Today is March 4, 2017. I've been waiting for today for about a month now, and now what I've been waiting for is done. I was a part of the Women's March Jakarta! YAAAS!!! When I saw women marching for equality all over the US, I knew deep down inside I wanted to be a part of it -I wanted to join them to fight for women's rights. I found out about the Women's March Jakarta from an Official Account on the LINE app, and right at that very second, I was in.
So I started the day by taking a shower and eating two slices of Nutella sandwich. The march was to start at 9 AM, BUT THEN MY PARENTS DECIDED TO GO FROM HOME AT 8:55. So I arrived about 20 minutes late and we decided to follow the route of the crowd until we find them. It wasn't that far, so me and my mom didn't miss that much oration. My mom who was just accompanying me, walked on the sidewalks meanwhile I was on the streets, marching for what I believe in. At first I was shy to show my sign that was written, "My Body, My Choice. My Country, My Voice." But then the orator would shout out "Perempuan Bersatu!" and the crowd would go, "Tak bisa dikalahkan!". And right at that very moment, I knew I was in the right place with the right community.
The orator says something about how we are fighting against patriarchy, misogyny, violence, sexual assaults, rape, catcalls, bullying, and many more. Every now and then I see men and women fighting for equality. There was this man holding a sign written "Born This Gay", and this woman holding a sign written "Why would you rather see two men holding guns than holding hands?". I saw all these amazing people, each of them fighting for different types of inequality, holding all these creative signs they probably made all day / night long. I heard that Arie Kriting, Carissa Perusset and Hannah Al Rashid came to the march too, but I didn't meet them.
And then we finally arrived at Taman Aspirasi, right in front of the Istana Negara and Monas. There were more orations, dance performances, and some music just to keep things chill. There were poems read too! I saw these transwomen wearing "kebaya" full of blood, to represent how 17% of the LGBT+ community have tried suicide. They sprayed us with the red paint used as fake blood (which ruined my hair, but I didn't care). Some people actually took pictures of my sign because they thought it looked cute. Hopefully my sign will be on the news or on someone else's Instagram post HAHAHA. Sadly, I had to leave early because my mom had to go to the mall to prepare for an event tomorrow. But then we decided to stop by for a while again, and there weren't as many people as there used to be.
I personally thought the Women's March Jakarta was amazing, and I was so lucky to be a part of it, it was such an honor. I saw and met these brave, courageous people who voiced their opinions on gender equality. It's actually breathtaking to see over a thousand people march for something they truly believe in, fighting for something that matter to them.
I never thought so many people was so into feminism, because I've always thought that Indonesian people just doesn't understand feminism and gender equality yet, or they don't think it matters. And apparently, most Indonesians are like that. But after seeing that so many people are already supporting equality, I believe that there's hope for a better future, a better Indonesia that doesn't discriminate, violate an underestimate women, a better Indonesia that understands the concept of intersectional feminism and equality for all genders, races and beliefs, and apply it to their daily lives. Us feminists are trying to make a big change, starting from small changes on how we view other people and how we view certain things, and the Women's March is just a start of something bigger, something better, something great. Shoutout to everyone who were a part of the march, who joined the march, I am with you and I hope we can support each other on making Indonesia great. Also shoutout to the people who wanted to join the march but didn't (because of other reasons), there will be other events and I really hope to see you in those other ones! And last but not least, thank you, to the Women's March Jakarta committee who worked hard as hell to make this day happen -I COULD NEVER THANK YOU ENOUGH. And I hope to see you all, and more of you, on the next feminism/equality event.
For now, all I can say is,
Hidup. Perempuan. Indonesia.
So I started the day by taking a shower and eating two slices of Nutella sandwich. The march was to start at 9 AM, BUT THEN MY PARENTS DECIDED TO GO FROM HOME AT 8:55. So I arrived about 20 minutes late and we decided to follow the route of the crowd until we find them. It wasn't that far, so me and my mom didn't miss that much oration. My mom who was just accompanying me, walked on the sidewalks meanwhile I was on the streets, marching for what I believe in. At first I was shy to show my sign that was written, "My Body, My Choice. My Country, My Voice." But then the orator would shout out "Perempuan Bersatu!" and the crowd would go, "Tak bisa dikalahkan!". And right at that very moment, I knew I was in the right place with the right community.The orator says something about how we are fighting against patriarchy, misogyny, violence, sexual assaults, rape, catcalls, bullying, and many more. Every now and then I see men and women fighting for equality. There was this man holding a sign written "Born This Gay", and this woman holding a sign written "Why would you rather see two men holding guns than holding hands?". I saw all these amazing people, each of them fighting for different types of inequality, holding all these creative signs they probably made all day / night long. I heard that Arie Kriting, Carissa Perusset and Hannah Al Rashid came to the march too, but I didn't meet them.
I personally thought the Women's March Jakarta was amazing, and I was so lucky to be a part of it, it was such an honor. I saw and met these brave, courageous people who voiced their opinions on gender equality. It's actually breathtaking to see over a thousand people march for something they truly believe in, fighting for something that matter to them.
I never thought so many people was so into feminism, because I've always thought that Indonesian people just doesn't understand feminism and gender equality yet, or they don't think it matters. And apparently, most Indonesians are like that. But after seeing that so many people are already supporting equality, I believe that there's hope for a better future, a better Indonesia that doesn't discriminate, violate an underestimate women, a better Indonesia that understands the concept of intersectional feminism and equality for all genders, races and beliefs, and apply it to their daily lives. Us feminists are trying to make a big change, starting from small changes on how we view other people and how we view certain things, and the Women's March is just a start of something bigger, something better, something great. Shoutout to everyone who were a part of the march, who joined the march, I am with you and I hope we can support each other on making Indonesia great. Also shoutout to the people who wanted to join the march but didn't (because of other reasons), there will be other events and I really hope to see you in those other ones! And last but not least, thank you, to the Women's March Jakarta committee who worked hard as hell to make this day happen -I COULD NEVER THANK YOU ENOUGH. And I hope to see you all, and more of you, on the next feminism/equality event.For now, all I can say is,
Hidup. Perempuan. Indonesia.
