KARTINI

Jepara, October 1903
Modertje, my moedertje,say something to me, I am so utterly, utterly unhappy. Physically, spiritually broken, I have energy no more. For days already it is as if there is a fire in my head, as my heart is a burning bullet. I am assumed to be still alive, Is this living ? There are worse things then death. And when I am dead, what will that have achieved ? Nothing ! other than that I have obstructed some people, tripped them up in their egotism. …Oh my poor, poor dreams, my poor sisters.
The house is as though deserted, the bird no longer chrips, it is lying with broken wing, a broken heart, oh and a heart full of terrible, evil thoughts.
Do you despise me,yes ? -it is hard,but still bearable, but that I cannot respect myself, that I cannot bear.
My God have mercy, show me the way !

So wrote Raden Ajeng Kartini two month prior her wedding with the regent of Rembang which almost 30 years older than her. More than 100 letter which Kartini wrote to her mentor, Rosa Abendanon, a wife of the director of education of the Dutch East Indies between 1900 – 1904. In these letter she expressed her belief in her right to the freedom of personal self determination as a woman and a javanesse. She describes her quest for further education and for release from restrictions traditional life imposed on woman, especially the tyranny of an arranged polygamous marriage. But the decision has been made by his father, and she never lived to see that freedom.


I have read some people questioning her struggle against the feodalism is just a peanut compare to other women’s national hero such as Cut Nyak Dhien or even Dewi Sartika. Those two mentioned national heroes were imprisoned by dutch colonialism. And Kartini still locked up by her marriage . Im just wondering what would be in her mind after watching TV show called Infotainment. Is she happy to see how easily a woman now asking for a life separation or even she becomes more depressed in understanding how Teh Ninih way’s of life. She must be very familiar with her personal struggle, that tragically is a reavealing picture of Indonesian culture and society as she quoted ‘ the freeing of women is inevitable, it will come, only we cannot hasten its coming. The freedom of women will be the fruit of our suffering and pain ‘. Maybe she just doesn’t care after having a chit chat with Tamara Blezinsky. Who knows ?

You Might Also Like

45 Comments

  • NiLA Obsidian
    April 23, 2007 at 8:36 am

    lain jaman lain pemikiran…..
    intisari pemikiran kartini juga harus banyak di improve utk jaman kekinian….
    kadang penerapannya juga udah ngasal….

    masih bnyk yg memperingati hari kartini dengan menyuruh pake kebaya ke kantor ato kerja di pom bensin (kyk cerita koeniel-http://my-musings.blogdrive.com)

    duh….maksudnya dah ga jelas gitu ya?

  • mei
    April 23, 2007 at 12:30 pm

    hihi, yang chit chat with tamara…alah mas iman ki ono2 wae, enten2 mawon alias..hm bahasa inggrise opo yo..hihi, mboh!!!

    selamat hari kartini, say no to poligami!!!

  • ilmaffectional
    April 23, 2007 at 1:04 pm

    Ibu kita Kartini pasti bangga sekaligus menangis liat kartini2 masa kini..

    Kayaknya harus ada Bapak kita Kartono yg bisa bikin pria2 ‘melek’ soal perasaan para kartini 😛

  • dewi pras
    April 23, 2007 at 3:20 pm

    kalo diliat2 wanita sekarang emang harga dirinya makin tinggi.. Dengan mengatasnamakan emansipasi wanita yang di cetuskan RA Kartini.. Mereka ngerasa bisa hidup tanpa bantuan laki2.. jadi kadang mending cerai daripada di poligami..

  • ajitekom a.k.a kodokijo
    April 23, 2007 at 5:40 pm

    waduh sampai ke masalah poligami nih 🙂 btw semakin tinggi emansipasi dan tingkat kecerdasan kita, terkadang hal yg dibolehkan menjadi area abu-abu, contoh kasus poligami, yg jelas2 tidak dilarang, tapi kenyataannya menjadi ‘terlarang’ akibat dampak opini yg terbentuk di masyarakat kita. Yang boleh sudah pasti tetap dibolehkan (dgn syarat tertentu) dan yg dilarang pastilah dari awal sudah ada vonis haram. Saya merasa miris dgn pola pikir dan pandangan yg memutarbalikkan hukum Tuhan.
    – Ajie-
    # sikapi perbedaan dgn damai#

  • Nico Wijaya
    April 23, 2007 at 10:37 pm

    waduhhh berat mas nih postingannya..pake dua kali mikir…hehe..

  • Innuendo
    April 23, 2007 at 11:00 pm

    kalo ingin disamakan, selalu mengatasnamakan : emansipasi.
    tapi pas giliran bayar membayar : elo khan laki2x…

    eh itu temanku sih kekkekek

  • DenaDena
    April 24, 2007 at 7:17 am

    walah ra ngerti boso enggres. Katro!!! he..he..

  • escoret
    April 24, 2007 at 8:12 am

    wah,boso inglis trs….mumet mbacanya…hehhehe…
    selamotttt hr kartini aja….

  • Laksono
    April 24, 2007 at 8:19 am

    met hari kartini aja deh saya baru inget malah

  • Pinkina
    April 24, 2007 at 8:27 am

    aku ra ngerti boso linggis, versi indonesia nya please *halahh

  • venus
    April 24, 2007 at 8:49 am

    selamat hari kartini. tapi, mas…banyak juga yg mergukan keaslian surat2 beliau lho…

  • kenny
    April 25, 2007 at 11:31 am

    lah itu akibat dari emansipasi…pemberontakan utk tidak dipoligami, hidup tamara…eh salah….Kartini ding.

  • Kana Haya
    April 25, 2007 at 2:35 pm

    ada yang nanya, penting banget yah memperingati hari kartini? kartini toh tidak memperjuangkan hak kaum perempuan secara general. well, tetapi mungkin salah satu alasan adanya hari kartini adalah untuk mengingatkan kartono2 yang lupa bahwa kartini2 juga memiliki hak yang sama untuk hidup nyaman dan sejahtera dengan jalan yang telah dipilihnya

    err, sory, but I dont see any relation between poligamy and women’s emansipation =9

  • muthe
    April 25, 2007 at 4:07 pm

    setuju ama kana haya. nggak ada hubungannya antara poligami sama emansipasi wanita. lagian..saya nggak menjunjung emansipasi tuh. kalo emang emansipasi..perempuan sono pada jadi kuli bangunan, mau nggak?!! sana ngangkut karung beras. yang bener tuh..lakukanlah apa yang memang seharusnya dilakukan perempuan, laki2 juga sama. Pkoknya, lakukan sesuai dengan Kodrat dari Tuhan. sok2 mau emansipasi, disuruh ngangkut karung beras nggak mau!!

  • ibunyaima
    April 25, 2007 at 5:53 pm

    “Is she happy to see how easily a woman now asking for a life separation or even she becomes more depressed in understanding how Teh Ninih way’s of life”

    I guess it depends on how she formulated the concept of emancipation. If she defined it to make the female the master of their own life – who can choose what they want – therefore she would have no disappointment against Tamara’s and Teh Ninih’s decision.

    But if she had a different concept.. well… 😉

    *I guess we all forgot to ask her that ;)*

  • Evy
    April 26, 2007 at 11:18 am

    In fact the woman in Indonesia so lucky, they can go everywhere and they can do everything they like even they are not working,they have servant,very big different with your ages madam Kartini

  • crushdew
    April 26, 2007 at 3:22 pm

    bagaimana dengan Marsinah?

  • Endang
    April 27, 2007 at 7:16 am

    sayang Ibu Kartini tidak hidup cukup lama untuk bisa menjelaskan apa yg beliau maksudkan dgn emansipasi. krn skrg penafsirannya jadi begitu beragam dan cenderung digunakan untuk pembenaran dari tindakan yg kontroversial….*halah…kepanjangaaan…*

  • wkurniawan
    April 27, 2007 at 9:32 am

    Suatu saat, di jaman ditemukannya mesin waktu, maka kru infotainment akan pergi ke masa lampau, mewawancara Kartini… *halah ngelamun*

  • wieda
    April 27, 2007 at 11:01 pm

    he he he..jaman kartini kan wanita emang ga ada yg sekolah..sekarang boleh adu cerdas2 an ama co…kekeke…makanya makin berkembang cara berfikir dan gaya hidupnya kepercayaan diri jadi mantab…..halah..jadi do not mess with a woman…..lareeeee

  • meitymutiara
    April 28, 2007 at 4:32 pm

    Pak, I agree with her greatest idea but disagree with poligamy.

  • Domba Garut!
    April 28, 2007 at 5:30 pm

    Terlepas dari emansipasi dan pemberdayaan gender, kadang kita harus ingat bahwa masing2 punya peran dan kodratnya masing-masing.. semoga nggak lupa akan yang satu itu.. namun demikian seiring perkembangan jaman dan pergeseran nilai plus fenomena akhir zaman, things are very much mixed-up and made to look upside-down 😀

    Nice posting indeed.. it surely made me think of my idung pesek a lot more often today :p

  • crushdew
    April 28, 2007 at 7:00 pm

    bagaimana dnegan marsinah?

  • Septian
    April 28, 2007 at 9:28 pm

    itu bener2 foto ibu kartini bukan ya ?
    dari bahasa Inggris ibu kartini, terlihat begitu kesedihan yang mendalam, sumbernya dari mana Bung ?

  • Sam
    April 28, 2007 at 11:33 pm

    Makasih mas dah kinjung balik ke samlens. Iya pingin khursus selama ini hanya insting dan otodidak aja gak ada basic. yang setidaknya tahu tekniknya 🙂 secara benar.

    Blognya ok pemikirannya matang. cocok buat perenungan

  • Keke Rachmad
    May 4, 2007 at 2:59 am

    Itu kayaknya teks bahasa belanda yang di- Inggrisin ya, mas?

  • elly.s
    May 4, 2007 at 9:52 am

    disini aku rindu lomba kebaya n lomba masak nasi goreng…

  • ario dipoyono
    May 4, 2007 at 5:00 pm

    Selamat hari Kartini bagi yang merayakan (khusus ibu2 kale..)

  • rievees
    May 5, 2007 at 10:20 pm

    Setuju dgn Domba Garut… Masing2 harus tetep inget sama peran & kodratnya… Kalo itu dilupakan, yang ada malah salah kaprah ga keruan dech…

    N’ say no to polygami =))

  • DEWI'S GELIAT PENA
    August 15, 2007 at 4:13 pm

    Mother is also modern emansipation, Mother is the hero without reward expectation

  • lea85
    April 23, 2008 at 1:03 pm

    new comment from Lea85 :
    in my mind, Kartini is representative from all of women struggle. But not only kartini, many women in Indonesia with her lines, carry out to stop violent again women. So give appreciation for women fighter.

    stop violent again women, stop KDRT……………………..!

  • Soekarno
    February 9, 2010 at 12:50 am

    i just started reading here, I just read some of your stuff , i should say as much as it is entertaining its also educating .

  • Jeremiah
    April 3, 2010 at 11:56 am

    This is often a very smart browse on behalf of me, Should admit that you are one in every of the best bloggers I ever saw.Thanks for posting this informative article.

  • Mimy Ayuning
    October 21, 2010 at 4:40 pm

    Blog yang bagus neh, bagus bgt news, update terus ya, biar aku bisa baca2 terus…

  • Indah Pratiwi
    October 28, 2010 at 10:03 am

    Blog yang bagus neh, bagus bgt artikel, update terus ya, biar aku bisa baca2 terus…

  • ervan
    April 20, 2011 at 2:28 pm

    selamat hari kartini

  • Sahabat Mutiara
    March 6, 2012 at 1:58 pm

    Postingan yang menarik. sekalian numpang lewat

  • Kebaya Pengantin
    March 29, 2012 at 8:18 pm

    Jadi Kangen Negeriku Tercinta Indonesia

    Terima Kasih

  • Kartono Indonesia
    April 18, 2013 at 11:53 am

    Kartini itu istri kedua, dia dipoligami oleh suaminya. Jadi kalau mau cari kebenaran bukan dari buku sekolah. Sangat bias disitu, sampai teriak anti-poligami, padahal tokohnya ya poligami.

  • Leola
    December 11, 2013 at 1:31 pm

    Hello there! I just wish to give you a huge thumbs
    up for your excellent information you’ve got right here on this post.
    I’ll be coming back to your website for more soon.

    Visit my weblog – search engine optimization, Leola,

  • Beulah
    February 14, 2014 at 5:13 pm

    For newest news you have to pay a visit world-wide-web
    and on world-wide-web I found this web page
    as a best web page for most up-to-date updates.

    my weblog – Toughbook (Beulah)

  • go airlink nyc offer codes
    April 18, 2014 at 11:34 am

    It’s remarkable to go to see this website and reading the views of
    all colleagues about this piece of writing, while I am also zealous of getting familiarity.

  • Coupon Code
    April 20, 2014 at 3:40 pm

    Thanks for finally talking about > KARTINI | Iman Brotoseno < Loved it!

  • promotional codes zenni optical
    May 3, 2014 at 6:59 pm

    You ought to be a part of a contest for one of the most useful blogs on the net.
    I will recommend this blog!

Leave a Reply

*