Hi!
There are so many heroes that fought for my country, Indonesia. Let's talk about one. She's the hero that inspired me the most. I adore her.
Her name is Raden Ajeng Kartini, well known as Kartini. She was the first woman that bravely fought for gender equality.
Kartini was born on April 21, 1879. Her family was an aristocratic Javanese family. She was allowed to study on ELS (Europese Lagere School) until she was 12 years old. She learned how to speak Dutch there. Unfortunately, she couldn't continue her study like her brothers because she should stay at home until she gets married. It was one of the strict rules for Javanese girls her age that time.
Because of her ability to speak Dutch, she started to study on her own at home. She also started to write letters for her Dutch friends. One of them was Rosa Abendanon, who was her biggest supporter.
Kartini was inspired by Dutch books, newspapers and magazines. She was amazed by the mindset of European women. The mindset was so different, European women were so smart, well educated. That was the time she started to think that she didn't deserve to be treated that bad. Nor were every women in Indonesia.
Since then, Kartini started to write letters about women rights and social problems like poorness. She tried to send her creations to a Dutch magazine called De Hollandsche Lelie, but sadly, they were rejected.
On 1903, the 24 years old Kartini was told by her parents to get married to the mayor of Rembang, K.R.M. Adipati Aryo Singgih Djojo Adhiningrat, who was already married and had 3 wives. She actually was against poligamy because she knew her father's life, who was in a poligamy relationship with her mother and another woman that she called "Mama". She obeyed her parents though, even though she felt like betraying her own self. Her decision made her penpal, Stella Zeehandelaar, mad. Stella couldn't understand why Kartini sacrificed her own dream to help others in order to live her parents' will. Even though she agreed with Stella's thought, Kartini knew she couldn't do it.
Good news came after she got married. Her husband supported her acts and she got the freedom to build a school for women. Because of her persistence, other schools were build one by one on different cities. The schools were called "The School of Kartini".
After Kartini's death, Mr. J.H. Abendanon collected all Kartini's rejected letters and made it into a book. For now, the book is known as "Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang", which is translated into "After Darkness, Here Comes The Light". The book attracted people, because of Kartini's mindset. This changed the whole perspective of how Indonesian women truly was.
Kartini's thoughts also inspired so many women, including me. All that she wrote about women's right and how everyone should've be treated the same way and not because of the genders, made me adore her. She changed everything about gender equality in this country.
The thing is, sometimes people just can't understand what equality means. There are people that still think that men is better than women in this country. This is sad. It's like Kartini's beautiful thoughts never mattered.
Yes, Kartini fought for women's rights. But the equality she brought is not a kind of misandry. She fought so women can also be in higher place, which is the same as men's place. She fought so we're all can be in the same place. So women can do what men can do, and vice versa.
Gender equality is important. Not only for Indonesians, but for the world. We need to make the world to be a better place for us all, where everyone can fit in and nobody gets left behind.
How?
One of the way is to respect. Not only women, but men. Act like we're all the same. Don't be afraid to speak just because you're a woman. Raise your voice. We are what we need in this world. We all can be the next Kartini who changed everything, especially when we're all together. We can change the world.
There are so many heroes that fought for my country, Indonesia. Let's talk about one. She's the hero that inspired me the most. I adore her.
Her name is Raden Ajeng Kartini, well known as Kartini. She was the first woman that bravely fought for gender equality.
Kartini was born on April 21, 1879. Her family was an aristocratic Javanese family. She was allowed to study on ELS (Europese Lagere School) until she was 12 years old. She learned how to speak Dutch there. Unfortunately, she couldn't continue her study like her brothers because she should stay at home until she gets married. It was one of the strict rules for Javanese girls her age that time.
Because of her ability to speak Dutch, she started to study on her own at home. She also started to write letters for her Dutch friends. One of them was Rosa Abendanon, who was her biggest supporter.
Kartini was inspired by Dutch books, newspapers and magazines. She was amazed by the mindset of European women. The mindset was so different, European women were so smart, well educated. That was the time she started to think that she didn't deserve to be treated that bad. Nor were every women in Indonesia.
Since then, Kartini started to write letters about women rights and social problems like poorness. She tried to send her creations to a Dutch magazine called De Hollandsche Lelie, but sadly, they were rejected.
On 1903, the 24 years old Kartini was told by her parents to get married to the mayor of Rembang, K.R.M. Adipati Aryo Singgih Djojo Adhiningrat, who was already married and had 3 wives. She actually was against poligamy because she knew her father's life, who was in a poligamy relationship with her mother and another woman that she called "Mama". She obeyed her parents though, even though she felt like betraying her own self. Her decision made her penpal, Stella Zeehandelaar, mad. Stella couldn't understand why Kartini sacrificed her own dream to help others in order to live her parents' will. Even though she agreed with Stella's thought, Kartini knew she couldn't do it.
Good news came after she got married. Her husband supported her acts and she got the freedom to build a school for women. Because of her persistence, other schools were build one by one on different cities. The schools were called "The School of Kartini".
After Kartini's death, Mr. J.H. Abendanon collected all Kartini's rejected letters and made it into a book. For now, the book is known as "Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang", which is translated into "After Darkness, Here Comes The Light". The book attracted people, because of Kartini's mindset. This changed the whole perspective of how Indonesian women truly was.
Kartini's thoughts also inspired so many women, including me. All that she wrote about women's right and how everyone should've be treated the same way and not because of the genders, made me adore her. She changed everything about gender equality in this country.
The thing is, sometimes people just can't understand what equality means. There are people that still think that men is better than women in this country. This is sad. It's like Kartini's beautiful thoughts never mattered.
Yes, Kartini fought for women's rights. But the equality she brought is not a kind of misandry. She fought so women can also be in higher place, which is the same as men's place. She fought so we're all can be in the same place. So women can do what men can do, and vice versa.
Gender equality is important. Not only for Indonesians, but for the world. We need to make the world to be a better place for us all, where everyone can fit in and nobody gets left behind.
How?
One of the way is to respect. Not only women, but men. Act like we're all the same. Don't be afraid to speak just because you're a woman. Raise your voice. We are what we need in this world. We all can be the next Kartini who changed everything, especially when we're all together. We can change the world.
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