesbians. In addition, religious reference gave guidance to do the
good things and leave the bad things. The result of this study indicated that not all participants
used stereotypes or religious references to influence their idea or judgment about how they
thought about lesbians.
Although most of them knew that religions perceived lesbians as a normal and natural
thing, some participants still believed that becoming lesbians were partly an individual‟s choice.
25
They could not judge lesbians for the choices they made. It was the lesbians‟ business. The
lesbians know and are ready with all of the consequences of becoming lesbians.
The effect of the movie of Yes or No also works differently. It did not give a crucial
influence toward participants‟ perceptions. The first participant said that the movie was
influential, especially for teenagers. She argued that there was a possibility that the movie would
inspire the teenagers to do the same thing. On the other hand, the second participant reflected on
the scene after watching it. She could feel what the main character felt and finally said that we
could not simply blame the person who chose to become a lesbian. For the second participant,
her opinion was also driven by her personal experience of having a lesbian friend. On the other
hand, the two male participants said that this movie was only an entertainment for them.
Watching the whole scenes in the movie did not give them any influence, especially related to
their opinion about lesbians. As a conclusion, two of the participants of this study still have the
same perception and two are different toward lesbians before and after watching the movie.
The participants‟ sex also creates differences in how they saw lesbians. The female
participants, Farah and Dian felt that Yes or No gives influences to the audience. They saw the
dialogues and scenes presented in the movie to be reflected in their own life. However, the male,
Agung and Radit only felt that this movie was an entertainment to refresh their mind. Based on
the analysis, it is found that the male participants see the real life than what the movie tells. They
only wanted to see movies as entertainment and did not think more critically beyond it. They did
not get the messages from the movie. On the other hand, the female participants involved their
emotion and feeling in seeing lesbians.
26
The recommendation for future research, it may be interesting to do a research only about
gay to know whether the participants, especially guys are like that or not. Moreover, in similar
field, it is better to specify the religious point of view. The specification can be done by taking
the participants from all religions in Indonesia or some religious beliefs. By doing this, the
research is expected to have more detail and various results which are interesting and useful. It
will be interesting because the topic of lesbian is still quite “taboo” in Indonesia. So, talking
about taboo things is attracting people. Another thing this research will be useful for people who
do not really understand by the meaning of lesbian. Lesbian is not only about the less common
behavior, but the lesbians have certain reasons why they choose that way. By this reason, the
people‟s perceptions may be different.
27
Acknowledgment
Finishing my thesis in English Department is my greatest work I have ever done.
Definitely, I have to express my gratitude to everyone who supports and helps me in finishing
this thesis:
My Jesus who makes every single thing has done. Thanks to Mrs. Purwanti
Kusumaningtyas, my supervisor for your helpful feedbacks and patience to guide me in finishing
my thesis. Thank you so much for Danielle Donelsons-Sims, my second reader for your support
and inspiring stories. Perhaps if I did not hang out with you in Solo, I would not be sure to take
literature for my thesis. Especially, this degree is dedicated to my mother (Suwarni) and my
father (Joko). Thanks for being patience and giving lovely advice. My little sister (Grace) and
my aunt (Wiwik), thanks for your support.
Big thanks to my Messgeratt (Dita, Estu, Petra, Emil, Nindha, Jembo, Ambirr, and
Kodyl). Thanks to give me happiness and support. And also thesis partners (Bravick, Anhar and
Ncan) and ED‟ers 08, thanks so much.
28
Works Cited
Barnard, Amy. Lesbians's Construction of Depression. 2009.
---. “Lesbianss‟ Experiences of Depression.” Linking Experience to Social Discourse. Diss. The
University of Arizona. 2004. Print.
Barry, P. Begining theory: an Introduction to Literary and Culture Theory. New York:
Manchester University Press, 2002.
Boyce, Carolyn; Neale, Palena. “Conducting In-depth Interviews.” A guide for designing and
conducting in-depth interviews for evaluating input
Introduction
Watching movies is an attractive way to kill the time. Movies have certain goals why
they are made. They must have a message or represent people‟s lives, conflicts and cultures.
Generally, movies are made based on the issues that appear in the society. Movies can bring and
show many kinds of stereotypes which are good or bad. When people hear about lesbians, many
ideas and opinions may come to their mind. Commonly, in Indonesian society, lesbians are
stereotyped as something unusual and they are humiliated as suggested by Knauer (167-168) and
Barnard (14) who stated that gay and lesbians have been over looked, ignored, and marginalized
from society.
This study actually, connects what the movie tells and the participants from stereotypes
and religious points of view. So, the aim of this paper is to analyze the participants‟ perceptions
toward lesbians. The movie of Yes or No is used as a tool whether it can influence the
participants or not after watching it. So, this study comes up with a research question what are
the participants‟ perceptions about lesbians before and after watching the movie of Yes or No?
Moreover, society takes a significant role in determining a stereotype. When lesbians are
described as abnormal, it will create a bad mind-set. Because of this bad mind-set, lesbians will
be marginalized and ignored. When this mind-set spreads to society, it becomes a stereotype
which means that most everybody will use it to see the behavior of lesbian in general.
Movies are a good media to connect people to a new knowledge. Therefore, the opinion
about lesbians may be changed after watching the lesbian movies; or it may be stay the same. Yes
or No is a Thai movie which tells about lesbians. Kim and Pei are the main characters who are
1
lesbians. They live as roommates. In the first scene, Pei does not like Kim because Kim looks
like a Tom or a manly lesbian. Kim looks like a boy, who has short hair and how she behaves is
similar to males. As the time goes on, Kim falls in love with Pei, and vice versa. However, their
love is not going smoothly. Pei‟s mom does not agree that she becomes a lesbian.
Theoretical Foundation
Lesbians in Thailand
Thailand has some well-known places for homosexual communities and nightclub, such
as: Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket. Thailand has no law prohibiting homosexual sex identity and
relationship, but same-sex marriage is not accepted. The homosexual couple is also not allowed
to adopt any children. Livingthai.org listed four types of lesbians in Thailand. They are dee (the
girly girl lesbians), tom (the dyke), les bi (the bisexual), and two way (the original lesbians). Dee
is the lesbian who hates man because of any traumas. The examples are being raped and being
hurt emotionally or physically. Tom dresses like a man, has short hair, walks and talks like a
man. Tom also likes to wear tight clothes to hide her breast. Les Bi is a lesbian who loves both
man and woman. Two way lesbian is a lesbian who does not act out, does not dress out, and only
enjoys the relationship with woman. Two way usually keeps her virginity for long time.
The countries which legalize the same-sex marriage are Belgium, Spain, and the
Netherlands. After those counties, there are other countries which legalize same-sex marriage
too. They are England, Hungary, America (certain states), Canada, South Africa, Norway,
Sweden, Portugal, Argentina, and Mexico.
2
Reader Response Theory
Reader response study is the main theory that supports this analysis. Barthes describes
reader response as everything about the work that is centering on the participants‟ or readers‟
opinions or giving a role for readers in determining the scope of the derivation work‟s right (qtd.
in Heymann 446-447). As its name says, reader-response criticism focuses on readers‟ responses
analysis in any works. According to this theory, there is no right and wrong answer because it
interprets the readers‟ responses which no one of them will have exactly the same responses or
answers.
The movie of Yes or No is chosen because it tells a controversial issue about lesbians.
Because of the controversial issue, the finding is expected to be interesting and it has various
perceptions. Emerson states that the most important thing is the effect of a work on a reader that
produces the participants‟ perceptions (132-133). So, it is very important to choose the right
movie because it may affect the readers‟ perceptions. Why Yes or No is chosen? The reason is
the society that the movie shows closes to Indonesia. Indonesia has the same scope with
Thailand—ASEAN. Moreover, the participants are Indonesian. So, it is right to choose this
movie.
Using reader response in this research seems to not match because its name is “reader”.
“Reader” is the participant who should read the literary work. However, understanding the movie
deeply also needs an understanding like reading a book. In other words, using the term of
“reader” in this study is appropriate. So, the focus on using this theory is to analyze the
participants‟ perceptions by understanding about the concept of lesbians in general and in this
movie.
3
Lesbians/Gay Criticism
Lesbian/gay criticism is needed to make or create sexual orientation „a fundamental
category of analysis and understanding‟ (Barry, 140). Jeffords et al. describe the meaning of
“sexual orientation” simply as heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality (2). So, sexual
orientation is very important to define who he/she is. Through lesbians/gay criticism, people can
be identified as male or female or otherwise like transgender and hermaphrodite based on their
gender. It means that a man can be male or female and a woman can be male or female.
Lesbians
There are many reasons why somebody becomes a lesbian. Some people believe that the
causes come from environment. Some people also say that lesbians were born with that kind of
feeling. Haider-Markel and Joslyn restate Weiner‟s theory that the origin of homosexuality can
be divided into two; they are controlled (learned, environmental or an individual choice) and
uncontrolled (biological or genetic) (291). Briefly, there are three causes or reasons why women
become lesbians, they are: (1) sexual orientation, (2) life style, and (3) ideology.
Sexual orientation takes a big part on this study because it identifies someone as male or
female. Sexual orientation has two definitions; they are as gender and sex. Charlesworth
interpreted the word “gender” as cultural expressions of masculinity and femininity (379). In
addition, Greenberg (qtd. in Kramer 211) explained that “sex” refers to physical and biological
traits; that is, a person‟s maleness or femaleness. For further explanation, Tyson explains that
biology determines sex as male or female; culture determines gender as masculine or feminine
(92).
4
The relation of this study and sexual orientation is that sexual orientation of everyone
affects people‟s perspective. People usually use stereotypes to judge someone‟s behaviors. So,
people create their own perspectives to evaluate others. The evaluation identifies people whether
he or she is on the right way or not. For example, sex says that lesbians are female, however
gender identifies lesbians can be both, male and female. So, the perspective which may be
created is that lesbians break the stereotypes.
The root of lesbians happens step by step. At first, lesbians only feel something different
until they find themselves that they are less normal. It is like slowly having awareness of
themselves as someone who is different and unusual from others, but it seems very natural for
them (Martin & Lyon 26). So, most of lesbians believe that they were born that way.
Nevertheless, being lesbians can be influenced by environment, culture and where and with
whom somebody lives (Martin & Lyon 109) (Prensky 3). Take an example, when the work
place has a lesbian worker; another worker who is close to her may become a lesbian too. It is
because the job makes them work, interact and even live together. Frayser and Whitby find that
what lifestyle lesbians is determined by how much she is inhibited by cultural conditioning,
religious persuasion, family ties, and economic dependence on the situation (334).
Patriarchy also may cause someone to be a lesbian. Tyson states that patriarchy promotes
the belief that women are innately inferior to men (85). He also explains that the belief which
says men are superior to women has been used and feminists have observed it. It is proven by the
male monopoly of positions of economic, political, and social power, in other words, to keep
women powerless by denying them the educational and occupational means of acquiring
economic, political, and social power (86). In other words, lesbian is a personal reaction to
5
patriarchy which believes that it creates independence among men. This situation is claimed
makes women decide themselves to be lesbians.
Participants
The participants of this research are four people and all of them are heterosexual.
Heterosexual is chosen because if the participants are homosexual, the finding is predictable.
Most of homosexual will support the existence of lesbians and gays. So, that is why the
participants chosen are heterosexual. Herek describes heterosexual as the sexual relationship
between a man and a woman with power being attributed to people remaining obedient to the
roles associated with their gender (19). The participants are in the range between 15-30 years
old. It is the productive period for getting formal education. This research chooses this period
because this age usually has larger communities and experiences outside the family area. It is
needed to get various and complex data.
Method
The descriptive qualitative approach is selected because of its capacity in examining the
information and to find out the participants‟ perceptions. The chosen data collection
methodology is important because it can affect the availability of the data. It means that we have
to choose methods that can enrich our data. In other words the method chosen can provide many
data that a researcher needs. So, an in-depth interview is significant for this research to gather
information. Boyce and Heale (3) described in-depth interviewing as a qualitative research
technique that involves conducting intensive individual interviews with a small number of
respondents to explore their perspectives on a particular idea, program, or situation. The research
has tended to focus on face to face interview, so that it needs intensive interview. In preparing
6
the data collection, to let the participants know the purpose of the interview is better idea. It will
make the participants relax and be able to tell more about the information the data collector
needs (Boyce and Heale 3).
Materials and Procedure
Participants will be interviewed twice, once before and once after they watch the movie
of Yes or No. The questions will focus on the participants‟ perceptions about lesbians before and
after they watch the movie. The researcher will ask the interview questions to the participants in
a relaxed situation while recording the data. After that, the recording is transcribed to be
analyzed and then will be drawn the conclusions.
Data Analysis
The purpose of this study is to analyze the four participants‟ perceptions, feelings,
opinions, or any ideas about lesbians. Perception may be regarded as a process of communication
between the perceived object and the perceiving subject that always takes place in a certain
cultural, social, and historical context (Kessler and Puh 1). So, there is an interaction on both
sides. Because of the interaction, perception is created. The perception becomes thought which
leads people to know how they should behave. This spreading perception leads society to make a
stereotype. Beside stereotypes which are used to see people‟s behavior, religious references also
take a significant part in determining the behaviors.
Because stereotypes and religious references can influence the participants‟ thought, this
study will use them to specify the analysis. The analysis of this research will be about the
participants‟ perceptions toward lesbians before and after watching the movie.
7
Stereotype
Perception creates stereotypes and stereotypes guide someone to make perception. They
are sometimes connected like a circle. Stereotypes are generally considered to be “beliefs about
the characteristics, attributes, and behaviors of members of certain groups” (Hilton and von
Hippel 240). Literally, stereotypes are very influential to see something in society. Because
stereotypes are very influential, having standard of morality of stereotypes is needed. This
research standardizes the stereotype by its normality. Take an example of lesbians; it is known
by some as less common or “bad” behavior. It means that lesbians are stereotyped as abnormal.
The first participant is Farah (22 years old); she is a student. She is studying English in
STIBA and this is her second year. She lives in Salatiga and loves making many kinds of
handicrafts. Before she watches the movie, she says that a lesbian has a kind of psychological
disorder which is caused by the environment. To make it clear, this is the diagram of what Farah
understands about lesbian:
Sexual
harassments
Traumas
+
Man‟s bad
treatment
Lesbians
Depression
Psychological
disorder
(Figure 1.1 Farah)
8
From the chart, she thinks that being a lesbian is not natural. Farah believes that lesbians happen
because of traumas of men‟s bad treatments and sexual harassment. She obviously believes that
traumas have an important part in why someone becomes a lesbian. She also says that
experiencing trauma make someone becomes depressed. This depression has psychological
effects as Prensky affirms that social psychology also provides strong evidence that one‟s
thinking patterns change depending on one‟s experiences (2). After getting depressed, Farah
explains it can lead someone to have the psychological disorder. The psychological disorder can
lead someone many ways; one of them is being a lesbians.
After she watches the movie, the first impression about the movie is funny and she likes
it. There are many silly things which make Farah laughs. Yet, after she finds some parts which
show the lesbians‟ behaviors like kissing each other, her perception is different; as she says:
“bahkan opini saya tentang lesbians malah cenderung ke arah yang lebih negative lagi.” (Even
more my opinion about lesbians are much more negative). Farah‟s perception becomes negative
because of what the lesbians have done in the movie. For her, it doesn‟t look like a common
couple. She only cannot imagine them as lovers. She thinks it clearly breaks the normality in
society.
According to Farah, trauma is not the only cause to be lesbians, but also environment can
lead people to be lesbians. Environment can influence someone to be a lesbian and she thinks
that the movie of Yes or No can influence the audience. To be honest, Farah says that the main
character, Kim, interests her. She says that Kim looks like a handsome boy. She realizes that the
percentage of lesbians is only a small number, but it can affect her perception. At first she is fine
with lesbians in the movie. However, after Farah finds the part when Kim and Pei kiss, she
9
changes her perspective that lesbians are not good. It means Yes or No can be influential. So, she
thinks that this movie is not recommended for audiences, especially teenagers.
Farah also says that lesbians will have difficulties to live in society. She says: “Ya itu
nanti bakalan susah diterima di kemudian hari.” (It probably will be difficult to be accepted in
the future). There will be pro and cons with their existence. Farah knows that it seems unfair
because lesbians are part of society, but lesbians are contrast to the stereotype which says that
lesbian is less common. Lesbians are contrast because the stereotype says that lesbians are not
natural and less normal. So, rejections of lesbians happen. She can do nothing because she is
only a small part in society. So, she just follows the stereotype and rules existent. However,
frankly, Farah wants to help lesbians to find the right way like she says by finding psychiatrics or
institutes which are concerned with mental issues. It is very interesting because Farah still obeys
the rules in her society, but she cares about the lesbians. It seems like 50:50 or playing safe to
deal with lesbians. Farah seems to not have real actions or statements about her feelings and
perceptions that lesbians are allowed or not. In conclusion, she still uses the social stereotype
point of view to guide herself to limit her behaviors and thoughts.
The second participant is a student from STIBA Salatiga too. She is 19 years old, named
Dian. Her first impression towards lesbians is disgusting; briefly, she says: “eewh banget, jijay.”
(It disgusts me). This coffee lover interprets lesbians as a relationship between girls who engage
in sexual intercourse and have romantic feelings about other women. However, after she has a
friend who is a lesbian, she changes her mind. She thinks that her friend becomes lesbian
because of traumas. The trauma here is bad treatment from her ex-boyfriend.
10
She believes that the result of being a lesbian is not the lesbian‟s mistakes, but the lesbian
here is the victim. Here is the schema that Dian believes why someone becomes lesbian:
Trauma
+
Environment
(having
lesbians
Lesbians
+
Nature
(Figure 1.2 Dian)
In the interview, she says: “Soale kaya gitu gak ada yang bisa disalahin lah. Soalnya itu
naluri banget gitu loh. Natural, gak ada yang dibuat-buat.” (Lesbians should not be blamed. it
comes from instinct. It is human nature, it cannot be created). She believes that it is not her
friend‟s choice; it is her condition which makes her to be a lesbian. NARTH (National
Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality) strengthen Dian‟s opinion by reporting
that 50 percent of lesbian women are caused from a history of sexual abuse (3). By the cause of
sexual abuse, for Dian, there will be an exception to accept the lesbians‟ conditions if there are
clear and acceptable reasons why someone becomes a lesbian.
Society sees lesbians as something unusual, but Dian believes that lesbians are natural.
For her, lesbians were born that way to love the same sex. The fact that environment also affects
someone to choose to become a lesbian or not, she still believes that lesbian is human nature. It
means that she does not care why someone becomes a lesbian. She only believes that lesbian is
human nature. It is different from Farah‟s perspective who tells that trauma takes a big part of
11
someone becomes lesbians. She says that it is not only trauma; human nature also infects
someone to be lesbians.
From the schema above, Dian shows that lesbians do not have any relationship to any
physical or mental disorder. The third cause, nature, only appears in Dian‟s perception. She adds
that lesbians shouldn‟t be blamed or underestimated because it is natural. Actually, her
perceptions change after she meets a new friend who is a lesbian. At first, she feels disgusted
about lesbian, but after she meets her lesbian friend, she understands that lesbian is not always
wrong. She also adds that in fact, sometimes there must be reasons why someone chooses to be a
lesbian.
Dian states there is no excuse for lesbians who are involved in sexual intercourse. Dian
thinks that sexual intercourse between girls is very loathsome. For her, it is fine to be lesbians as
long as only engage with “feelings”. Like her friend, Dian believes that her friend only engages
with her feeling. So, she feels safe hanging out and getting closer to her friend. In this case, Dian
doesn‟t think about the social stereotype to make friendship. She also doesn‟t care about the
negative stereotypes about lesbians.
After she watches the movie, she is touched by the relationship between Kim and Pei.
She also thinks that she might be part of them because she feels what Kim feels. Dian also has
bad experiences with men and when she watches the movie, she thinks that she will be safe and
happy with a girlfriend. The story of Kim and Pei really touches her and it influences her mind.
She also recommends this movie for audiences. Analyzing what Dian feels, she has the
perspective to agree with lesbians because of two reasons. First, she has bad experiences with
men. She says that she feels “numb” to men and is still afraid to make a relationship with men.
12
The second reason is her environment. She explains that she was a new student in her high
school and her first friend was a lesbian. She does not care that her friend is a lesbian because at
that time she does not have other friends. Until today, Dian and her friend love to hang out
together.
The third participant is a 22 year old guy named Agung. Now, he is finishing his thesis
for his first degree of IT in UKSW Salatiga. His definition about lesbians is relationship
between girls. In detail, Greenberg (151-152) describes lesbians as having equal biological sex
factor and a gender self-identity that conforms to her biology, but she does not fit clichéd norms
of how men and women should behave. Agung has already known the term of lesbians since
elementary school. He knew it from television and newspaper. It means that the topic of lesbians
is old for him, as lesbians/gay criticism said that lesbians have been discussed and marginalized
since 1990‟s. Agung feels the relationship between two same sexes is weird because the common
couple is male and female. There is no other deeper explanation and feeling toward lesbians
because he only believes that lesbian is unusual like what the stereotype says.
Agung has some experiences about homosexual friends from facebook who randomly
added him as a friend. He tells that one of them came to his house. He was afraid of the guy who
is a gay. He realized that the guy was from facebook who declared that he was gay. Agung did
not welcome his friend or want to know him more, but he directly asked him to go home. It
shows that experiences do not always lead someone to see homosexual because Agung was
unlike Dian who does not care to the fact that her friend is a lesbian.
After Agung watches the movie, he believes that becoming a lesbian or homosexual is
caused by environment. He says: “Mungkin karna keluarganya… dia sama ayahnya… semua
13
karyawannya cowok kan? jarang banget ketemu cewek.” (Perhaps it‟s because of her family…
She lives with father and all of her father‟s employees are men. It makes her rarely talk to
women). He explains that Kim‟s condition here influences her to be lesbians because she lives
with her father and all her father‟s employees are male. So, Agung indicates that those people are
the environment which plays a significant part that makes Kim to be a lesbian.
Agung is a homophobia as he says: “aku gak mau deket sama yang kaya gitu, takut
ketularan.” (I don‟t want to be close to lesbians; I‟m afraid of being infected). Homophobia is
described as individual antigay attitudes and behaviors (Herek 19) or fear and loathing of
homosexuality (Tyson 319). His fear attitude toward gays was shown when he did not let his gay
friend visited him. He thinks that the “infection” means it is contagion if there is a connection.
He states that environment is the best connector to channeled homosexuality. So he thinks that it
is better to live far away from homosexuals. Another thing, he believes that there is no
connection between lesbians and human nature. This is the schema of Agung‟s perception how
lesbians happen:
internet
friends
social
intercours
Environment
-
Lesbians
(Figure 1.3 Agung)
14
The schema above shows the environments can be created from social intercourses, friends and
internets. It is similar to Agung who knows the lesbian issue for the first time from television and
newspaper. So, according to him, environment is influential for someone to be a lesbian.
After watching this movie, his feeling to lesbians is still the same. It is perhaps because it
is his habit not to really care about the message of the movie. He explains: “Sama sih
sebenarnya. Filmnya gak spesifik ke lesbians sih, itu lebih ke film remaja.” (I still have same
opinion. It does not specifically talk about lesbians. It focuses more on a teenage-movie). His
feeling toward the movie is not specifically about the lesbians because it does not tell the
lesbians‟ life in detail. For him, movies are very important to relax his mind. He does not really
care whether the movie is in line with the culture or stereotype in society or not. As a result, he
only sees lesbians as an unusual thing and is not affected by the movie. Agung also does not
receive the moral value in movies because he believes that movies are fictions. So, from his
whole explanation, Yes or No does not have any influence to his perception, especially toward
lesbians. It means that clearly, he does not use the movie to reflect on how he should behave
toward any phenomenon toward lesbians.
Agung‟s opinion is different from the beginning which says that he feels disgusted about
homosexuals in general. After he watches this movie, especially the part when two lesbians are
kissing, he enjoys it, as he says: “Mungkin kalo cowok sama cowok jijik ya, berhubung cewek
sama cewek saya malah menikmati.” (I may feel disgusted if I see gays, but because it is lesbian,
I enjoy it). It shows that Agung feels that female-female relationships are as pornography. What
Agung feels represents misogynic. Misogynic describes when women are positioned as objects
of men‟s desire (Ussher 33). It is like men create women's sexuality through the words and
images of society. It is similar to Agung who sees the kisses of lesbians in this movie as his
15
object to pleasure himself. In this part, he does not think about stereotype, but he thinks about his
desire.
Radit is the last participant; he is 26 years old. This STIBA student has a very short and
clear definition on lesbian which is similar to Agung. He says that lesbians have a romantic
sexual relationship with girls. Radit‟s statement is different from Farah who says that lesbian is
a kind of illness, whereas he says that lesbian is not kind of an illness. As Johnson writes that
nowadays all major professional mental health organizations reports that homosexuality cannot
be classified as a mental illness or moral depravity (1). Radit explains that lesbians have a sexual
inclination. He explains inclination as love or attraction to someone or something. So, sexual
inclination means loving someone and it includes sexual intercourse.
Radit tells that lesbians are weird in his society. Like Agung and Farah, he thinks that
lesbians are not natural because a normal couple is a relationship between opposite sexes, male
and female. He believes lesbians happen because of certain reasons, like traumas and
environmental influences. To make it easy to understand, here is the schema:
Environment
Lesbians
Trauma
(Figure 1.2 Radit)
He considers that environment and trauma become the significant reason to be a lesbian. So,
there is no natural matter which makes a woman becomes a lesbians.
16
Yes or No does not change Radit‟s perception toward lesbians. He says: “Kalo ilfil ndak.
Kalo open dari awal sudak open. No change lah. No change .” (I am not disgusted or ill to see it.
I‟m an open-minded guy. My opinion doesn‟t change. No change).That is what Radit says after
he watches the movie. It indicates that before and after he watches the movie, he has the same
perception that the issue of lesbians is common for him. From his explanation, this movie
doesn‟t affect the way he feels and thinks about lesbians. He adds lesbians and homosexuals
have become a world culture today. So, how he reflects on this movie and considers lesbians as
world culture indicates that Radit does not use stereotypes to see lesbians.
On the other hand, Radit states that women are expected to have a husband. He states:
“Dia diharapkan bersuami, terus membina keluarga .” (She is expected to have a husband and
look after her family). What he says actually shows his unstable perception toward lesbians. At
first he says that he does not think about what the stereotype says about lesbians. However, he
also says that lesbians are a poor person because lesbians cannot marry a man because they love
another woman. The lesbians‟ condition who cannot love a man makes them marginalized by the
stereotypes of the society. Knowing what Radit feels about this marginalization, he shows that he
cares to lesbians. So, he does not a hundred percent not care about lesbians.
Radit believes that lesbians can heal themselves if they want to. He thinks that the first
way or thing which can heal lesbians is themselves. As he explains before that lesbian is an
inclination, it comes from inside of someone‟s soul. It does not appear naturally, but it is created
by lesbians themselves and environment. He explains that it means the thing that can heal
lesbians is by looking back inside of her. He believes that a lesbian lifestyle stops by rebuilding
and persuading their feeling to understand that lesbians are away from normality. In other words,
the approach focuses on psychological aspects.
17
After Radit watches the movie, he has a different opinion about lesbians. It happens when
he finds the kissing part in the movie. He says: “Sayangnya kalo cowok liat dua cewek ciuman
itu berbeda, gak ..sama sekali gak jijik.” (Unfortunately, if men see lesbians kissing, it is
different; I don‟t feel it‟s disgusting). He thinks that it is bad to see males kiss. However, seeing
females kiss has the opposite effect. In this occasion, Radit positions the lesbians (female) as
objects to desire or pleasure him. His idea connects to Ussher‟s when Radit states that if it is only
a pornographic images or lesbians, it has a goal to serve male pleasure (34). Radit focuses on his
pleasure now rather than the stereotype.
Radit also has the same feeling with Agung about this movie. He is not influenced by this
movie. For Radit, this movie is only an entertainment tool which contrasts to Farah and Dian,
who see the value of this movie that can change the audiences‟ mind-sets and feelings. When he
sees the relationship like the one between Kim and Pei, he doesn‟t react by ignoring the lesbians.
He will take steps if the one who does it is his relative. In general as part of society, he does not
worry about lesbians. From his explanation, it shows that the movie doesn‟t influence him
because he thinks that this movie is fiction. From what Radit feels shows that stereotyping does
not always guide the way he thinks. He can avoid the lesbians if they mingle with his personal
business.
Religious
Perception is influenced from many aspects, such as stereotypes and religious points of
view. Commonly, people use the religion reference to set a parameter to control life. The belief
that is accepted or learned may mingle with the environment. Prohibition is always taught in
religious life, but what way would be chosen depends on the follower. In this research, the four
18
participants come from different beliefs. How does their belief work in affecting their
perception? Will they use their religious view to support their beliefs about homosexual or not?
What does their religion say toward lesbians?
The first participant is Farah who is involved in many religious activities since high
school. This is what she says about lesbians: “Satu hal yang saya tahu, ya kalo itu sebenarnya
gak diijinkan di dalam Alkitab”. (One thing that I know is that actually lesbians are not allowed
in The Bible). She knows that lesbians are not allowed in her religious references. She inserts the
word “actually” because at first she still believes that lesbians also need justice. In her
understanding, justice for lesbians is confessed in society. She believes that the only important
thing for lesbians is that to be legalized and have the same right like other people. Lesbians do
not want to be marginalized. However, her religious reference says different from what she feels.
She follows her religious perception. So, Farah‟s perception is controlled by religious references
which believe that lesbians are not allowed. She also quotes from the bible:
Then the Lord made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought
her to the man (The Holy Bible, New International Version, Genesis 2:22).
What Farah understands from this biblical word is that God creates a woman to help the man
because God sees that it is bad if the man lives alone. God does not create another man to help
Adam, but God creates a female, Eve. So, she believes that man should always be with woman
like what the God says.
Farah‟s opinion corresponds to what Tygart (2000) says that homosexuality is frequently
considered a sin or crime against nature (qtd. in Haider-Makel & Joslyn 295). What the Bible
says leads Farah not to believe that lesbians are natural; as it is said in Genesis 2:22. Naturally,
19
she considers that a couple is always male and female, not the same sexes. She adds: “Sama kali
gak setuju … mereka istilahnya menyalahi kodrat ciptaannya Tuhan .” (I strongly disagree…
they seem like they are disapproving the nature of the God). She says that lesbians seem to be
like disapproving the fate or nature. She believes that against nature means against God. What
she says infers that religious reference takes an important part in her perception toward lesbians.
So, she believes that lesbians are wrong because it is in opposition to her parameter that is her
religious reference.
Farah finds the scene which exposes lesbians clearly in Yes or No, she feels that the film
does not go with the norm. She confirms: “Seakan-akan kalo film itu disebarkan, itu kaya
mengajarkan orang-orang bahwa lesbians itu acceptable.” (If this movie is overspread, it seems
like it is showing to people that being a lesbian is acceptable). She says that the movie seems to
be approving of lesbians. She adds that it is shown when Kim and Pei finally live together. Since
what the ending tells, Farah worries if the audience will think that Yes or No lets audience
becomes lesbians. So, she advises that Yes or No is not recommended.
Dian, the second participant in the beginning has the same perception to Farah. She
seems to disagree with lesbians and says that lesbians are not right. She also explains a little bit
about her religious reference. She says: “ya nggak boleh lah, soalnya manusia itu diciptakan
berpasang-pasang dan beda jenis kan?” (It is not allowed because human is created in pair with
different sex, right?). She accepts that lesbians are against the nature. She also agrees to Genesis
2:18 similar to what Farah says. It means that she uses her religious reference in how she sees
lesbians. In other words, her religious reference influences her perceptions toward lesbians.
20
On the other hand her perceptions toward lesbians change. After she reflects on her
experience having a closed friend who is a lesbian, she has a different perception toward
lesbians. Dian is the only participant who seems against the religious reference. She explains:
“aku kan gak begitu fanatic banget gitu ya sama agama.” (I am not too fanatic in religious
matter). She does not want to explain more about lesbians and her religious reference. When the
interview goes to the point how she sees lesbians from her religious reference, she says that she
is not a fanatic. Her saying “not fanatic” indicates an excuse. She does not want to admit that her
perception does not flow with her religious reference. It means that she has her own perception
which is not influenced by her religious reference.
As she reflects on her best friend‟s story who is a lesbian, she believes that lesbians are
natural. Although as Christian she agrees to Genesis 2:18, she also believes that being a lesbian
is not because of lesbians‟ mistakes. As lesbians are natural and it is given, she states that women
cannot choose not to have that kind of feeling. It is shown from her statement: “… mereka itu
gak bisa disalahkan juga soale kalaupun dia bisa milih pasti dia juga gak pengen punya
perasaan kaya gitu…” (They (lesbians) cannot be blamed because if they can choose, they don‟t
want to have that kind of feeling). Her perceptions change because of her close friend who is a
lesbian. Her close friend is one of the society. Because Dian is close to her friend, indirectly, she
influences Dian. So, her close friend takes an important part to change her perception toward
lesbians.
From Dian‟s perception, it says that religious reference is only a matter of knowledge.
She knows it, but does not want to do what the religious reference tells. She tends to see lesbians
as human nature because she is influenced by her friend. Moreover, she thinks that she will be
safe to go with a female. She feels that lesbians related to the women‟s feeling. This feeling
21
sometimes cannot be connected to the religious references or another thing. Her explanation
indicates that she does not use religious references as her parameter to control her perception.
Agung is the only participant who is Muslim. He does not say clearly about his opinion
about lesbians. He does not say that it is a sin or bad attitude. He only knows that in his religion,
lesbians are not allowed, but he does not want to state it clearly. He believes a story taken from
Al-Quran which tells about one of a prophet named Lut. Lut lives in an awful place. In that place
there are so many bad things happen like free sex and homosexuality. One day, Allah sends an
angel to investigate that place. It is true that there are many bad things that happen, so Allah
destroys it. By the story, he believes that homosexual is one of the bad things. By his
explanation, he has strong and clear religious reference that lesbians are not allowed.
On the other hand, his perception is different from his religious reference. He says: “ ya
itu terserah sih. Standar moral setiap orang kan beda ya.” (It‟s up to them. The morality
standard of each person is different). He does not want to claim that lesbian is bad or good. He
explains that what is bad for him is not always bad for people; and what is good for him is not
always good for people. That is why he tends to say nothing. He does not care to what lesbians
do. Except if the lesbians are his close friend or family, he is willing to help them to find the way
back into normality called heterosexuality. No matter what his belief says, he has his own
opinion about lesbians. Form what Agung has explained, it indicates that he is quite liberal about
lesbians. Liberal in this situation means he respects another opinion. So, for him it is fine to be a
lesbian, as long as the lesbians do not meddle with his life.
Agung tells that this movie will not influence the audience perception. He says: “Kalo
film selama 2 jam aja gak ngaruh banget.” (A two-hour movie is not too influential). For him,
22
that short duration cannot change someone‟s perception or belief easily. Moreover, this movie
functions as entertainment for him. So, this movie is one positive way to relax his mind.
However, it will have a negative effect for a certain audience. He explains if the audiences are
lesbians, they will be motivated and strengthened that lesbians are acceptable like the movie
says. So, the effect of this movie will work differently one to the other. It depends on who the
audience is.
Religiously or not Agung believes that lesbians are not natural. He states: “Kayanya yang
saya tahu belum ada penelitian secara genetic.” (I think there is no research which studies
lesbians genetically). He adds that lesbians occur because of environments. What he understands
by the meaning of environments are friends, society, and public media, such as television, book
and internet. He believes that someone cannot live without those elements. Finally, he believes
that those things affect someone‟s perception toward lesbians. What he has mentioned is
something close to everybody. It means that actually, everyone has possibilities to be a lesbian
by those influences. The decision depends on two things. First, it depends on the people, whether
they want to be a lesbians or not. Second, it depends on how big the influence is.
Radit is the last participant who is a Catholic. He has a different opinion about lesbians
from a religious point of view. Radit thinks his belief never talks about lesbians and stuff. He
says: “Katolik as far as I know, katolik itu gak pernah membahas ke sana sih ya. Homosexuality
itu gak pernah disentuh sebagai sesuatu yang tabu.” (As far as I know, catholic never discuses
about lesbians. Homosexuality is never claimed as taboo). According to Oxford Advance
Learner‟s Dictionary, “taboo” is described as a culture or religion custom that does not allow
people to do, use or talk about a particular thing as people find it offensive or embarrassing. He
believes that lesbians are not claimed as bad. According to what he knows, his religious
23
reference never talks about lesbians which mean that there is nothing wrong with lesbians. So,
what his religious reference says is that homosexuality is only a common thing and it is not
taboo. This belief influences Radit not to have bad perception toward lesbians. When he states
that lesbians are not taboo and feels fine with it, it indicates he follows his religious reference.
He believes that his religion gives freedom or liberty to the Catholics to be a lesbian or a
heterosexual. He strengthens his statement by saying: “Kalo dosa aku gak pernah baca di alkitab
yang ngomong seorang lesbians atau homosexual itu dosa .” (I never read in The Bible which
says that lesbians or homosexual is a sin). He explains that his religious reference does not
mention that lesbian is a sin. He thinks that lesbians are not forbidden, but it is only not
suggested. His perception indicates that he uses stereotype. When he says “forbidden”, it means
he knows that lesbians are stereotyped as not good. Although he says he does not want to claim it
as bad thing, he follows the lesbians‟ stereotype. It means that stereotype works better that his
religious reference.
Radit compares between lesbians and incest. He says: “… kita gak dilarang untuk
mencintai sesama jenis. Cuman pada awalnya di Alkitab disebutkan ada Adam dan Hawa,
cowok dan cewek. Kalo itu kita ambil mentah- mentah, itu susah, karna itu gak mungkin seluruh
dunia ini tercipta cuman dua orang manusia. Kalo kita mengatakan seluruh dunia ini berasal
dari dua orang manusia, maka akan menyentuh hal tabu, seperti inses.” (We are not forbidden
to love same sex. The Bible only mentions that there are male and female, Adam and Eve. If we
believe those words literally, it will be difficult. It is impossible that all people in the world were
born from these two persons because it will lead us to the taboo thing called incest). Incest is
sexual activity between two people who are very closely related in a family, for example brother
and sister or a father and daughter (Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary). What he is trying to
24
say is that lesbians have deeper definition. It is beyond the concept of sexual intercourse between
girls. It is similar to the story of Adam and Eve who fill this world but which began from people
who had incest. He believes that lesbians are forms of love to each other which involves deep
feeling.
Radit believes lesbians and religious matter has its own scope. It cannot be connected
without any strong reasons. He adds that the issue of lesbians, religion and movie of Yes or No
stand by itself. His opinion about the lesbians in the movie and in the real life does not have any
connection to his religious point of view. So, he does not use the religious view to see the social
matter like lesbians. The result of the interview of the last participant, Radit, indicates that he
tends to consider to the stereotype existed rather than the religious reference. Moreover, he
thinks that his religious reference never talks about lesbians and stuff.
Conclusion
This research analyzes the participants‟ perceptions from the scope of stereotype and
religious point of views. From the discussion presented in the previous chapter, the context of
lesbians is connected to stereotype and religious reference. It was noted down that stereotypes
created people‟s mind-set about lesbians. In addition, religious reference gave guidance to do the
good things and leave the bad things. The result of this study indicated that not all participants
used stereotypes or religious references to influence their idea or judgment about how they
thought about lesbians.
Although most of them knew that religions perceived lesbians as a normal and natural
thing, some participants still believed that becoming lesbians were partly an individual‟s choice.
25
They could not judge lesbians for the choices they made. It was the lesbians‟ business. The
lesbians know and are ready with all of the consequences of becoming lesbians.
The effect of the movie of Yes or No also works differently. It did not give a crucial
influence toward participants‟ perceptions. The first participant said that the movie was
influential, especially for teenagers. She argued that there was a possibility that the movie would
inspire the teenagers to do the same thing. On the other hand, the second participant reflected on
the scene after watching it. She could feel what the main character felt and finally said that we
could not simply blame the person who chose to become a lesbian. For the second participant,
her opinion was also driven by her personal experience of having a lesbian friend. On the other
hand, the two male participants said that this movie was only an entertainment for them.
Watching the whole scenes in the movie did not give them any influence, especially related to
their opinion about lesbians. As a conclusion, two of the participants of this study still have the
same perception and two are different toward lesbians before and after watching the movie.
The participants‟ sex also creates differences in how they saw lesbians. The female
participants, Farah and Dian felt that Yes or No gives influences to the audience. They saw the
dialogues and scenes presented in the movie to be reflected in their own life. However, the male,
Agung and Radit only felt that this movie was an entertainment to refresh their mind. Based on
the analysis, it is found that the male participants see the real life than what the movie tells. They
only wanted to see movies as entertainment and did not think more critically beyond it. They did
not get the messages from the movie. On the other hand, the female participants involved their
emotion and feeling in seeing lesbians.
26
The recommendation for future research, it may be interesting to do a research only about
gay to know whether the participants, especially guys are like that or not. Moreover, in similar
field, it is better to specify the religious point of view. The specification can be done by taking
the participants from all religions in Indonesia or some religious beliefs. By doing this, the
research is expected to have more detail and various results which are interesting and useful. It
will be interesting because the topic of lesbian is still quite “taboo” in Indonesia. So, talking
about taboo things is attracting people. Another thing this research will be useful for people who
do not really understand by the meaning of lesbian. Lesbian is not only about the less common
behavior, but the lesbians have certain reasons why they choose that way. By this reason, the
people‟s perceptions may be different.
27
Acknowledgment
Finishing my thesis in English Department is my greatest work I have ever done.
Definitely, I have to express my gratitude to everyone who supports and helps me in finishing
this thesis:
My Jesus who makes every single thing has done. Thanks to Mrs. Purwanti
Kusumaningtyas, my supervisor for your helpful feedbacks and patience to guide me in finishing
my thesis. Thank you so much for Danielle Donelsons-Sims, my second reader for your support
and inspiring stories. Perhaps if I did not hang out with you in Solo, I would not be sure to take
literature for my thesis. Especially, this degree is dedicated to my mother (Suwarni) and my
father (Joko). Thanks for being patience and giving lovely advice. My little sister (Grace) and
my aunt (Wiwik), thanks for your support.
Big thanks to my Messgeratt (Dita, Estu, Petra, Emil, Nindha, Jembo, Ambirr, and
Kodyl). Thanks to give me happiness and support. And also thesis partners (Bravick, Anhar and
Ncan) and ED‟ers 08, thanks so much.
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Works Cited
Barnard, Amy. Lesbians's Construction of Depression. 2009.
---. “Lesbianss‟ Experiences of Depression.” Linking Experience to Social Discourse. Diss. The
University of Arizona. 2004. Print.
Barry, P. Begining theory: an Introduction to Literary and Culture Theory. New York:
Manchester University Press, 2002.
Boyce, Carolyn; Neale, Palena. “Conducting In-depth Interviews.” A guide for designing and
conducting in-depth interviews for evaluating input