| Summary: | This research departs from the social phenomenon in which women are
forced to make a choice between prioritizing public or domestic affairs. This
choice is a difficult one for women who hold the position of wife and mother in
the institution known as a family. This difficulty arises when such women decide
to focus on their public affairs, whereas society has already established its own
concept regarding womanhood: a woman should prioritize her domestic role as a
mother and wife, taking care of all household necessities. This phenomenon is
represented in numerous novels, including Margareth Widhy Pratiwi�s Kinanti.
Questions arising from this background are how the concept of motherhood is
represented in Kinanti, and why that concept is reproduced by Margareth Widhy
Pratiwi, the author.
These research questions have been investigated using Julia
Suryakusuma�s concept of Ibuisme (mother-ism), which discusses the
construction of women�s roles as mothers and housewives, as well as the ideal
manifestations of these roles according to society. Through the compiled data,
including words, sentences, and paragraphs showing how the ideal of motherhood
is constructed, as well as women�s actions and society�s opinions, the ideal
concept of a mother can be understood.
Research indicates that women currently hold dual roles, as wives/mothers
and as career women. As women are expected to give birth to a child, they are
expected to have maternal instincts, maternal instincts which are expected to keep
women (at least partially) in the domestic arena. In their role as housewives,
women are held responsible for the smooth continuation of life in the household.
It is this expectation, however, which has pushed women to move to the public
arena. Society expects that women will use the public arena to actualize
themselves, with the ultimate goal of giving a positive contribution to their
family
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