I would be less than honest if I didn't admit to being inspired to write this post if it weren't for a disparaging, grossly inaccurate and generalized assessment of Indonesian women that I read elsewhere on this forum.
Summarily described in that post as shallow, air-headed shopping mall addicts who “wash each other's bones” and are disinclined to become educated, seek their own careers and to advance within society, (relying more on their husbands), my intention is to dispel that falsehood, terribly inaccurate generalization, and insult.
Recently asked during an interview (details are unimportant), “what general characteristics of Indonesian women are most notable to you” I had no hesitation in answering, “love and dedication to family.” I could endlessly wax poetic on just this one, albeit generalized aspect of Indonesian women, but any critic would be hard pressed to argue the fact that for the Indonesian woman, nothing…absolutely nothing, is more important to them than their family. Family is the bedrock foundation of Indonesia, and it's their women who laid those bricks, and continue to nourish and maintain them day after day.
Pressed on, I was asked, “what else?” My second response was, “an inner beauty which is not surpassed by their famous outer beauty and their embrace and joy of being a woman.” As sensual, erotic, mystifying, and utterly addictive as Indonesian women often are, those qualities are unquestionably fueled from within, be that from their spirituality, or ancestrally based traditions.
Getting the attention of this interviewer, I was asked, “anything else?
“Oh yeah, plenty more, for example their incredible strength, both physically and mentally, and their endless endurance and patience. And woe to me for not previously mentioning their intellect and inherent common sense.” Indonesia, the most populated Muslim country on earth, an independent nation only since 1946, but already having a woman serving as President, and with more women elected to their national legislature than most other proclaimed “democracies” on the planet.
That's my overall view of the women of Indonesia…what's yours?