T1 112009097 Full text
WOMEN RIVALRY: HOW WOMEN DEFINE OTHER WOMEN AS
ENEMIES REFLECTED IN AN INDONESIAN TELECINEMA
“PUTIH ABU-ABU”
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Jessyca Dian Purnama Puteri
112009097
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2013
WOMEN RIVALRY: HOW WOMEN DEFINE OTHER WOMEN AS
ENEMIES REFLECTED IN AN INDONESIAN TELECINEMA
“PUTIH ABU-ABU”
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Jessyca Dian Purnama Puteri
112009097
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2013
WOMEN RIVALRY: HOW WOMEN DEFINE OTHER WOMEN AS
ENEMIES REFLECTED IN AN INDONESIAN TELECINEMA
“PUTIH ABU-ABU”
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Jessyca Dian Purnama Puteri
112009097
Approved by:
Danielle Donelson-Sims, M.A.
Supervisor
Purwanti Kusumaningtyas, M.Hum.
Examiner
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Copyright@ 2013. Jessyca Dian Purnama Puteri and Danielle Donelson-Sims, M.A.
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Danielle Donelson-Sims, M.A.
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Puteri 1
Women Rivalry: How Women Define Other Women as Enemies Reflected
in an Indonesian Telecinema “Putih Abu-abu”
Jessyca Dian Purnama Puteri
Abstract
Due to the fact that Indonesian telecinema is one of the popular products, so this study was
conducted in order to analyze what is actually beyond the episodes of one popular Indonesian
telecinema: ―Putih Abu-abu.‖ Conflicts shown in Putih Abu-abu are mostly about how
women define other women as their enemies, or women rivalry. Using The Second Sex by
Simone de Beauvoir, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman‘s book, ―Women and Economics‖, this
study explores two different motives of women rivalry reflected in this telecinema by
analyzing some of the characters‘ conversations and the actions. The findings reveal that the
two big motives behind as the base of the women rivalries in this telecinema, are gaining
men‘s attention and money matters by protecting their wealth and gaining power from
wealth.
Keywords: women rivalry, ideology, motive, telecinema, men, competition, feminism,
Marxist Feminist
Introduction
Watching Indonesian telecinema has been a common habit for Indonesian people as
almost all TV channels play telecinemas, especially the Indonesian ones, with their
complicated and exaggerating conflicts, which successfully provide their audience with
escapes that blindfold the spectators‘ eyes from the hidden negative values or ideologies
beneath them.
Due to Indonesian telecinema‘s long existence and its large amounts of audiences,
Indonesian telecinema can be mentioned as a popular product. According to Jack Nachbar
and Kevin Lause, ―all popular culture instructs and molds audience beliefs to one degree or
another simply because the very values being reflected are necessarily being communicated
as well‖ (7). Or in other words, the popular products may show what happens in society, and
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what is shown in the popular products may be happening in the society. For instance, the
increasing violence in movies reflects an increasingly violent society and may then lead that
society to become more accepting of violence—which then leads to more violent movies
which then affect the society—and on and on in an endless cycle of reflection and reshaping.
Hence, I see the Indonesian telecinema as evidence of what may happen or is happening in
the society. Not only as evidence, but the telecinema is also seen as the reflection of how a
certain ideology is implemented. As Stuart Hall stated that ideology is used to indicate how
some cultural texts and practices present distorted images of reality.
Like watching an aquarium, the water represents the culture, and fish are the humans.
Since humans already get used to the water and the aquarium, they feel like there is nothing
wrong either with the water or the aquarium. Even they do not even realize the existence of
the aquarium, and what ideologies that the water carries on. Therefore, although we may be
unable to jump out of the aquarium, the best we can hope for is to notice and see what
actually happens in that aquarium, or in other words, to see if the ideology is in place by
analyzing, understanding and being aware some theories of the ideology that is carried
through culture, in this case through Indonesian telecinema, that we already get used to watch
every day.
As a culture product, indonesian telecinemas may carry certain ideology beyond of
each conflicts shown in each episodes. Thus, the study is important in order to make my
readers more critical by understanding more about the ideology, as revealed in this
telecinema. Thus, we, especially women, can be more aware of what really happens in our
society, like what Jack Nachbar and Kevin Lause stated, ―we need to understand this culture,
then, so what we can be more than a fish who just eats what‘s dropped into his tank, watches
whatever passes by and ends up in the ―big flush‖—a passive part of his environment right to
the finish‖ (2). Understanding and being more critical in watching what actually is shown in
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telecinema, can make women not follow or imitate what is shown in this Indonesian
telecinema, so the conflicts will not be as often implemented in real life. As quoted from
―Capitalist Patriarchy And The Case For Socialist Feminism‖ book, ―The more we
understand about women's actual conditions, of course, the more we understand the specific
ways that women have acted to transform those conditions, and to transform revolutionary
movements from within‖ (378).
After watching several Indonesian telecinema, such as Tersanjung, Anugerah, Cinta
Fitri, Putri yang Tertukar, Candy, Cahaya, Safa dan Marwah, and Putih Abu-abu, I feel that
most of them exaggeratingly put women as the centre of the conflicts. Although focusing on
women‘s conflicts, Putih Abu-abu has the most unique story due to the girlband concept in its
story as it has been famous and much discussed since that time. Hence, this study will
analyze its women‘s conflict, or women rivalry from this Indonesian telecinema, Putih Abuabu.
The main character is Nina, who came from Yogyakarta and moved to Jakarta. In her
new high school, she met an evil girl, Angel, the granddaughter of the school‘s foundation
owner. Then, she joined a girlband named Blink, but still got some obstacles such as getting
bullied from her schoolmates (girls) and even from her family. Seeing Nina and other women
as the centre of the conflicts, I decided to analyze the women‘s conflicts, which is the women
rivalries or how women define other women as enemies as reflected in this Indonesian
telecinema, Putih Abu-abu.
Although as a usual Indonesian telecinema, Putih Abu-abu has complicated and
exaggerating conflicts, the study is focusing on the women rivalry shown through some
women characters, such as Nina, Angel, and Monika. Using Simone de Beauvoir‘s The
Second Sex and Charlotte Perkins Gilman‘s Women and Economics, this study explores two
different motives of women rivalry reflected in this telecinema by analyzing the characters‘
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conversations and the actions. Hence, my research question is: how does women rivalry, or
how women do define other women as enemies, reflected in an Indonesian Telecinema ―Putih
Abu-abu?‖
Analyzing the conversations and actions, the study reveals several forms of women
rivalry reflected in Putih Abu-abu. They are all showing how two women; Angel and Monika
treat other women, Nina, as their enemies by putting her down. However, the analysis shows
that all of the ways of how they do the violence or women rivalry against Nina reveals their
big motive in their life, which is to get men‘s attention and to get power in the form of
materials or money.
Theoretical discussion
―Art does have a quite particular and specific relationship with ideology.‖ (1480).
Art, whether it is visual, audio, or even audio visual are being used as an expressive
media to transfer or to be a reflection of problems that may happen in the society. Like
Indonesian telecinema, as a performing arts and a popular product, may reflect the writer/
artist or the audience‘s values and belief, or in other words reflect the ideology. Thus, popular
culture theory believes that ideology is a crucial concept in the study of popular culture,
because ideology is used to indicate how some cultural texts, such as television fictions,
songs, novel, and practices present distorted images of reality or particular image of the
world. Although the cultural texts offer ideological significations of the way the world is,
whether we realize it or not, ideology can control and determine people‘s minds, beliefs, and
actions.
To find out what the ideology is behind Putih Abu-abu especially that of women
relation or women rivalry, money and power, the ideology behind the women rivalry and how
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money reveals as power I will use Simone de Beauvoir‘s theory of The Second Sex and
Charlotte Perkins Gilman‘s Women and Economics.
Some theories believe that external factors like patriarchy, culture, and nature are the
ones that make or force women to be emotional, desperate, and defined. In other words, the
patriarchy, the culture, and nature, as the agents, victimize women in how they behave or and
force them to take certain attitudes. However, Simone de Beauvoir is against this idea.
Quoted from ―Simone de Beauvoir‖, as an Existentialist, Beauvoir claimed that
humans are responsible for creating their lives according to their own values—and not by
following the ‗herd‘—by reflecting clearly on their situation and relationships and by acting
authentically (14). By this she means that humans are able to define their own identity,
freedom, responsibility, and authenticity, as she believes that humans‘ problems come from
combination between both their inner (their awareness and consciousness) and outer life
(people or society).
Beauvoir also argued that women‘s problem is male-domination in society. She
believes that women are taught to accept the marginalization that can lead to self-alienation
and oppression. Thus, Beauvoir, as a feminist and existentialist argued that instead of women
accept the traditional expectation, they should find their own path in life, define their own
independence, freedom, happiness, and identity. Humans need to be recognized first to reject
the alienation or marginalization as Beauvoir argued that human beings need to recognize
each other as similarly conscious beings in the world to be sure that they exist (16).
In order to seek for recognition and avoid marginalization, women need approval and
surely recognition from men if they define themselves that they need men in their life as their
happiness and life fulfillers. By this they mean that women allow themselves to be identified
by men. Although their identities are shaped, but Beauvoir believes that it should be women
who define themselves and this is what she hopes to happen.
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As Nancy Bauer stated in her book Simone De Beauvoir, Philosophy, and Feminism,
―a central achievement of the second sex, is in the ways it forges connections between the
idea of being a woman and the idea of philosophy, ways that bind the over coming of the
problem of being a woman with the over coming of a certain conception of the philosophical‖
(1). In other words, Bauer thinks that one of the ideologies of Second Sex is that simply
women are defined by men, as they are allowing themselves to be defined by men and
allowing their entire identity is shaped by men. Thus, as mentioned earlier, it is important for
the fish, or mainly in this case as women, to recognize and be more aware of how they are
actually trapped within the aquarium and see the reality that happens in our society by
understanding Beauvoir‘s idea.
Women marginalization by men in the form of women rivalry not only shown in
performing arts like telecinema, but also in another literature like folktales, which are also
analyzed in an article entitled ―Unmasking Women‘s Rivalry in Cameroonian Folktales: How
Better To Reinforce This Position Of Servitude Than Create Rivalry Between Women,‖ by
Susan Weinger, et al. ―If women turn against each other with distain, they will tend to dislike
themselves - after all they are a part of the devalued group. An increase in self-depreciation is
helpful for adjusting to a position of subservience. Their suspicion and alienation from each
other will preclude close communication, intimacy and solidarity. Their trumped up or fueled
conflict and mistrust of each other will deter them from targeting their true oppressor,
patriarchy‖ (19). In other words, patriarchy can influence how women shape their identity
and emotion as they believe that they are secure and complete because of men. However, it is
not men, as ―perspective‖ that is in favor with men and men‘s ways that shape women‘s
identity, but it is women who contribute to the privileges granted to men and men-like or
men‘s ways and allow themselves to be shaped and self-identified by men.
Puteri 7
Although the second sex more focus on women‘s ideology, Gayle Rubin believes that
the ideology does not come from their gender, but through their social life as quoted from
―Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality‖, Michel Foucault
stated in The History of Sexuality (1978) that desires are not pre-existing biological entities,
but rather that they are constituted in the course of historically specific social practices (276).
By this it can be said that humans are taught not by their gender, but their social practices in
real life. Thus, the ideology can be analyzed from how humans interact and define other
people through their words and actions.
As quoted from book The Norton Anthology Theory and Criticism, a heart smitten
with love thus avoids many disappointments; if the loved one's behavior is capricious, her
remarks stupid, then the mystery serves to excuse it all (1409). And even if it is not love,
women may want to think or fool themselves into believing it is love. In reaching toward the
romantic relationship, women could do anything, even the mean things. One of the forms of
those mean things is by defining other women as enemy in the process of getting the men‘s
heart, or love, or even just getting attention or affection. As Beauvoir points out, reaching
toward men‘s heart, love, attention, or affection is what becomes a primary reason for women
rivalry.
Women rivalry or female competition is competition between at least two women for
reaching some motives, for example, to get a partner. However, the rivalry or the competition
can be either visible or hidden. As quoted from a journal titled ―Attractiveness and Rivalry in
Women‟s Friendships with Women‖ by April Bleske-Recheck and Melissa Lighthall, women
also report that their female friendships take up a lot of time and are emotionally draining
(Hays 1988; Micke et al. 2008), and that their female friends make them feel bad about
themselves and compete with them for attention from desirable potential romantic partners
(Bleske and Buss 2000) (83). This quote simply explains that women rivalry, how women
Puteri 8
compete with other women, often times come from the desire to get the romantic partner.
Even more, this quote also tells that women rivalry can even come between friends.
Not only the desire to get the romantic partner, women have another desire also in
their life as Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a Marxist Feminist, points out in her book Women and
Economics, ―But, beyond these forces, we come under the effect of a third set of conditions
peculiar to our human status; namely, social conditions‖ (2). In other words, the motive of
how women behave and shape their identity is not only influenced of men, but also in
maintaining their social condition, either status or money and materials.
As women do everything to be acknowledgement by men and to meet men‘s
standards, women rivalry maintained to divide women or avoid them from unity. Thus, they
will remain the second in the society. As Sara Carpenter stated in her journal titled
―Centering Marxist-Feminist Theory in Adult Learning‖, Marxist-feminist argument is that
social reality is not a structure or system but is human activity and forms of consciousness,
intricate forms of human social relation. From this perspective, the social formations of race,
gender, and class are dialectically related social phenomena and cannot be disarticulated from
one another but rather continually shape and infiuence how our behavior and consciousness
of each develops and changes (21). These theorists believe that not only the economic
condition, but also the social condition, such as sexism or gender discrimination as well as
race also play a role in marginalization.
According to Charlotte Perkins Gilman also wrote ―The comfort, the luxury, the
necessities of life itself, which the woman receives, are obtained by the husband, and given to
her by him. And, when the woman, left alone with no man to "support" her, tries to meet her
own economic necessities, the difficulties which confront her prove conclusively what the
general economic status of the woman is (10). This quote shows the condition how women
are often economically dependent on men. Being dependent on men shows women as
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powerless or being marginalized. However, when women are being independent, they will
seek money as their power and security in order to avoid being as poor and exploited, or
double marginalization. As quoted from Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive
Introduction Third Edition by Rosemary Tong, ―in a capitalist system, money is most often
power‖ (107).
In this study, I will explore the women rivalry, or in other words, how women do evil
things to feel secure and complete in the form of men‘s attention and power in the form of
wealth, as shown in the Indonesian telecinema, Putih Abu-abu. How women do the mean
things is a reflection of how they define themselves. And how they treat other women as their
enemies also shows how women define other women as well. Overall, the motives behind the
women rivalry are explored as well.
Summary
Surely has several conflicts in it, Putih Abu-abu mostly tells about the main character
named Nina, an orphan girl who moved to Jakarta to continue her study. Although her mother
expected her to stay with Taufik (her parents‘ best friend) and be a successful woman in
Jakarta, Nina could not avoid the great obstacles surrounding her in her way of studying in
the metropolitan city.
Taufik welcomed Nina and let her stay at his house, but on the contrary his wife,
Monika, did not let Nina stay in the house and obviously wanted to drive Nina out from his
house as she found that all of her husband‘s inheritance would be given to Nina. In fact, the
reason why Nina was chosen to be the heir was because her parents had helped Taufiq to be a
successful business man by giving all of their money to him. Thus, Taufiq wanted to
reciprocate the favor by giving all of his inheritance to Nina, instead of to his children.
Knowing this plan, Monika did some cruel actions toward Nina to make her out of the house
because she was afraid that she would take no inheritance at all.
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Not only oppressed at home by Monika, Nina also got the oppression at the school by
Angel, the granddaughter of the school owner, and Angel‘s friends (they called themselves as
Lollipop) at school. Angel was really mad at Nina after she knew that Kelvin, her boyfriend,
who was also a son of Taufik and Monika, was close to Nina. She really wanted to put Nina
down by doing some violence to her, including made Nina as her maid. However, fortunately,
Kelvin always tried to protect Nina from Angel‘s bullying and this made Angel frustrated and
it increased her bullying to Nina.
Discussion
WOMEN AS ENEMIES
Beauvoir believes that women have been educated to be good girls and that they need
attention and security from men. She critiques how women have come to believe and to
accept that they need attention and security from men. Like Beauvoir stated, ―it has been
often asserted that if she resigns herself to such submission, it means that she is inferior to
boys materially and morally and is incapable of rivalry with them: abandoning a hopeless
contest, she leaves to a member of the superior caste the task of assuring her happiness.‖
(328). Therefore, as women believe that men are the source of their happiness, they will
pursue and find ways to get them, like common people try to pursue their dreams.
Like Beauvoir‘s statement, since women believe that they define themselves by men
in their life, they will do anything, even do the mean things by treating other women as their
rival or enemy. Women do not look to men as their rivals, but they look to other women as
their rivals, because of men, that will be shown in several kinds of women rivalry in this
telecinema. The first is between Angel and Nina (same age teenagers), the second is between
Monika (older woman) with Nina, and the third is between Monika and her friends (same old
aged women).
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Episode 6 tells that Nina went out of Taufiq and Monika‘s house until suddenly she
fell off one tree and got severe wounds and fainted. Luckily, she was helped by Kelvin and
taken to the hospital by Andre too. Knowing that Kelvin was there for Nina, Angel directly
headed to the hospital. By Angel directly headed to the hospital after she phoned Kelvin she
revealed that the reason why she came to the hospital was Kelvin, instead of Nina. In other
words, this reason clearly shows her motive to get Kelvin‘s attention.
Then, while Nina had fainted, Angel prayed:
“Yah, ini saat yang tepat buat gue berdoa, kiranya nyawa Nina dilepaskan dari derita
secepatnya hahahaha dan segera berpulang deh. Amin.”
(Well, this is a perfect time for me to pray, may Nina‟s soul is released from her suffering and
that she will pass away soon. Amen.)
By this statement obviously Angel wanted Nina to disappear because she found out
that Kelvin was approaching Nina, and that made her jealous and thought of Nina as her
enemy or rival in getting Kelvin. However, praying that their rivals disappear also happened
in this same episode, Monika, the older woman, also prayed that Nina could die. When she
heard that Nina got in an accident, Monika spoke in her mind:
“Mudah-mudahan dia mati aja sekalian.”
(Hopefully, she will die.)
This first scene shows Angel and Monika‘s basic motive toward Nina which is to
make Nina disappear from their life. Even worse, they desired Nina to die, by praying for her
death. Praying for their rival, Nina, to die is clearly one of the action forms of putting other
woman down and really labels Nina as their rival. Like usual competition, in order to get the
prize, one competitor may have some plans or strategies to make their rivals or enemies lose.
One of the strategies is to make their rival or enemy down. This episode shows how women
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want their rival, which is another woman, down, in order to achieve their motive, by praying
for her death.
Planning to drive out the rivals, even want them to die actually shows how strong the
ideology is in their life—ideology that they have been taught that women are afraid of losing
men‘s attention as Beauvoir‘s belief. The ideology is so strong that, according to these
women rivalries, it is okay to wish other women‘s death, which is extremely evil. Or in other
words, here death of a rival is preferable to losing men‘s attention to another woman.
Later in the episode 13, Angel, supported by the cooperation between her mother and
Monika, successfully made Nina work as her maid for one day. That episode showed that
Nina was forced to serve Angel like a princess—shown when Angel asked Nina to cut the
grass by using a small scissor. Then, Angel was intentionally making her room extremely
messed up, then asked Nina to clean it up.
In this episode, making Nina as her maid, and feeling like a princess that could do
everything clearly shows another strategies in order to ―win the competition‖ by degrading or
doing the oppression to put the rivals or enemies down. This kind of bullying was done by
Angel, but another bully was done as well by Monika shown in the episode 2.
After Taufiq bought Nina some beautiful clothes, Monika got angry when they
arrived at home. Feeling full of anger, Monika quickly grabbed Nina‘s shopping bags and
took all of the clothes out. What made this worse, all of Nina‘s new clothes were torn down
by Monika while saying:
“Bagus banget ya bajunya, tapi ini terlalu mahal buat kamu.”
(What beautiful dresses! But, they are too precious for you.)
“Papi aja nggak pernah belanjain buat mami, Kelvin, sama Viola.”
(Even Papi has never shopped for Mami, Kelvin and Viola (their children)
“Ini terlalu bagus buat kamu.”
Puteri 13
(This is too beautiful for you.)
It clearly shows that Monika bullied Nina mentally by tearing Nina‘s new clothes and
made her cry. When Monika mentioned that she and her children had never been bought any
beautiful clothes like her husband did to Nina, also shows that she was envious with her
husband‘s kind treatment to Nina. Again, bullying mentally by making someone else cry is
another strategy or form of treatment from one woman to someone that they think is their
enemy.
Overall, from those episodes that show praying for Nina‘s death, making Nina as a
maid, and tearing Nina‘s new clothes, or in other words, how Angel and Monika treated Nina
as their enemy, actually comes from jealousy and perhaps feeling threatened. Angel was
jealous because Kelvin started to pay attention and even cared about Nina. And Monika was
upset because her husband bought some beautiful clothes for Nina instead of her.
The condition where women could be jealous with other women is supported by
Simone de Beauvoir stated in her book, ―The Second Sex‖, friends envy and admire the one
who gets the most masculine attention (327). This jealousy feeling brings up what is called as
women rivalry. In women rivalry, since women are feeling jealous and envy, they would do
anything to reach their motive and win the competition, even do cruel and mean things, such
as treat others as the rival, just like Angel and Monika did to Nina. Simply, they do not do the
rivalry with the men, but women, because of men.
GAINING MEN‘S ATTENTION
As mentioned earlier, how women are treating other women as enemies, or being
violent to other women because of men simply reveals the motive of the first women rivalry
that they want to get the man‘s attention and heart. This rivalry consists of two big examples;
they are between girls at the same age, Angel and Nina, and the next example is between
Monika (older woman), and Nina. Wanting men‘s love, attention, and approval shows how
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women define themselves and that they believe that men can make their life better, happier,
and complete.
Episode 7 tells that during the school break, Angel came to Blink (Nina and her
clique)‘s table. Angel was famous with her evilness; however in front of Kelvin, she said:
“Tenang-tenang, gue kesini cuman mau ngecek kondisi kakinya Nina kok. Gimana Nin?
Kakinya udah enakan? Kalo masih sakit, biar gue beliin obat kayak tadi malem.”
(Calm down, I am just here to see Nina‟s foot condition. How is it, Nin? Is it getting better? If
it is not, let me buy you the medicine like I did last night.)
Although she was famous with her evilness, but surprisingly Angel gave a caring
statement like above in public to her rival, Nina. As the audiences, we know that Angel really
hates Nina, so this scene shows that this Angel‘s statement was not genuine. This hypocritical
and insincere statement very clearly shows that she wanted to get attention from Kelvin as a
good girl, by caring about Nina‘s sickness. Later on, still in the same scene, although Angel‘s
uniform was spoiled by Nina, as she realized that Kelvin was seeing her, Angel did not get
angry at Nina, until Kelvin said:
“Angel, kamu bener-bener udah berubah ya. Aku kagum sama kamu.”
(Angel, you have totally changed. I am amazed.)
Hearing how Kelvin admired her attitude, Angel was really happy. Then she answered:
“It‟s because I love you, Beib.”
Although Angel said this, not so long after that, she had a conversation in her mind
that the audience could hear:
“Kurang ajar! Sabar, Njel. Tunggu saatnya lo ngebales orang-orang kampung itu sepuluh
kali lipat.”
(Dammit! Calm down, Angel. Just wait so you can have another time to take revenge on those
villagers, ten times more.)
Puteri 15
Using Nina‘s sickness, Angel showed good gratitude to Nina in front of Kelvin.
However, we can see that Angel‘s caring toward Nina was not genuine because she had
terrible but hidden plan to get rid of Nina in her mind. This action clearly shows that what she
actually wanted was only to get Kelvin‘s attention, in order to make him think that she was a
kind girl. This is proven when Kelvin complimented Angel, she spontaneously said her
actions were because she loved him, as an evidence that Angel wanted his approval for her
love, his love, and attention from men, in this case Kelvin.
As quoted in The Norton Anthology Theory and Criticism, ―Like all the oppressed,
woman deliberately dissembles her objective actuality; the slave. the servant, the indigent, all
who depend upon the caprices of a master, have learned to turn toward him a changeless
smile or an enigmatic impassivity; their real sentiments, their actual behavior, are carefully
hidden. And moreover woman is taught from adolescence to lie to men. to scheme, to be
wily. In speaking to them she wears an artificial expression on her face; she is cautious.
hypocritical, play-acting‖ (1409).
Or in other words, women are taught to act silly or scheming in front of guys. As
Angel did, instead of changing into a good girl, she acted as a good actress in performing in
front of Kelvin and some girls that she herself hated, only for gaining Kelvin‘s attention.
Another scene shows how Angel wanted to get Kelvin‘s attention is shown in the
episode 13. It was told that Kelvin changed his Facebook status into single and Angel got
frustrated with that. Without attention from anybody, she messed up her rooms and got wildly
angry, by screaming like an insane person while throwing all of her things in her room
anywhere. Then, by phone, Angel threatened Kelvin to come at her house or she would kill
herself.
This scene shows that Angel became upset, frustrated, and mean after Kelvin left her.
By those kind of expression, it reveals that Angel believed that her happiness would be
Puteri 16
fulfilled as her life would be complete by Kelvin, by having a romantic relationship with him,
just as same as the idea of Beavouir‘s through her book, The Second Sex. ―But the girl, … has
looked to the male for fulfillment and escape.‖ (327). The example that Angel got frustrated
and threatened Kelvin that she would kill herself if he did not come to her house was very
clear showing how Angel was insecure without Kelvin and wanted Kelvin to be in her life.
MONEY MATTERS
Not only men, money appeared as a big matter and motive in the women rivalry
shown in this telecinema as well as shown in between two women rivalries, in the quarrel
between Monika and her husband, Taufiq, and in the arisan that Monika joined.
Kelvin‘s mother named Monika, a wife from Taufiq, who was Nina‘s parents‘ best
friend, had been living a glamorous life since her husband was a successful and rich business
man. However, Nina‘s existence in their house made Monika feel threatened.
In episode 6, when Nina finally arrived home from the hospital, Monika gave her a
hateful expression. Then, she asked her husband to go to their room to have a private
conversation.
Monika: “Kenapa Papi terus mempertahankan Nina berada di dalam rumah ini? Jangan ada
bohong, Pi.”
“Why do you keep allowing Nina to stay inside our house. Do not lie, Pi.”
Taufiq : “sekali lagi Papi jelasin ke Mami ya. Nina adalah bagian dari keluarga kita. Titik.”
(“I tell you once again, Mi. Nina is a part of our family. That‟s it.”)
Monika: “Pi, yang memberi modal Papi itu adalah Arman. Dan sekarang Arman sudah mati.
Apa papi yakin papi tidak akan memberikan warisan kepada Nina? Bagaimana cara papi
untuk meyakinkan mami?”
(“Pi, the one who gave you financier is Arman. And now, Arman is already dead. Are you
sure you won‟t give the heritage to Nina? How can you guarantee that?”)
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Taufiq : “Mi, papi bilang sama mami, sekali lagi ya, Mi! urusan bisnis, urusan papi!”
(“Mi, I tell you once again! Business matters are mine.”)
Monika: “Ooh, jadi gitu? Mami diam aja sementara mami tahu kalau warisan buat anakanak mami terbagi ke orang lain, begitu?”
(“Oh is that so? Mami has to be quiet while knowing that the heritage for my children will
be divided to someone else. Is that what you mean?”)
Taufiq : (geleng-geleng kepala) “liat sendiri „kan? Selalu aja, ujung-ujungnya bicarain
warisan kalau bicarain bisnis sama mami. Percuma, mi.” (pergi meninggalkan kamar).
((shaking his head) “See? You will discuss heritage when we talk about business. As always.
It is useless, mi.” (left their room))
By this conversation shows that actually Taufiq saw Nina as her family, while Monika
saw her as her enemy shown by the line: “sekali lagi Papi jelasin ke Mami ya. Nina adalah
bagian dari keluarga kita. Titik.” (“I tell you once again, Mi. Nina is a part of our family.
That‟s it.”).This made Monika angrier and she really wanted to drive Nina away from her.
Another thing shown by this scene is that Taufiq realized that Monika was a lot more focused
on money and on protecting wealth (inheritance) than her own husband was, even though she
did not work outside the home in the business. And this shows the idea of how women seek
money and status to gain power in order to avoid the marginalization.
Not only that, the bold lines of Monika, “Ooh, jadi gitu? Mami diam aja sementara
mami tahu kalau warisan buat anak-anak mami terbagi ke orang lain, begitu?” (“Oh is
that so? Mami has to be quiet while knowing that the heritage for my children will be
divided to someone else. Is that what you mean?”), clearly show that Monika obviously
treated Nina as her rival, because she was afraid that Nina would get the wealth, not her and
her children. She was feeling jealous, not because Nina stole her husband‘s heart, because
Nina will take the inheritance. Monika was afraid because she thought and believed that
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money was her happiness in her life as her power. In other words, she felt insecure as well.
Here shows that both of Monika and Nina were marginalized. Having no home and money
made Nina powerless, and then she got oppressed by Monika. Monika was marginalized
because of her desire to get money, but she competed for money to fight against further
double marginalization.
According to Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction Third Edition,
Rosemary Tong stated that in a capitalist system, money is most often power (107). Women,
poor people, and black people are the ones who are most usually marginalized. Women have
been marginalized as they are women. Thus, the only way to get power is by seeking money
in order to be rich, because being poor can mean marginalization as Marxist Feminist‘s idea.
In other words, women seek money because they are afraid they lose power in society.
Monika here represents an example that she wanted money to be richer, and to feel more
secure and powerful, in order to not be marginalized or further marginalized in the society.
The idea of marginalization is explained by Rosemarie Putnam Tong in her book
Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction, ―as a result of invidious class
distinctions, as well as the highly specialized and highly segmented nature of the work
process, human existence loses its unity and wholeness in four basic ways. One of the ways is
workers are alienated from other human beings because the structure of the capitalist
economy encourages and even forces workers to see each other as competitors for jobs and
promotions‖ (101).
In other words, people can make other people as their competitors or rivals in order to
get job, which leads for them to get money. Monika did this; she treated Nina as her rival,
and she wanted to get Nina far away from her life, because she felt threatened that Nina
would be the one to get the inheritances. Again, according to Rosemary Tong, she stated that
in a capitalist system, money is most often power. Therefore, in the case of the women rivalry
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between Monika and Nina, Monika feared losing power, because of the possibility of Nina
that she would get money.
Tong also stated that Evelyn Reed, the writer of ―Women: Caste, Class, or Oppressed
Sex?‖ did not think that all women were equally oppressed by men or that no women were
guilty of oppressing other women. On the contrary, she thought bourgeoisie women were
capable of oppressing both proletarian men and women (107). Monika, as the Bourgeoisie
women, liked to oppress Nina, the proletarian girl. Monika was the Bourgeoisie woman,
because her husband was the one who had much wealth, and she could enjoy that. As
Charlotte Perkins Gilman stated in her book ―Women and Economics‖, ―The women whose
splendid extravagance dazzles the world, whose economic goods are the greatest, are often
neither houseworkers nor mothers, but simply the women who hold most power over the men
who have the most money‖ (21). Nina, as the proletarian girl, did not have as much as
Monika had. She was only a poor girl who was left by her parents, but their appearance
showed their wealth or economic condition. Monika tended to wear fancy clothes with many
shining jewelry, whereas Nina only wore simple and classic clothes. It can be said that being
powerful because she had money from her husband, Monika powerfully oppressed Nina.
Another of Monika‘s motives toward money or her power matter shows up in the
episode 8. When Monika had an arisan with her friends, her friends were really interested in
her necklace. They bet that that beautiful necklace was really expensive. And suddenly, one
of Monika‘s friends, who was the owner of a social magazine, questioned the necklace. At
first, she had a plan to make Monika as the cover of a magazine. However, in front of her
friends, that woman caught that the necklace was fake. What made Monika embarrassed was
that this woman stated that aloud so Monika failed to be the cover model and made her
friends leave Monika alone because she wore a fake necklace.
Puteri 20
Based on this example, Monika‘s friends implicitly treated Monika as their rival
related to what Monika wears, or Monika‘s wealth. Noticing that Monika‘s necklace was fake
is the form of putting Monika down by revealing that actually Monika lacked wealth. Instead
of paying attention to other women‘s skills, women tend to look at other women based on
their appearances. What women are wearing, such as fancy clothes and jewelry, or even how
they put make up on their face shows how much money they have.
This example—how Monika‘s friends put her down during the arisan—does reflect
both how women seek money as their power, and women rivalry. As Alison Jaggar‘s
statement, as quoted in Rosemarie Putnam Tong‘s book Feminist Thought: A More
Comprehensive Introduction, ―Women may insist that they diet, exercise, and dress only to
please themselves, but in reality they most likely shape and adorn their flesh primarily for the
pleasure of men (113). Not only for power, but having money can buy fancy clothes,
beautiful jewelry, or in other words, and can help increase the appearance of women. So, the
better their appearance, the more attention they will attract or gain from men. Women believe
that men‘s priorities are usually women with attractive physical or men also are tempted by
power and security of money. Since men are attracted by physical appearance, women would
pay attention to other women‘s appearance as they define other women as their rival in order
to get men‘s attention.
Overall, we can see that how these women characters‘ actions and statements in this
telecinema are due to their motives which focus on men. Doing everything, started from
putting other women down, acting as kind women to gain men‘s attention, seeking money as
power only for men does reflect how women define themselves by men and want completion,
security, and confidence from men. Women will do anything to get men‘s attention, approval,
and love, Simone de Beauvoir‘s idea of the second sex.
Conclusion
Puteri 21
According to several episodes analyzed from this telecinema, Putih Abu-abu does
reflect how women can define and treat other women as their enemies, or as women rivalry.
Treating other women as rivals is firstly reflected between Angel and Nina. Angel did such
cruel ways to drive Nina down, such as by making Nina as her maid. Secondly, as reflected
between Monika and Nina, Monika tore all of Nina‘s new clothes in front of her. Moreover,
the most extreme women rivalry happened between Angel, Monika, and Nina was that both
of Angel and Monika wished for Nina‘s death.
However, through the actions and the words from some of characters in this
telecinema, it was found that there are two big motives beyond those women rivalries: to gain
men‘s attention and to get power through money. The first big motive, to gain men‘s
attention is mostly represented between Angel and Nina. To get Kelvin‘s approval, Angel
made use of Nina‘s sickness as her media to show her good attitude in front of Kelvin,
although that attitude was not genuine because she had a bad plan in her mind. Even more,
Angel threatened Kelvin that she could do suicide.
The next big motive of money as power is represented by two examples. The first is
shown from Monika‘s private conversation with her husband, and the second is between
Monika and her friends. Being afraid that Nina would take the inheritance of her husband‘s
wealth, Monika stated it directly in front of her husband. The next was Monika‘s friends tried
to put Monika down by making her embarrassed in front of their friends.
Analyzed by The Second Sex and Gilman‘s Women and Economics, it turns out that
those two big motives, gaining men‘s attention and seeking money as power actually show
how women define themselves and others. The women rivalry itself shows how Angel and
Monika define and treat Nina as their rival in reaching their motives. Then, in gaining men‘s
attention, actually means that Angel defined herself as insecure and she believed that Kelvin
was her happiness and could complete her life, as the idea of The Second Sex, that it is men
Puteri 22
who women seek to complete their lives. The next motive of money as power actually
represents how women avoid the double marginalization in society. As Marxist Feminist
idea, women have been already marginalized. And if they are poor and have less money, then
they will be double marginalized.
Overall, all of Angel, Monika, and Monika‘s friends‘ actions and words, or the
women rivalries in this telecinema are actually driven by ideology. The ideology of the
second sex and Marxist Feminist are the driving force of the characters to do the actions and
end up with the result in the form of the women rivalry. According to popular culture theory,
popular product may represent what actually happens in society. However, women may not
realize the condition how women treat others as enemies and define themselves as the second
sex. Popular product can also give effects in society. Thus, by understanding the ideology
beyond all of the episodes can make us, as the audiences of telecinema, especially women be
more aware, more critical in seeing what actually happens. This popular product can give
some effects on society, especially among the relationships between women.
In order to help audiences, especially women, should be more aware and critical in
seeing what actually happens in society; this study can be further researched through not only
telecinema, but also through Indonesian novels and movies. On the other hand, researching
women rivalry in the real society could be another interesting further study as well, as quoted
from ―Capitalist Patriarchy And The Case For Socialist Feminism‖ book, ―The more we
understand about women's actual conditions, of course, the more we understand the specific
ways that women have acted to transform those conditions, and to transform revolutionary
movements from within‖ (378).
Puteri 23
Acknowledgement
This writing would not be done without the great blessing from God and Holy Spirit
surrounding me all the time. This writing was also done supported by—as I would like to
express my special appreciation for my amazing supervisor Danielle Donelson-Sims for the
super supervision, and encouragement (especially for the chocolate), and for the great
examiner, Bu Purwanti Kusumaningtyas, for the great knowledge about literature and the
guidance. Special gratitude I also present for my lovely parents, awesome brothers Enrille &
William, Oma, Opa Tut‘s fam, and Birantara Putra, for the never ending love and spirit.
Another special credit I would like to present for my persons, thank you for the laughter,
stories, and sweet memories these years. I would be missing you so much! And last but not
least, for Niners and ED Family, for the best 4 years I have ever had in my life.
Puteri 24
Works Cited
Bauer, Nancy. Simone De Beauvoir, Philosphy, & Feminism. New York: Columbia
University Press, 2001. Ebook.
Bleske-Recheck, April and Melissa Lighthall, ―Attractiveness and Rivalry in Women‘s
Friendship with Women.‖ Hum Nat 21(2010):82-97. Web.
Carpenter, Sara. ―Centering Marxist-Feminist Theory in Adult Learning‖. Adult Education
Quarterly 62.1(2012):19-35. Web.
De Beauvoir, Simone. The Second Sex. Eds and Trans. H. M. Parshley. Great Britain: Lowe
and Brydone, 1953. Ebook.
De Beauvoir, Simone. ―The Second Sex‖. The Essentialist Feminist Reader. Eds. Estelle B
Freedman. New York: The Modern Library, 2007. Ebook.
Eisenstein, Zillah R. Capitalist Patriarchy and The Case For Socialist Feminism. New York
and London: Monthly Review Press, 1979. Ebook.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. Women and Economics: A Study of the Economic Relation
Between Men and Women as a Factor in Social Evolution. Los Angeles: University of
California Press, 1998. Epub.
Leitch, Vincent B. The Norton Anthology Theory and Criticism. New York: W. W. Norton &
Company, Inc, 2001. Ebook.
Nachbar, Jack. & Kevin Lause. ―Getting to Know Us‖. An Introduction To The Study Of
Popular Culture: What is this stuff that dreams are made of? Eds. Nachbar, Jack and
Lause, Kevin. Popular Culture: An Introductory Text. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling
Green State University Popular Press.1992.
Rubin, Gayle S. "Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of Politics of Sexuality." in
Pleasure and Danger: Exploring Female Sexuality. Eds. Vance Carole. Boston:
Routledge and Kegan. Web.
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Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. An Introductory Guide. John Storey.
New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf. 1993.
Tidd, Ursula. Simone de Beauvoir. New York: Routledge Critical Thinkers, 2004. Ebook.
Tong, Rosemarie. Feminist Thought: A More Comprhensive Introduction Third Edition.
United States of America: Westview Press, 2009. Ebook.
Weinger, Susan, Lotsmart Fonjong, Charles Fonchingong, and Robe
ENEMIES REFLECTED IN AN INDONESIAN TELECINEMA
“PUTIH ABU-ABU”
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Jessyca Dian Purnama Puteri
112009097
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2013
WOMEN RIVALRY: HOW WOMEN DEFINE OTHER WOMEN AS
ENEMIES REFLECTED IN AN INDONESIAN TELECINEMA
“PUTIH ABU-ABU”
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Jessyca Dian Purnama Puteri
112009097
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2013
WOMEN RIVALRY: HOW WOMEN DEFINE OTHER WOMEN AS
ENEMIES REFLECTED IN AN INDONESIAN TELECINEMA
“PUTIH ABU-ABU”
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Jessyca Dian Purnama Puteri
112009097
Approved by:
Danielle Donelson-Sims, M.A.
Supervisor
Purwanti Kusumaningtyas, M.Hum.
Examiner
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
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accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my
knowledge and my belief, this contains no material previously published or written by any
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Copyright@ 2013. Jessyca Dian Purnama Puteri and Danielle Donelson-Sims, M.A.
All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without the
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112009097
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Puteri 1
Women Rivalry: How Women Define Other Women as Enemies Reflected
in an Indonesian Telecinema “Putih Abu-abu”
Jessyca Dian Purnama Puteri
Abstract
Due to the fact that Indonesian telecinema is one of the popular products, so this study was
conducted in order to analyze what is actually beyond the episodes of one popular Indonesian
telecinema: ―Putih Abu-abu.‖ Conflicts shown in Putih Abu-abu are mostly about how
women define other women as their enemies, or women rivalry. Using The Second Sex by
Simone de Beauvoir, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman‘s book, ―Women and Economics‖, this
study explores two different motives of women rivalry reflected in this telecinema by
analyzing some of the characters‘ conversations and the actions. The findings reveal that the
two big motives behind as the base of the women rivalries in this telecinema, are gaining
men‘s attention and money matters by protecting their wealth and gaining power from
wealth.
Keywords: women rivalry, ideology, motive, telecinema, men, competition, feminism,
Marxist Feminist
Introduction
Watching Indonesian telecinema has been a common habit for Indonesian people as
almost all TV channels play telecinemas, especially the Indonesian ones, with their
complicated and exaggerating conflicts, which successfully provide their audience with
escapes that blindfold the spectators‘ eyes from the hidden negative values or ideologies
beneath them.
Due to Indonesian telecinema‘s long existence and its large amounts of audiences,
Indonesian telecinema can be mentioned as a popular product. According to Jack Nachbar
and Kevin Lause, ―all popular culture instructs and molds audience beliefs to one degree or
another simply because the very values being reflected are necessarily being communicated
as well‖ (7). Or in other words, the popular products may show what happens in society, and
Puteri 2
what is shown in the popular products may be happening in the society. For instance, the
increasing violence in movies reflects an increasingly violent society and may then lead that
society to become more accepting of violence—which then leads to more violent movies
which then affect the society—and on and on in an endless cycle of reflection and reshaping.
Hence, I see the Indonesian telecinema as evidence of what may happen or is happening in
the society. Not only as evidence, but the telecinema is also seen as the reflection of how a
certain ideology is implemented. As Stuart Hall stated that ideology is used to indicate how
some cultural texts and practices present distorted images of reality.
Like watching an aquarium, the water represents the culture, and fish are the humans.
Since humans already get used to the water and the aquarium, they feel like there is nothing
wrong either with the water or the aquarium. Even they do not even realize the existence of
the aquarium, and what ideologies that the water carries on. Therefore, although we may be
unable to jump out of the aquarium, the best we can hope for is to notice and see what
actually happens in that aquarium, or in other words, to see if the ideology is in place by
analyzing, understanding and being aware some theories of the ideology that is carried
through culture, in this case through Indonesian telecinema, that we already get used to watch
every day.
As a culture product, indonesian telecinemas may carry certain ideology beyond of
each conflicts shown in each episodes. Thus, the study is important in order to make my
readers more critical by understanding more about the ideology, as revealed in this
telecinema. Thus, we, especially women, can be more aware of what really happens in our
society, like what Jack Nachbar and Kevin Lause stated, ―we need to understand this culture,
then, so what we can be more than a fish who just eats what‘s dropped into his tank, watches
whatever passes by and ends up in the ―big flush‖—a passive part of his environment right to
the finish‖ (2). Understanding and being more critical in watching what actually is shown in
Puteri 3
telecinema, can make women not follow or imitate what is shown in this Indonesian
telecinema, so the conflicts will not be as often implemented in real life. As quoted from
―Capitalist Patriarchy And The Case For Socialist Feminism‖ book, ―The more we
understand about women's actual conditions, of course, the more we understand the specific
ways that women have acted to transform those conditions, and to transform revolutionary
movements from within‖ (378).
After watching several Indonesian telecinema, such as Tersanjung, Anugerah, Cinta
Fitri, Putri yang Tertukar, Candy, Cahaya, Safa dan Marwah, and Putih Abu-abu, I feel that
most of them exaggeratingly put women as the centre of the conflicts. Although focusing on
women‘s conflicts, Putih Abu-abu has the most unique story due to the girlband concept in its
story as it has been famous and much discussed since that time. Hence, this study will
analyze its women‘s conflict, or women rivalry from this Indonesian telecinema, Putih Abuabu.
The main character is Nina, who came from Yogyakarta and moved to Jakarta. In her
new high school, she met an evil girl, Angel, the granddaughter of the school‘s foundation
owner. Then, she joined a girlband named Blink, but still got some obstacles such as getting
bullied from her schoolmates (girls) and even from her family. Seeing Nina and other women
as the centre of the conflicts, I decided to analyze the women‘s conflicts, which is the women
rivalries or how women define other women as enemies as reflected in this Indonesian
telecinema, Putih Abu-abu.
Although as a usual Indonesian telecinema, Putih Abu-abu has complicated and
exaggerating conflicts, the study is focusing on the women rivalry shown through some
women characters, such as Nina, Angel, and Monika. Using Simone de Beauvoir‘s The
Second Sex and Charlotte Perkins Gilman‘s Women and Economics, this study explores two
different motives of women rivalry reflected in this telecinema by analyzing the characters‘
Puteri 4
conversations and the actions. Hence, my research question is: how does women rivalry, or
how women do define other women as enemies, reflected in an Indonesian Telecinema ―Putih
Abu-abu?‖
Analyzing the conversations and actions, the study reveals several forms of women
rivalry reflected in Putih Abu-abu. They are all showing how two women; Angel and Monika
treat other women, Nina, as their enemies by putting her down. However, the analysis shows
that all of the ways of how they do the violence or women rivalry against Nina reveals their
big motive in their life, which is to get men‘s attention and to get power in the form of
materials or money.
Theoretical discussion
―Art does have a quite particular and specific relationship with ideology.‖ (1480).
Art, whether it is visual, audio, or even audio visual are being used as an expressive
media to transfer or to be a reflection of problems that may happen in the society. Like
Indonesian telecinema, as a performing arts and a popular product, may reflect the writer/
artist or the audience‘s values and belief, or in other words reflect the ideology. Thus, popular
culture theory believes that ideology is a crucial concept in the study of popular culture,
because ideology is used to indicate how some cultural texts, such as television fictions,
songs, novel, and practices present distorted images of reality or particular image of the
world. Although the cultural texts offer ideological significations of the way the world is,
whether we realize it or not, ideology can control and determine people‘s minds, beliefs, and
actions.
To find out what the ideology is behind Putih Abu-abu especially that of women
relation or women rivalry, money and power, the ideology behind the women rivalry and how
Puteri 5
money reveals as power I will use Simone de Beauvoir‘s theory of The Second Sex and
Charlotte Perkins Gilman‘s Women and Economics.
Some theories believe that external factors like patriarchy, culture, and nature are the
ones that make or force women to be emotional, desperate, and defined. In other words, the
patriarchy, the culture, and nature, as the agents, victimize women in how they behave or and
force them to take certain attitudes. However, Simone de Beauvoir is against this idea.
Quoted from ―Simone de Beauvoir‖, as an Existentialist, Beauvoir claimed that
humans are responsible for creating their lives according to their own values—and not by
following the ‗herd‘—by reflecting clearly on their situation and relationships and by acting
authentically (14). By this she means that humans are able to define their own identity,
freedom, responsibility, and authenticity, as she believes that humans‘ problems come from
combination between both their inner (their awareness and consciousness) and outer life
(people or society).
Beauvoir also argued that women‘s problem is male-domination in society. She
believes that women are taught to accept the marginalization that can lead to self-alienation
and oppression. Thus, Beauvoir, as a feminist and existentialist argued that instead of women
accept the traditional expectation, they should find their own path in life, define their own
independence, freedom, happiness, and identity. Humans need to be recognized first to reject
the alienation or marginalization as Beauvoir argued that human beings need to recognize
each other as similarly conscious beings in the world to be sure that they exist (16).
In order to seek for recognition and avoid marginalization, women need approval and
surely recognition from men if they define themselves that they need men in their life as their
happiness and life fulfillers. By this they mean that women allow themselves to be identified
by men. Although their identities are shaped, but Beauvoir believes that it should be women
who define themselves and this is what she hopes to happen.
Puteri 6
As Nancy Bauer stated in her book Simone De Beauvoir, Philosophy, and Feminism,
―a central achievement of the second sex, is in the ways it forges connections between the
idea of being a woman and the idea of philosophy, ways that bind the over coming of the
problem of being a woman with the over coming of a certain conception of the philosophical‖
(1). In other words, Bauer thinks that one of the ideologies of Second Sex is that simply
women are defined by men, as they are allowing themselves to be defined by men and
allowing their entire identity is shaped by men. Thus, as mentioned earlier, it is important for
the fish, or mainly in this case as women, to recognize and be more aware of how they are
actually trapped within the aquarium and see the reality that happens in our society by
understanding Beauvoir‘s idea.
Women marginalization by men in the form of women rivalry not only shown in
performing arts like telecinema, but also in another literature like folktales, which are also
analyzed in an article entitled ―Unmasking Women‘s Rivalry in Cameroonian Folktales: How
Better To Reinforce This Position Of Servitude Than Create Rivalry Between Women,‖ by
Susan Weinger, et al. ―If women turn against each other with distain, they will tend to dislike
themselves - after all they are a part of the devalued group. An increase in self-depreciation is
helpful for adjusting to a position of subservience. Their suspicion and alienation from each
other will preclude close communication, intimacy and solidarity. Their trumped up or fueled
conflict and mistrust of each other will deter them from targeting their true oppressor,
patriarchy‖ (19). In other words, patriarchy can influence how women shape their identity
and emotion as they believe that they are secure and complete because of men. However, it is
not men, as ―perspective‖ that is in favor with men and men‘s ways that shape women‘s
identity, but it is women who contribute to the privileges granted to men and men-like or
men‘s ways and allow themselves to be shaped and self-identified by men.
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Although the second sex more focus on women‘s ideology, Gayle Rubin believes that
the ideology does not come from their gender, but through their social life as quoted from
―Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality‖, Michel Foucault
stated in The History of Sexuality (1978) that desires are not pre-existing biological entities,
but rather that they are constituted in the course of historically specific social practices (276).
By this it can be said that humans are taught not by their gender, but their social practices in
real life. Thus, the ideology can be analyzed from how humans interact and define other
people through their words and actions.
As quoted from book The Norton Anthology Theory and Criticism, a heart smitten
with love thus avoids many disappointments; if the loved one's behavior is capricious, her
remarks stupid, then the mystery serves to excuse it all (1409). And even if it is not love,
women may want to think or fool themselves into believing it is love. In reaching toward the
romantic relationship, women could do anything, even the mean things. One of the forms of
those mean things is by defining other women as enemy in the process of getting the men‘s
heart, or love, or even just getting attention or affection. As Beauvoir points out, reaching
toward men‘s heart, love, attention, or affection is what becomes a primary reason for women
rivalry.
Women rivalry or female competition is competition between at least two women for
reaching some motives, for example, to get a partner. However, the rivalry or the competition
can be either visible or hidden. As quoted from a journal titled ―Attractiveness and Rivalry in
Women‟s Friendships with Women‖ by April Bleske-Recheck and Melissa Lighthall, women
also report that their female friendships take up a lot of time and are emotionally draining
(Hays 1988; Micke et al. 2008), and that their female friends make them feel bad about
themselves and compete with them for attention from desirable potential romantic partners
(Bleske and Buss 2000) (83). This quote simply explains that women rivalry, how women
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compete with other women, often times come from the desire to get the romantic partner.
Even more, this quote also tells that women rivalry can even come between friends.
Not only the desire to get the romantic partner, women have another desire also in
their life as Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a Marxist Feminist, points out in her book Women and
Economics, ―But, beyond these forces, we come under the effect of a third set of conditions
peculiar to our human status; namely, social conditions‖ (2). In other words, the motive of
how women behave and shape their identity is not only influenced of men, but also in
maintaining their social condition, either status or money and materials.
As women do everything to be acknowledgement by men and to meet men‘s
standards, women rivalry maintained to divide women or avoid them from unity. Thus, they
will remain the second in the society. As Sara Carpenter stated in her journal titled
―Centering Marxist-Feminist Theory in Adult Learning‖, Marxist-feminist argument is that
social reality is not a structure or system but is human activity and forms of consciousness,
intricate forms of human social relation. From this perspective, the social formations of race,
gender, and class are dialectically related social phenomena and cannot be disarticulated from
one another but rather continually shape and infiuence how our behavior and consciousness
of each develops and changes (21). These theorists believe that not only the economic
condition, but also the social condition, such as sexism or gender discrimination as well as
race also play a role in marginalization.
According to Charlotte Perkins Gilman also wrote ―The comfort, the luxury, the
necessities of life itself, which the woman receives, are obtained by the husband, and given to
her by him. And, when the woman, left alone with no man to "support" her, tries to meet her
own economic necessities, the difficulties which confront her prove conclusively what the
general economic status of the woman is (10). This quote shows the condition how women
are often economically dependent on men. Being dependent on men shows women as
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powerless or being marginalized. However, when women are being independent, they will
seek money as their power and security in order to avoid being as poor and exploited, or
double marginalization. As quoted from Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive
Introduction Third Edition by Rosemary Tong, ―in a capitalist system, money is most often
power‖ (107).
In this study, I will explore the women rivalry, or in other words, how women do evil
things to feel secure and complete in the form of men‘s attention and power in the form of
wealth, as shown in the Indonesian telecinema, Putih Abu-abu. How women do the mean
things is a reflection of how they define themselves. And how they treat other women as their
enemies also shows how women define other women as well. Overall, the motives behind the
women rivalry are explored as well.
Summary
Surely has several conflicts in it, Putih Abu-abu mostly tells about the main character
named Nina, an orphan girl who moved to Jakarta to continue her study. Although her mother
expected her to stay with Taufik (her parents‘ best friend) and be a successful woman in
Jakarta, Nina could not avoid the great obstacles surrounding her in her way of studying in
the metropolitan city.
Taufik welcomed Nina and let her stay at his house, but on the contrary his wife,
Monika, did not let Nina stay in the house and obviously wanted to drive Nina out from his
house as she found that all of her husband‘s inheritance would be given to Nina. In fact, the
reason why Nina was chosen to be the heir was because her parents had helped Taufiq to be a
successful business man by giving all of their money to him. Thus, Taufiq wanted to
reciprocate the favor by giving all of his inheritance to Nina, instead of to his children.
Knowing this plan, Monika did some cruel actions toward Nina to make her out of the house
because she was afraid that she would take no inheritance at all.
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Not only oppressed at home by Monika, Nina also got the oppression at the school by
Angel, the granddaughter of the school owner, and Angel‘s friends (they called themselves as
Lollipop) at school. Angel was really mad at Nina after she knew that Kelvin, her boyfriend,
who was also a son of Taufik and Monika, was close to Nina. She really wanted to put Nina
down by doing some violence to her, including made Nina as her maid. However, fortunately,
Kelvin always tried to protect Nina from Angel‘s bullying and this made Angel frustrated and
it increased her bullying to Nina.
Discussion
WOMEN AS ENEMIES
Beauvoir believes that women have been educated to be good girls and that they need
attention and security from men. She critiques how women have come to believe and to
accept that they need attention and security from men. Like Beauvoir stated, ―it has been
often asserted that if she resigns herself to such submission, it means that she is inferior to
boys materially and morally and is incapable of rivalry with them: abandoning a hopeless
contest, she leaves to a member of the superior caste the task of assuring her happiness.‖
(328). Therefore, as women believe that men are the source of their happiness, they will
pursue and find ways to get them, like common people try to pursue their dreams.
Like Beauvoir‘s statement, since women believe that they define themselves by men
in their life, they will do anything, even do the mean things by treating other women as their
rival or enemy. Women do not look to men as their rivals, but they look to other women as
their rivals, because of men, that will be shown in several kinds of women rivalry in this
telecinema. The first is between Angel and Nina (same age teenagers), the second is between
Monika (older woman) with Nina, and the third is between Monika and her friends (same old
aged women).
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Episode 6 tells that Nina went out of Taufiq and Monika‘s house until suddenly she
fell off one tree and got severe wounds and fainted. Luckily, she was helped by Kelvin and
taken to the hospital by Andre too. Knowing that Kelvin was there for Nina, Angel directly
headed to the hospital. By Angel directly headed to the hospital after she phoned Kelvin she
revealed that the reason why she came to the hospital was Kelvin, instead of Nina. In other
words, this reason clearly shows her motive to get Kelvin‘s attention.
Then, while Nina had fainted, Angel prayed:
“Yah, ini saat yang tepat buat gue berdoa, kiranya nyawa Nina dilepaskan dari derita
secepatnya hahahaha dan segera berpulang deh. Amin.”
(Well, this is a perfect time for me to pray, may Nina‟s soul is released from her suffering and
that she will pass away soon. Amen.)
By this statement obviously Angel wanted Nina to disappear because she found out
that Kelvin was approaching Nina, and that made her jealous and thought of Nina as her
enemy or rival in getting Kelvin. However, praying that their rivals disappear also happened
in this same episode, Monika, the older woman, also prayed that Nina could die. When she
heard that Nina got in an accident, Monika spoke in her mind:
“Mudah-mudahan dia mati aja sekalian.”
(Hopefully, she will die.)
This first scene shows Angel and Monika‘s basic motive toward Nina which is to
make Nina disappear from their life. Even worse, they desired Nina to die, by praying for her
death. Praying for their rival, Nina, to die is clearly one of the action forms of putting other
woman down and really labels Nina as their rival. Like usual competition, in order to get the
prize, one competitor may have some plans or strategies to make their rivals or enemies lose.
One of the strategies is to make their rival or enemy down. This episode shows how women
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want their rival, which is another woman, down, in order to achieve their motive, by praying
for her death.
Planning to drive out the rivals, even want them to die actually shows how strong the
ideology is in their life—ideology that they have been taught that women are afraid of losing
men‘s attention as Beauvoir‘s belief. The ideology is so strong that, according to these
women rivalries, it is okay to wish other women‘s death, which is extremely evil. Or in other
words, here death of a rival is preferable to losing men‘s attention to another woman.
Later in the episode 13, Angel, supported by the cooperation between her mother and
Monika, successfully made Nina work as her maid for one day. That episode showed that
Nina was forced to serve Angel like a princess—shown when Angel asked Nina to cut the
grass by using a small scissor. Then, Angel was intentionally making her room extremely
messed up, then asked Nina to clean it up.
In this episode, making Nina as her maid, and feeling like a princess that could do
everything clearly shows another strategies in order to ―win the competition‖ by degrading or
doing the oppression to put the rivals or enemies down. This kind of bullying was done by
Angel, but another bully was done as well by Monika shown in the episode 2.
After Taufiq bought Nina some beautiful clothes, Monika got angry when they
arrived at home. Feeling full of anger, Monika quickly grabbed Nina‘s shopping bags and
took all of the clothes out. What made this worse, all of Nina‘s new clothes were torn down
by Monika while saying:
“Bagus banget ya bajunya, tapi ini terlalu mahal buat kamu.”
(What beautiful dresses! But, they are too precious for you.)
“Papi aja nggak pernah belanjain buat mami, Kelvin, sama Viola.”
(Even Papi has never shopped for Mami, Kelvin and Viola (their children)
“Ini terlalu bagus buat kamu.”
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(This is too beautiful for you.)
It clearly shows that Monika bullied Nina mentally by tearing Nina‘s new clothes and
made her cry. When Monika mentioned that she and her children had never been bought any
beautiful clothes like her husband did to Nina, also shows that she was envious with her
husband‘s kind treatment to Nina. Again, bullying mentally by making someone else cry is
another strategy or form of treatment from one woman to someone that they think is their
enemy.
Overall, from those episodes that show praying for Nina‘s death, making Nina as a
maid, and tearing Nina‘s new clothes, or in other words, how Angel and Monika treated Nina
as their enemy, actually comes from jealousy and perhaps feeling threatened. Angel was
jealous because Kelvin started to pay attention and even cared about Nina. And Monika was
upset because her husband bought some beautiful clothes for Nina instead of her.
The condition where women could be jealous with other women is supported by
Simone de Beauvoir stated in her book, ―The Second Sex‖, friends envy and admire the one
who gets the most masculine attention (327). This jealousy feeling brings up what is called as
women rivalry. In women rivalry, since women are feeling jealous and envy, they would do
anything to reach their motive and win the competition, even do cruel and mean things, such
as treat others as the rival, just like Angel and Monika did to Nina. Simply, they do not do the
rivalry with the men, but women, because of men.
GAINING MEN‘S ATTENTION
As mentioned earlier, how women are treating other women as enemies, or being
violent to other women because of men simply reveals the motive of the first women rivalry
that they want to get the man‘s attention and heart. This rivalry consists of two big examples;
they are between girls at the same age, Angel and Nina, and the next example is between
Monika (older woman), and Nina. Wanting men‘s love, attention, and approval shows how
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women define themselves and that they believe that men can make their life better, happier,
and complete.
Episode 7 tells that during the school break, Angel came to Blink (Nina and her
clique)‘s table. Angel was famous with her evilness; however in front of Kelvin, she said:
“Tenang-tenang, gue kesini cuman mau ngecek kondisi kakinya Nina kok. Gimana Nin?
Kakinya udah enakan? Kalo masih sakit, biar gue beliin obat kayak tadi malem.”
(Calm down, I am just here to see Nina‟s foot condition. How is it, Nin? Is it getting better? If
it is not, let me buy you the medicine like I did last night.)
Although she was famous with her evilness, but surprisingly Angel gave a caring
statement like above in public to her rival, Nina. As the audiences, we know that Angel really
hates Nina, so this scene shows that this Angel‘s statement was not genuine. This hypocritical
and insincere statement very clearly shows that she wanted to get attention from Kelvin as a
good girl, by caring about Nina‘s sickness. Later on, still in the same scene, although Angel‘s
uniform was spoiled by Nina, as she realized that Kelvin was seeing her, Angel did not get
angry at Nina, until Kelvin said:
“Angel, kamu bener-bener udah berubah ya. Aku kagum sama kamu.”
(Angel, you have totally changed. I am amazed.)
Hearing how Kelvin admired her attitude, Angel was really happy. Then she answered:
“It‟s because I love you, Beib.”
Although Angel said this, not so long after that, she had a conversation in her mind
that the audience could hear:
“Kurang ajar! Sabar, Njel. Tunggu saatnya lo ngebales orang-orang kampung itu sepuluh
kali lipat.”
(Dammit! Calm down, Angel. Just wait so you can have another time to take revenge on those
villagers, ten times more.)
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Using Nina‘s sickness, Angel showed good gratitude to Nina in front of Kelvin.
However, we can see that Angel‘s caring toward Nina was not genuine because she had
terrible but hidden plan to get rid of Nina in her mind. This action clearly shows that what she
actually wanted was only to get Kelvin‘s attention, in order to make him think that she was a
kind girl. This is proven when Kelvin complimented Angel, she spontaneously said her
actions were because she loved him, as an evidence that Angel wanted his approval for her
love, his love, and attention from men, in this case Kelvin.
As quoted in The Norton Anthology Theory and Criticism, ―Like all the oppressed,
woman deliberately dissembles her objective actuality; the slave. the servant, the indigent, all
who depend upon the caprices of a master, have learned to turn toward him a changeless
smile or an enigmatic impassivity; their real sentiments, their actual behavior, are carefully
hidden. And moreover woman is taught from adolescence to lie to men. to scheme, to be
wily. In speaking to them she wears an artificial expression on her face; she is cautious.
hypocritical, play-acting‖ (1409).
Or in other words, women are taught to act silly or scheming in front of guys. As
Angel did, instead of changing into a good girl, she acted as a good actress in performing in
front of Kelvin and some girls that she herself hated, only for gaining Kelvin‘s attention.
Another scene shows how Angel wanted to get Kelvin‘s attention is shown in the
episode 13. It was told that Kelvin changed his Facebook status into single and Angel got
frustrated with that. Without attention from anybody, she messed up her rooms and got wildly
angry, by screaming like an insane person while throwing all of her things in her room
anywhere. Then, by phone, Angel threatened Kelvin to come at her house or she would kill
herself.
This scene shows that Angel became upset, frustrated, and mean after Kelvin left her.
By those kind of expression, it reveals that Angel believed that her happiness would be
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fulfilled as her life would be complete by Kelvin, by having a romantic relationship with him,
just as same as the idea of Beavouir‘s through her book, The Second Sex. ―But the girl, … has
looked to the male for fulfillment and escape.‖ (327). The example that Angel got frustrated
and threatened Kelvin that she would kill herself if he did not come to her house was very
clear showing how Angel was insecure without Kelvin and wanted Kelvin to be in her life.
MONEY MATTERS
Not only men, money appeared as a big matter and motive in the women rivalry
shown in this telecinema as well as shown in between two women rivalries, in the quarrel
between Monika and her husband, Taufiq, and in the arisan that Monika joined.
Kelvin‘s mother named Monika, a wife from Taufiq, who was Nina‘s parents‘ best
friend, had been living a glamorous life since her husband was a successful and rich business
man. However, Nina‘s existence in their house made Monika feel threatened.
In episode 6, when Nina finally arrived home from the hospital, Monika gave her a
hateful expression. Then, she asked her husband to go to their room to have a private
conversation.
Monika: “Kenapa Papi terus mempertahankan Nina berada di dalam rumah ini? Jangan ada
bohong, Pi.”
“Why do you keep allowing Nina to stay inside our house. Do not lie, Pi.”
Taufiq : “sekali lagi Papi jelasin ke Mami ya. Nina adalah bagian dari keluarga kita. Titik.”
(“I tell you once again, Mi. Nina is a part of our family. That‟s it.”)
Monika: “Pi, yang memberi modal Papi itu adalah Arman. Dan sekarang Arman sudah mati.
Apa papi yakin papi tidak akan memberikan warisan kepada Nina? Bagaimana cara papi
untuk meyakinkan mami?”
(“Pi, the one who gave you financier is Arman. And now, Arman is already dead. Are you
sure you won‟t give the heritage to Nina? How can you guarantee that?”)
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Taufiq : “Mi, papi bilang sama mami, sekali lagi ya, Mi! urusan bisnis, urusan papi!”
(“Mi, I tell you once again! Business matters are mine.”)
Monika: “Ooh, jadi gitu? Mami diam aja sementara mami tahu kalau warisan buat anakanak mami terbagi ke orang lain, begitu?”
(“Oh is that so? Mami has to be quiet while knowing that the heritage for my children will
be divided to someone else. Is that what you mean?”)
Taufiq : (geleng-geleng kepala) “liat sendiri „kan? Selalu aja, ujung-ujungnya bicarain
warisan kalau bicarain bisnis sama mami. Percuma, mi.” (pergi meninggalkan kamar).
((shaking his head) “See? You will discuss heritage when we talk about business. As always.
It is useless, mi.” (left their room))
By this conversation shows that actually Taufiq saw Nina as her family, while Monika
saw her as her enemy shown by the line: “sekali lagi Papi jelasin ke Mami ya. Nina adalah
bagian dari keluarga kita. Titik.” (“I tell you once again, Mi. Nina is a part of our family.
That‟s it.”).This made Monika angrier and she really wanted to drive Nina away from her.
Another thing shown by this scene is that Taufiq realized that Monika was a lot more focused
on money and on protecting wealth (inheritance) than her own husband was, even though she
did not work outside the home in the business. And this shows the idea of how women seek
money and status to gain power in order to avoid the marginalization.
Not only that, the bold lines of Monika, “Ooh, jadi gitu? Mami diam aja sementara
mami tahu kalau warisan buat anak-anak mami terbagi ke orang lain, begitu?” (“Oh is
that so? Mami has to be quiet while knowing that the heritage for my children will be
divided to someone else. Is that what you mean?”), clearly show that Monika obviously
treated Nina as her rival, because she was afraid that Nina would get the wealth, not her and
her children. She was feeling jealous, not because Nina stole her husband‘s heart, because
Nina will take the inheritance. Monika was afraid because she thought and believed that
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money was her happiness in her life as her power. In other words, she felt insecure as well.
Here shows that both of Monika and Nina were marginalized. Having no home and money
made Nina powerless, and then she got oppressed by Monika. Monika was marginalized
because of her desire to get money, but she competed for money to fight against further
double marginalization.
According to Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction Third Edition,
Rosemary Tong stated that in a capitalist system, money is most often power (107). Women,
poor people, and black people are the ones who are most usually marginalized. Women have
been marginalized as they are women. Thus, the only way to get power is by seeking money
in order to be rich, because being poor can mean marginalization as Marxist Feminist‘s idea.
In other words, women seek money because they are afraid they lose power in society.
Monika here represents an example that she wanted money to be richer, and to feel more
secure and powerful, in order to not be marginalized or further marginalized in the society.
The idea of marginalization is explained by Rosemarie Putnam Tong in her book
Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction, ―as a result of invidious class
distinctions, as well as the highly specialized and highly segmented nature of the work
process, human existence loses its unity and wholeness in four basic ways. One of the ways is
workers are alienated from other human beings because the structure of the capitalist
economy encourages and even forces workers to see each other as competitors for jobs and
promotions‖ (101).
In other words, people can make other people as their competitors or rivals in order to
get job, which leads for them to get money. Monika did this; she treated Nina as her rival,
and she wanted to get Nina far away from her life, because she felt threatened that Nina
would be the one to get the inheritances. Again, according to Rosemary Tong, she stated that
in a capitalist system, money is most often power. Therefore, in the case of the women rivalry
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between Monika and Nina, Monika feared losing power, because of the possibility of Nina
that she would get money.
Tong also stated that Evelyn Reed, the writer of ―Women: Caste, Class, or Oppressed
Sex?‖ did not think that all women were equally oppressed by men or that no women were
guilty of oppressing other women. On the contrary, she thought bourgeoisie women were
capable of oppressing both proletarian men and women (107). Monika, as the Bourgeoisie
women, liked to oppress Nina, the proletarian girl. Monika was the Bourgeoisie woman,
because her husband was the one who had much wealth, and she could enjoy that. As
Charlotte Perkins Gilman stated in her book ―Women and Economics‖, ―The women whose
splendid extravagance dazzles the world, whose economic goods are the greatest, are often
neither houseworkers nor mothers, but simply the women who hold most power over the men
who have the most money‖ (21). Nina, as the proletarian girl, did not have as much as
Monika had. She was only a poor girl who was left by her parents, but their appearance
showed their wealth or economic condition. Monika tended to wear fancy clothes with many
shining jewelry, whereas Nina only wore simple and classic clothes. It can be said that being
powerful because she had money from her husband, Monika powerfully oppressed Nina.
Another of Monika‘s motives toward money or her power matter shows up in the
episode 8. When Monika had an arisan with her friends, her friends were really interested in
her necklace. They bet that that beautiful necklace was really expensive. And suddenly, one
of Monika‘s friends, who was the owner of a social magazine, questioned the necklace. At
first, she had a plan to make Monika as the cover of a magazine. However, in front of her
friends, that woman caught that the necklace was fake. What made Monika embarrassed was
that this woman stated that aloud so Monika failed to be the cover model and made her
friends leave Monika alone because she wore a fake necklace.
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Based on this example, Monika‘s friends implicitly treated Monika as their rival
related to what Monika wears, or Monika‘s wealth. Noticing that Monika‘s necklace was fake
is the form of putting Monika down by revealing that actually Monika lacked wealth. Instead
of paying attention to other women‘s skills, women tend to look at other women based on
their appearances. What women are wearing, such as fancy clothes and jewelry, or even how
they put make up on their face shows how much money they have.
This example—how Monika‘s friends put her down during the arisan—does reflect
both how women seek money as their power, and women rivalry. As Alison Jaggar‘s
statement, as quoted in Rosemarie Putnam Tong‘s book Feminist Thought: A More
Comprehensive Introduction, ―Women may insist that they diet, exercise, and dress only to
please themselves, but in reality they most likely shape and adorn their flesh primarily for the
pleasure of men (113). Not only for power, but having money can buy fancy clothes,
beautiful jewelry, or in other words, and can help increase the appearance of women. So, the
better their appearance, the more attention they will attract or gain from men. Women believe
that men‘s priorities are usually women with attractive physical or men also are tempted by
power and security of money. Since men are attracted by physical appearance, women would
pay attention to other women‘s appearance as they define other women as their rival in order
to get men‘s attention.
Overall, we can see that how these women characters‘ actions and statements in this
telecinema are due to their motives which focus on men. Doing everything, started from
putting other women down, acting as kind women to gain men‘s attention, seeking money as
power only for men does reflect how women define themselves by men and want completion,
security, and confidence from men. Women will do anything to get men‘s attention, approval,
and love, Simone de Beauvoir‘s idea of the second sex.
Conclusion
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According to several episodes analyzed from this telecinema, Putih Abu-abu does
reflect how women can define and treat other women as their enemies, or as women rivalry.
Treating other women as rivals is firstly reflected between Angel and Nina. Angel did such
cruel ways to drive Nina down, such as by making Nina as her maid. Secondly, as reflected
between Monika and Nina, Monika tore all of Nina‘s new clothes in front of her. Moreover,
the most extreme women rivalry happened between Angel, Monika, and Nina was that both
of Angel and Monika wished for Nina‘s death.
However, through the actions and the words from some of characters in this
telecinema, it was found that there are two big motives beyond those women rivalries: to gain
men‘s attention and to get power through money. The first big motive, to gain men‘s
attention is mostly represented between Angel and Nina. To get Kelvin‘s approval, Angel
made use of Nina‘s sickness as her media to show her good attitude in front of Kelvin,
although that attitude was not genuine because she had a bad plan in her mind. Even more,
Angel threatened Kelvin that she could do suicide.
The next big motive of money as power is represented by two examples. The first is
shown from Monika‘s private conversation with her husband, and the second is between
Monika and her friends. Being afraid that Nina would take the inheritance of her husband‘s
wealth, Monika stated it directly in front of her husband. The next was Monika‘s friends tried
to put Monika down by making her embarrassed in front of their friends.
Analyzed by The Second Sex and Gilman‘s Women and Economics, it turns out that
those two big motives, gaining men‘s attention and seeking money as power actually show
how women define themselves and others. The women rivalry itself shows how Angel and
Monika define and treat Nina as their rival in reaching their motives. Then, in gaining men‘s
attention, actually means that Angel defined herself as insecure and she believed that Kelvin
was her happiness and could complete her life, as the idea of The Second Sex, that it is men
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who women seek to complete their lives. The next motive of money as power actually
represents how women avoid the double marginalization in society. As Marxist Feminist
idea, women have been already marginalized. And if they are poor and have less money, then
they will be double marginalized.
Overall, all of Angel, Monika, and Monika‘s friends‘ actions and words, or the
women rivalries in this telecinema are actually driven by ideology. The ideology of the
second sex and Marxist Feminist are the driving force of the characters to do the actions and
end up with the result in the form of the women rivalry. According to popular culture theory,
popular product may represent what actually happens in society. However, women may not
realize the condition how women treat others as enemies and define themselves as the second
sex. Popular product can also give effects in society. Thus, by understanding the ideology
beyond all of the episodes can make us, as the audiences of telecinema, especially women be
more aware, more critical in seeing what actually happens. This popular product can give
some effects on society, especially among the relationships between women.
In order to help audiences, especially women, should be more aware and critical in
seeing what actually happens in society; this study can be further researched through not only
telecinema, but also through Indonesian novels and movies. On the other hand, researching
women rivalry in the real society could be another interesting further study as well, as quoted
from ―Capitalist Patriarchy And The Case For Socialist Feminism‖ book, ―The more we
understand about women's actual conditions, of course, the more we understand the specific
ways that women have acted to transform those conditions, and to transform revolutionary
movements from within‖ (378).
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Acknowledgement
This writing would not be done without the great blessing from God and Holy Spirit
surrounding me all the time. This writing was also done supported by—as I would like to
express my special appreciation for my amazing supervisor Danielle Donelson-Sims for the
super supervision, and encouragement (especially for the chocolate), and for the great
examiner, Bu Purwanti Kusumaningtyas, for the great knowledge about literature and the
guidance. Special gratitude I also present for my lovely parents, awesome brothers Enrille &
William, Oma, Opa Tut‘s fam, and Birantara Putra, for the never ending love and spirit.
Another special credit I would like to present for my persons, thank you for the laughter,
stories, and sweet memories these years. I would be missing you so much! And last but not
least, for Niners and ED Family, for the best 4 years I have ever had in my life.
Puteri 24
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