Nyai Ontosoroh, a Female Hero

and Her Resistance to Gender Injustice

Budi Waluyo, Andrik Purwasito, Warto, S. Subiyantoro

Abstract

Women's contribution to the independence of the Republic of Indonesia is something that cannot be denied. From Sabang to Merauke, Indonesian women have an extraordinary role. They not only struggle with arms and muscle strength, but also in the political, social, economic, and educational fields. Nyai Ontosoroh, is one of the characters in the novel Bumi Manusia by Pramudya Ananta Toer which reflects a woman's struggle against injustice in her life. Nyai Ontosoroh's struggle in this novel was then transferred into a short drama entitled “Nyai Ontosoroh” by R. Giryadi. This drama focuses on Nyai Ontosoroh's opposition to her husband and the Dutch government who want to take over the company and the custody of her child. The resistance of a Javanese woman against the colonial government was very brave at the time. Although finally defeated, Nyai Ontosoroh had struggled to defend his rights in a very respectable manner. She deserved to be called “a hero”. The purpose of this research is to explain and describe the forms of gender injustice against women in the drama script “Nyai Ontosoroh” by R. Giryadi. The form of this research is descriptive qualitative. This is adjusted to the formulation of research problems that have been determined. This research is a qualitative study which is described thoroughly and analytically. Descriptions include forms of gender injustice against women. The conclusion from this paper shows that there are still many gender injustices that are experienced by women in Indonesia. Women should fight to get gender justice as they should.

Keywords: drama, resistance, gender injustice, female hero