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Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Cari Papih



Selama WFH saya jadi sering menonton talkshow siang yang sangat penuh drama. 

Biasanya tentang si bapak yang bilang itu bukan anaknya dan/atau si ibu yang maksa kalau itu si bapak, dan berbagai cerita perselingkuhan yang semua pihak dipertemukan dan berantem di tivi. Kalau ada yang bilang Amrik negara dewa, monggo lho nonton acara-acara ini lmaoooo.....

Yang paling bikin saya perih adalah saat bukan hanya si bapak yang mati-matian bilang itu bukan anaknya, tapi si kakek nenek atau anggota keluarga lain ikut teriak-teriak bilang si ibu perek dan terlihat sangat tidak suka pada si ibu.

Saya jadi berpikir, apa faedahnya jadi punya bapak dan/atau keluarga bapak kalau mereka dari awal mati-matian menolak si anak?

Emak-emak amrik yang masuk di acara ini sih nasibnya mending. Di acara-acara ini dikasi DNA test gratis, jadi ketahuan itu memang bapaknya atau bukan. Kalau memang ada bukti DNA itu bapaknya pun bisa dikejar untuk membayar tunjangan anak sampai si anak umur 18 tahun. Jadi walaupun si bapak dan keluarganya tetap nggak mau mengakui atau tetap benci, paling nggak ada faedahnya tahu itu benar bapaknya.

Lah Indonesia?

Sebelum menuduh "Itu kan salah si emak sendiri tidur kemana-mana", waktu saya masih menikah saya pun beberapa kali dituduh tidur sama lelaki lain walau tanpa bukti. Kalau suami di Indonesia bersabda itu pasti anak tetangga walau tanpa bukti, apa iya si istri bisa membantah dan dipercaya?

Inilah kenapa bagi saya memilih pasangan sebelum menikah dan (apalagi) punya anak adalah sesuatu yang sangat penting. Lebih baik telat atau bahkan tidak sama sekali daripada anak kedepan sengsara. Ga diakuin, ga dinafkahin, sedih kan?

Generasi sekarang bukan lagi generasi dulu yang mana perkawinan adalah bentuk karir. Yang menikah satu dari sedikit cara agar tetap bisa bertahan hidup dan tak lagi jadi tanggungan orang tua. Generasi sekarang mandiri dan kuat.

"Kamu tuh banyak maunya. Buktinya kamu baik-baik saja kan?" Iya. Tapi melihat mama diteriaki papa bikin adek jadi percaya bahwa wajar si calon suami meneriaki dia. Bahwa omongan keluarga papa yang nggak enak bukti nyata bahwa adek memang nggak ada harganya. Dan lingkaran kekerasan ini terus berlanjut.

Punya anak bukan hanya soal esek esek yes yes no, bukan hanya soal ketemu penghulu dan/atau resepsi ciamik. Punya anak berarti memastikan kebutuhannya terpenuhi, baik fisik maupun mental.

Jangan membawa anak ke dunia dimana ia tidak diinginkan atau tidak dicintai. Dimana ia tak bisa berkembang sepenuhnya karena sibuk bertahan hidup dari usia sangat muda. Apalagi bila sekedar
karena kita capek ditanya "Kapan kawin" dan "Kapan punya anak?"

Dan berhubung lelaki bukanlah rencana cadangan, walau kita sudah teliti sebelum membeli kita tetap harus bisa mandiri. Karena kita tidak tahu rencana Tuhan. Bisa saja akhirnya kita tetap harus membesarkan si adek sendiri.

Bagi para pria yang kebetulan membaca ini, anda pun harus berpikir teliti. Punya anak banyak bukanlah bukti kejantanan. Kambing pejantan anaknya banyak tapi jadi sate semua kan? Bukti kesuksesan adalah anak yang mampu membanggakan, yang membuat nama anda dibisikkan hingga bertahun kedepan. "Iya, anaknya pak XYZ. Hebat memang pak XYZ itu..."

Wajar kan kalau si calon ibu juga mesti mumpuni? Nggak cukup cuma cantik saja. Ingat, mereka yang akan lebih banyak bersama calon anak anda di masa penting perkembangannya. Mereka juga yang harus menjadi pilar penunjang anak anda bilamana Tuhan berencana lain untuk anda.

Bangsa yang hebat adalah bangsa yang orang-orangnya hebat juga. Dan orang hebat harus dibuat, dibentuk di keluarga yang hebat. Jangan milih yang asal-asalan cuma biar si tante nyinyir diam. Bolehlah kita punya standar.

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

The Colonials



The problem with Kristen Gray is not that she is living way below her means in a tropical paradise. Who wouldn't want that, honestly?

The problem with Kristen Gray is the hypocrisy of such action, especially if you consider yourself 'woke' or 'progressive'.

The idea in itself is genius and make perfect sense. Always try to get the biggest bang for your buck. If you have the means to get the biggest profit from the smallest expense, why on earth won't you do that?

Especially when it is culturally accepted. "Self-exploration". "Finding your innerself". "Opening your eyes to the world". This is any influencer/motivator's wet dream.

But is it not colonization? You came, you settled yourself among the indigenous people but not blending in, you took the resources. You established your own culture and slowly erasing the locals.  What did you give in return?

As someone who lived in the US where race and colonization have been a hot topic during the pandemic (between our sourdough making, of course), I find Kristen Gray's action problematic. It is a stark reminder of privilege some people have (yay US Citizen!) and that the privileged doesn't care the woe of the unprivileged.

In a country where healthcare is limited, where Covid handling is questionable, to call out other travelers to "Come here to paradise!" is beyond selfish. It is easy to not care if you become a global spreader when your home country will take really good care of you. 

Her bliss on finding comfort among the black community in Bali in the aftermath of George Floyd sounded tone deaf in my ear. Indonesian struggles heavily with discrimination, attacks, and violence from the religious majority and Chinese Indonesian have lived with "Do you want to get raped and slaughtered again?" since the 1998 riot.

Even the advertised queer-friendly area only works because she is an American. Indonesians, even in Bali, have been persecuted for being queer or homosexual. Generally you are a dirty, sinful freak for being queer and will be punished accordingly. Again, privilege.

The truth is, I don't really care. If anyone to be blamed for enabling colonials like Kristen Gray and Elizabeth Gilbert it will be the Indonesia government themselves (for the lack of immigration enforcement) and Indonesian people who still think US/European/Australian is better than themselves. Tourism $$$ is easy $$$ and you can easily (unknowingly) sell yourself for it. 

Like The Andrew Sisters said: "Both mother and daughter/Workin' for the Yankee dollar"

Here in the US, however, the conversation should be different. We like to see ourselves as the good guy. We have this vision in our head on what should have been done, a perfect 20/20 after-vision of a backseat driver. Doing it ourselves, however, is proven to be a whole different thing. 

What do we do now with this info? What do we do now that we know privilege is real and it transcend skin color? That colonization happens for a reason (better pasture and improved way of living). That it is not easy to adopt the local culture, and you can very well forcing your own to them instead. That the words "You should give back to the community" are easier to say than done.

Our responsibility for race-relation, for using our privilege to lift others, don't stop just because we are not in US anymore (or when we can't hashtag it anymore). It is a process that will end only when we stop interacting with other people, either 6 feet under or incinerated.

So the next time you said "Well they should have done [insert whatever here]", ask yourself can you really do that? Will you be able to be honorable and just? There is no shame in realizing you can't. Realizing your flaws is a step towards making it better.

And we could be better. We really could.

https://www.vulture.com/2021/01/kristen-gray-deported-from-bali-after-viral-twitter-posts.html

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