Guilty Pleasure

I had an experience when I graduated from elementary school in Pasuruan City, some of my female friends were asked to get married immediately because they were already baligh (at that time they were already menstruating). They do not continue their schooling apart from economic factors as well because their parents are afraid of embarrassment if they become pregnant out of wedlock as a result of promiscuity. Living in a Muslim society, I am also aware that there are religious dogmas such as the sin of adultery and the narrative that marriage is a complement to religion to validate early marriage for women. However, is it really just that? I see that this phenomenon is included in the discourse of sexual morality in relation to postcolonial conditions. What is considered polite "East" is feared to be lost due to "westernized" behavior, and religious values are seen as threatened by secularism. Postcolonial thinker, Edward Said has the view that "West" and "East" are not entities that actually exist. The distinction between "West" and "East" is constructed through a concrete historical reality, namely colonialism. In public discourse, it is very common to encounter views about the major differences between “West” and “East” in terms of sexual morality. Western culture is said to be more "open" and "free", while the East maintains "decency" and limits itself in interactions with the opposite sex. What my female friends are experiencing is an effect of past colonialism that has never ended. Sexual morality in Islamic culture is more focused on efforts to prevent sexual acts outside of marriage, but for some reason the choice that is present in society is to immediately marry off their daughters as soon as possible. As if that's the only choice to maintain sexual morality. Alternatives such as going to high school, being busy working diligently or doing hobbies other than marrying off their daughters immediately, for some parents are not considered a way to maintain sexual morality. This is mostly experienced by women to be reminded not to forget to get married soon. The 4 hands that borrow from the sexual movement poses on women are used as a way of articulating how women who are the subject have often been bound by discourses of sexual morality since they were small. The 4 book stands are used as metaphors for how society uses religion as a way to regulate women's bodies.