April/May, 1998
No. 034/VI/98

cover story

Ground Breakers
Bali's top corporate
women

Out of the Frying
Pan
The legacy of widow
burning in modern Bali

beyond
bali

Pedal Power
Cycling around Lombok

regular
features

Sidelines
The cultural value of
Indonesia textiles

Adventure
Off-road trips by Land
Cruiser

Home Grown
Bali's surf hero of
nineties, Rizal Tanjung

Health and Beauty
Mandara's many Bali
spas

Books
The Butterflies of Bali

Food
Four delis that have
survived the crisis

Photo Gallery
F.X. Marit captures nyepi
on film

Jungle Drums

advertising index for
Bali Echo web site

Jaye Wood talks to Bali’s top corporate women about career and opportunity, tradition and family.

Although many women are reluctant to express it publicly, in private conversations many quickly acknowledge their status in Balinese and  Indonesian society as a deferential one. As Fred Eisman diplomatically notes in his essays on Bali, “there is no theoretical discrimination between men and women, although in practice, the sexes usually assume traditional responsibilities.” Following the entrenched patriarchal pattern in Bali, the traditional roles of women largely encompass, not surprisingly, those of family, household and religious duties. .

A Western feminist can search quite in vain for a structured women’s emancipation movement in Bali. In fact, there is very little overt grumbling about the societal and family expectations placed on women in terms of religious duties and of being a wife and mother. Most women continue to assume these roles, yet more women are doing so while also working and honing professional careers. In Bali, the onset of tourism has created a cornucopia of opportunity. For women, from the coconut sellers on the beach  to those who run million dollar enterprises, opportunity has come knocking and a great number have answered the door. Many strong, independent women have carved a powerful niche for themselves within the framework of a tourism economy, while maintaining their ties to their traditional upbringings.   

It is no secret that tourism has flourished in Bali with astounding growth. In 1969 Bali hosted 300,000 visitors, now more than two million tourists visit each year. Along with the tourists have come the shops, restaurants, tour agencies, hotels, taxis, cultural and adventure activities to service and entertain them. Women have followed various avenues to establish careers in the arts, small business and the service industry within the framework of tourism. Universally, opportunity assumes many guises, among them: talent,  education, family-upbringing, marriage. It also is often accompanied by a price, be it personal sacrifice, parental disappointment or social judgment. Through the generation of women coming of age as Balinese traditions confront Western influences and opportunities brought by the tourism, we see that many successful women in Bali are breaking new ground to gain acceptance, recognition and support.  

“Traditionally, a woman’s responsibilities are the household, her children and her husband,” says Desak Suarti, jewelry designer, dancer, painter, mother, wife and owner of the elegant Suarti silver gallery in Celuk and of stores in Ubud, Kuta and Sanur. “These are still women’s areas of responsibility, but there is a lot of chance now if only they can see a way to make a living in addition to that.”  

In order to see that chance Desak says she needed to remove herself from the system in order to return and find her place in it. That chance came early. She describes her early years as those of a village girl living in poverty. With skill, talent and an inspiring grandmother who also danced, she turned to Balinese dance. She competed and traveled, performing for queens and presidents. With the incredulous support of her father, a painter who studied with Rudolph Bonnet, she also learned to paint (a pursuit traditionally reserved for men) and held one of Bali’s first solo women exhibits. Eventually she met and married a Westerner and moved to the States. There she lived for 12 years, teaching dance, lecturing and developing a passion for jewelry design, which was inspired by her second husband, also American and involved with the silver business. In 1990 they returned to Bali and established the first Suarti store in Kuta. “It was a shock when I returned after being away for so long,” she says. “I tried to reconnect with old friends, but found it very difficult.” She says she did not return to her village for two years. But in time she found a way to bridge the changes she brought back to her village from her years abroad. In her village, Desak Suarti founded an all-woman gamelan group, a traditional male domain. She even convinced the head of their banjar to allow the group to perform within the temple walls. Since 1995 the group has competed in the annual Denpasar Arts Festival and last year won first prize.  

The service industry has opened up many doors and Violetta Simatupang, for one, thinks that the tourism industry is good for women. “There are several reasons why tourism works for women,” she says. First, from the tourists’ point of view she says they appreciate the social grace that Indonesian society expects of women. “From the Indonesian woman’s point of view it offers a lot of flexibility in terms of shift work and the ability to maintain their roles within the family.”  

Above:
1. Mayke Boestami
2. Desak Suarti

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