Feminism in Javanese Culture: An Analysis of Gender Inequality in Alun Samudra Rasa Novel

Women become victims of violence committed by men. Men consider themselves as the powerful ones and think that everything is in their control, so women are often degraded. The existence of inequality possibly results in gap between men and women as well as discrimination toward women. Gender inequality experienced by Javanese women is portrayed in Alun Samudra Rasa novel by Ardini Pangastuti Bn. This study was descriptive qualitative with the employment of feminist literature criticism approach on Alun Samudra Rasa novel. Feminist literature criticism was used to investigate how gender inequality toward female main character occurs in that novel. Source of primary data was a novel entitled Alun Samudra Rasa. Technique of data collection utilized literature study and interview. Technique of data analysis was content analysis combined with Feminist literature criticism approach. After analyzing the data, it is concluded that there are some forms of gender inequality toward female main character, namely subordination, stereotype, violence, and workload. These represent feminist view in Javanese society. Besides, in Javanese culture, feminist approach can be used as moral lesson for not considering women as a weak creature.