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A few days before Jakarta had its first so-called SlutWalk last month in response to remarks made by the Jakarta governor about women, clothing and rape, activist Siti Faiza Hidayati Mardzoeki was appalled at a number of “intimidating and scornful remarks” that were posted on her Facebook wall after she put up an invitation to the rally.

Faiza, as she is known, replied to some of the remarks and tried to reason with her angry male Facebook friends, but the reaction to what she and her allies were doing with their performance art demonstration was harsh and polarizing.

“Why is this woman talking so much, I wouldn’t be surprised if she became the next rape victim,” said one, according to Faiza.

Faiza was also disappointed after the rally when some photographers uploaded photos of the women with suggestive captions.
 
“We knew [the photographers] well but what we were doing was not a joke. I believe they also have sisters, girlfriends and mothers. Think about them before making unfunny jokes like that,” she said, referring to the photos taken at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle.

“They shot us at very low angles that showed our legs and put comments like, ‘Who would not want to commit rape if women are showing skin like that?’” she said.

Traditional Background

The September protest by about 50 women wearing short skirts came after Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo responded to the gang rape of a woman on a public minibus by saying miniskirts could be an invitation to rape.

“Wear sensible clothes, not ‘inviting’ clothes,” the governor said. He later apologized.

“What Fauzi Bowo said represents how most men respond to the tragedies that happen to women, like rape. Our public officials, and most men in general, think that these gender crimes are the fault of women,” Faiza said.

Born and raised in a conservative Muslim family, Faiza, who is one of 10 children, was a rebel from a young age. In her family,  it was understood that a women’s place was in the kitchen and household chores were her reality while men were freed from domestic responsibilities.

Faiza frequently questioned why her male siblings were treated differently and allowed much more freedom than herself.
 
She was also known to skip her Koran lessons in favor of movies at an open-air theater, and her father, a staunch Nahdlatul Ulama follower, often disciplined her.

“I don’t know why I did that. Such a naughty one when I was small,” she said, giggling.

Now 39, Faiza hasn’t lost her passion for equality. She can easily be found among crowds of activists whenever women’s rights and social justice issues are being raised. In 2002, she helped found the Institut Ungu (Purple Institute), a non-profit group specializing in women’s issues  presented through art and culture.

But she did not set out to be a crusader. After she graduated from high school, Faiza thought she would start working and earning money right away instead of continuing her education at a university. “I wanted to work as a secretary, wearing high heels and office suits,” she said.

She enrolled at a secretarial academy in Bogor and was also offered a part-time job at a doll factory near her uncle’s house. Her rebellious seeds seemed to blossom when she had to make do on a meager factory worker’s income. “My weekly wage then was about Rp 16,000 ($1.80),” she recalled.

Factory Work

“The experience of working in a factory somehow opened my eyes. I got along with labor activists really well and I thought ‘This is it, I found my crowd,’” said Faiza.

She helped activists gain access to her co-workers and later expanded her role by visiting different factories to talk to workers about labor rights.

She also fell in love with theater at a time when the labor movement was using performance as a way to reach the working class. She learned about both the labor movement and theater from Wiji Thukul, a well-known poet and activist whose unexplained disappearance in April 1998 is often blamed on the Suharto government.

When prominent female labor leader Marsinah was found dead in 1993 in East Java, Faiza was in the middle of a hiatus from labor organizing and found herself spending more time with her fellow stage artists.

“It was such terrifying news that I decided to keep a low profile because... you know what the situation was like back in Suharto’s era,” she said. 

Faiza joined the NGO Solidaritas Perempuan (Women’s Solidarity) in 1997 and specialized in labor issues. Her  secretarial career was forgotten permanently.

The Road Traveled

“I can’t believe my own life story when I look back on it all,” she said.

In time, she was drawn into the theater world. With Faiza leading the project, Solidaritas Perempuan produced a play, “Perempuan Di Titik Nol,” adapted from Egyptian writer Nawal El Saadawi’s “Woman at Point Zero,” in 2002.

With Jakarta in the grip of reformasi by that time, the play was a huge success that even caused a minor commotion when a handful of disappointed spectators who did not get tickets demanded a second performance of the play.

Now, through the Purple Institute, Faiza says she can channel her love for theater and be as outspoken as she wants.

In addition, when she moved to Sydney to live with her husband, Max Lane, an Indonesian studies scholar who teaches at the University of Sydney,  she continued her education by studying literature. Dividing her time between Jakarta and Sydney, Faiza is set to stage “Rumah Boneka,” an adaptation of Norwegian playwright’s Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House,” on Nov. 30 at the Jakarta Playhouse in Central Jakarta.

“I got a grant from the Norwegian Embassy to learn more about Ibsen and then I totally fell for him. His works are masterpieces that withstand the test of time.”

“Rumah Boneka,” is about a woman who is questioning her marriage. “Most of us take marriage for granted,” she said. “But at some point women will ask if they’re doing what they want to do.”

Has Faiza herself ever been confronted with that situation?

She laughed and said her marriage was not something she planned or dreamed about in the past, but was a pleasant reality.

“My husband is more like a partner in crime to me. With him I can talk about everything. In that way, I have no reason to fear or repress anything.”