In Cambridge Dictionary, the meaning of emancipation in the British English dictionary is “the process of giving people social or political freedom and right”. While the definition in the American English dictionary is “the act of freeing a person from another person’s control”.
If we take a look at the above definitions, the words freedom and right are stressed. Sometimes, it goes differently if it is compared to the Indonesian’s people perspective. They think emancipation is about women who must go to work, have a good carrier, and become a leader. Should those statements always be correct in defining women’s emancipation? Well, let’s discuss some important points below.
The History of Emancipation
In the past, women were not allowed to work. They had to stay at home. They had so many duties for example: to keep the house clean, to nurture the children, and to cook in the kitchen. They did not also have any right to study. They should not go to school. Their parents had to keep them inside the house “pingit”. And they could only get out of this unpleasant treatment when a man came and then proposed to them to get married. In this case, they did not have any right to choose a man they loved and wanted. All decisions depended on their parents.
On the other hand, most women work in the office, factories, and industry nowadays. It is a common thing that we can see every day. Even it is so common to see women get the first rank at school, become a leader, study at the highest level of education, and have good carrier. In some cases, women are top and better than men in doing so.
Is that the real definition of emancipation?
Come back to the Cambridge definition above. Women must have equal rights compared to men. They must have a right to study and work. The emancipation term should not be narrowed to that way. Emancipation is not only giving them equal rights, but it should also deal with appreciating women itself.
If a family has a wife who works while the husband does not work at all, that should not be called emancipation. If a family has a wife who works from morning to night and abandons their children so that the children are getting naughty, that should not also be called emancipation.
Emancipation is not only giving them an equal rights, but we should also appreciate them as a woman.
Women should not always work if they do not want. Moreover, the husband can fulfill the wife’s needs in this way. So working or not for women should depend on their choice or interest and not because they are forced by the situation. We have to understand that giving them freedom and right is different from forcing them to act as a man.
Men’s and women’s duties
One of the men’s duties is to earn money for the family. If women work, they should not replace the man’s position in the family. They should not suffer because of working from morning to night. We have to respect women by not forcing them to earn money. If they work, it is just because they are happy to do so or it is their choice in order not to be bored at home. On the other hand, emancipation is not omitting the women’s duty to be responsible for growing the children. This is actually the main duty that they should give more attention to. They have a right to work but they should not forget their role as a mother at home.
The Perspective of strong women
Women are born as a weak physical but they are strong in doing a lot of jobs. When morning comes, they should pray and prepare breakfast. They make sure their children have taken a bath. They wash the dishes. They wash their clothes. They iron children’s and husbands’ clothes. After everything is well prepared. They take a bath and get ready to work. After going home from work, they have to face so many endless jobs they have to deal with.
Women are special. Your heaven and hell are on their feet. They are our mothers. We have to appreciate and respect them by making them happy and making them a queen in the kingdom of our family. In other words, we have to define the term emancipation on a new level.
This article also suggests women should study as high as they can. Being a mother in a family needs a lot of knowledge. If women are smart, they can produce smart children to make the family better. They can make the children succeed in life. They can educate their children in the best way. If everybody understands the real definition of this emancipation, all families will have a better and balanced life and make their home sweet home.
By RIKO ARFIYANTAMA, M.Pd.