The Jakarta Post
Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
| Fri, 01/29/2010 12:54 PM | Life
In the past seven years, hair straightening, also called hair rebonding in Southeast Asian countries, has mainly been the preserve of glossy fashion and beauty magazines.
Early this year, however, hair rebonding has made headlines in all kinds of Indonesian media — thanks to a group of East Java clerics who issued an edict forbidding Muslim women from modifying their hair — the way rebonding does.
A war of words ensued as people bounced arguments around. But of course, not everyone joined the game. Din Syamsuddin, leader of Muhammadiyah, one of the biggest Muslim organizations in Indonesia, decided to keep his lips sealed. “There is no need [to discuss this],” he said.
The former chairman of Muslim-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Tifatul Sembiring, opted for the same tactic. “Don’t ask me,” said the now minister of communications and information.
A number of famous hairstylists also refused to comment.
“No comment,” said noted hairdresser and businessman Rudy Hadisuwarno, although he seemed to say it a less serious way.
Is that even enough?
Nope. A number of Muslim hair salons took a vow of silence almost, worrying about whether they would say the wrong things.
| Fri, 01/29/2010 12:54 PM | Life
In the past seven years, hair straightening, also called hair rebonding in Southeast Asian countries, has mainly been the preserve of glossy fashion and beauty magazines.
Early this year, however, hair rebonding has made headlines in all kinds of Indonesian media — thanks to a group of East Java clerics who issued an edict forbidding Muslim women from modifying their hair — the way rebonding does.
A war of words ensued as people bounced arguments around. But of course, not everyone joined the game. Din Syamsuddin, leader of Muhammadiyah, one of the biggest Muslim organizations in Indonesia, decided to keep his lips sealed. “There is no need [to discuss this],” he said.
The former chairman of Muslim-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Tifatul Sembiring, opted for the same tactic. “Don’t ask me,” said the now minister of communications and information.
A number of famous hairstylists also refused to comment.
“No comment,” said noted hairdresser and businessman Rudy Hadisuwarno, although he seemed to say it a less serious way.
Is that even enough?
Nope. A number of Muslim hair salons took a vow of silence almost, worrying about whether they would say the wrong things.
“I don’t think we want to discuss this,” said the owner of a famous Muslim salon, one of three The Jakarta Post visited. OK, but does this salon actually offer hair rebonding? Yes, the woman admitted.
“But we shouldn’t talk about that — it would be sensitive,” she added.
So, maybe, everybody has their own reasons to stay silent. But what this small phenomenon actually shows is that perhaps we should be asking another question. What do those “no comments” mean?
“They’re just afraid,” said woman activist and Muslim scholar Masruchah. In the case of those the Muslim salons, she continued, “it’s a matter of conflict of interest. This strongly relates to their living and comfort.”
Muslim scholar Siti Musdah Mulia nodded in agreement.
“This is the thing — we know how odd such an edict sounds to many of us, but we never have the guts to speak up against it,” said Musdah of the Indonesian Conference of Religions and Peace (ICRP).
“It’s about the silent majority who is afraid of discussing [controversial] religious issues, when it actually has the right to do that.”
This frightened silent majority, consequently, she said, “has caused the voices of smaller groups like those in East Java to be heard more than theirs.
“They [the silent majority] have excluded themselves from the debate, leading to people thinking they actually agree [with that smaller group],” Musdah added.
The small group, as Musdah referred, is the Forum Musyawarah Pondok Pesantren Putri (FMP3) comprising 250 leaders of female Islamic boarding schools across Java and Madura.
Besides hair rebonding, the forum also banned Muslim women from changing the color of their hair, holding pre-wedding photo sessions, working as ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers and using ojek services to go to certain places, as this forum believes these actions may incite immoral acts.
Riding on an ojek, they argued, has the potential to bring women into contact with the male ojek drivers’ skin, and expose their aurat (parts of the body that must be covered). Previously, the same forum had also forbidden Muslims from using social networking site Facebook.
However, Islam does recognize the rights for women to beautify themselves, Masruchah explained.
“It has to do with the motives behind us doing so,” she said. “We do not necessarily do that to attract the opposite sex. Many of us want to look pretty for ourselves — we just want to feel comfortable and confident,” she added.
Despite women having to bear all the blame for inciting immoral acts, Masruchah reminded, Islam views both genders equally.
“So, let’s ask: what about men ‘rebonding’ their hair?” she said. “How come that has never been an issue?”
Once again, Musdah shared a similar view.
“Islam talks about morality — and it applies to both women and men,” she said. “The Koran has asked both genders to protect their appearance and sexual organs.”
The Koran, Musdah went on, has no explicit rules about beautifying oneself — it is not prohibited
to wear lipstick or other kind of makeup.
“It merely asks both men and women to not do too much to beautify themselves,” she said. After all, she underlined, we know the hadith saying, “Allah is beautiful and loves beauty.”
And it’s the same hadith that tafsir expert and former religious affairs minister Quraish Shihab cited to his daughter Najwa Shihab — a MetroTV news presenter, when she asked him about hair rebonding.
“So I asked Dad Quraish Shihab about rebonding,” Najwa tweeted in her Twitter account. “[He said] Allah is beautiful and loves beauty. As long as [rebonding] doesn’t harm us or others, it’s allowable.”
Quraish’s words were then quoted in many other people’s tweet messages — making it one of the trendiest Twitter topics.
“If we disagree about something, we should speak up — for everyone’s sake,” Musdah said. We shouldn’t doubt our own religion,” she added.
Musdah said she couldn’t understand why mundane activities like hair rebonding or hair coloring had become such an issue in Indonesia, while in fact, she revealed, women in Arab countries had never fussed about them.
“Have you ever been to hair salons in Arab countries?” Musdah said. “Have you ever seen the hair of Arabic women?”
To tell you the truth, she said, “Arabic women are very sexy — although they wear veils, dye their hair in all kinds of colors — red, green and blonde.
“They perm their hair, rebond it… and are always taking advantage of beauty technology!”
Arabic women, Musdah continued, love to visit hip salons and spas.
“They do it regularly — and there has never been any fuss about rebonding, coloring and so on in their countries,” she said. “So, why does it have to cause such a ruckus here in Indonesia?”
The personal gets political: A woman gets rebonding treatment at a beauty salon in Jakarta. A group of clerics in East Java has issued an edict that labels rebonding, pre-wedding photos, ‘70s-style punk hair and female ojek drivers haram.
Sidebox:
How does one define beauty?
Some of us women think we weren’t born beautiful. It’s not necessarily because someone has said it to our face — it’s because we’re the ones embracing this self-perception.
Of course, we don’t only have ourselves to blame. If you flip through the pages of any glossy fashion and beauty magazine, then you’ll know where you stand compared to commercially defined beauty ideals.
But just how do you define beauty? A curvy waist with a flat tummy? Fair skin and straight hair? Well, your list could be longer, but one thing is certain: Women will pursue their desire to be beautiful their entire life.
“The capitalist world has long defined what beauty is,” said women activist Masruchah. “Beauty is fair skin; beauty is straight hair — so those with curly hair will be tempted to get their hair straightened.”
And unfortunately for some women, not only are they are “bounded” by their beauty obsessions, they’re also restricted by certain religious beliefs.
“There has always been intervention — rules in society that dictate [what] women [should do or look like],” Masruchah said.
Masruchah went on to describe how beautifying oneself had always been associated with women.
“Not all women love to spend time making themselves more beautiful. Men also love to groom themselves,” she said. “So rules should not only be made for women, because sensuality doesn’t only belong to them.”
Muslim scholar Siti Musdah Mulia agreed, saying that these kinds of male-dominated perspectives have led to the issuance of gender-biased edicts.
“Women always get blamed for causing immoral acts,” she said.
In Islam, Musdah revealed, beauty and grooming belong both to men and women.
“The Koran tells both women and men to wear perfume and beautiful attires,” she said. Why?
“Because beauty is naturally embedded within humans. And Islam wants its followers to appreciate beauty.”
And when it comes to the concept of beauty, “Being beautiful is essentially about how we can contribute to others,” Musdah said. “It’s not about whether you can straighten your hair, and so on. Defining beauty is more complex than that.”
But of course, if you’re really keen on getting that chopstick-looking hairstyle, then it is your prerogative to do so, as “you have the right to beautify yourself for the sake of your own satisfaction,” said Masruchah.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/01/29/collision-beauty-and-beliefs.html
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/01/29/how-does-one-define-beauty.html
“But we shouldn’t talk about that — it would be sensitive,” she added.
So, maybe, everybody has their own reasons to stay silent. But what this small phenomenon actually shows is that perhaps we should be asking another question. What do those “no comments” mean?
“They’re just afraid,” said woman activist and Muslim scholar Masruchah. In the case of those the Muslim salons, she continued, “it’s a matter of conflict of interest. This strongly relates to their living and comfort.”
Muslim scholar Siti Musdah Mulia nodded in agreement.
“This is the thing — we know how odd such an edict sounds to many of us, but we never have the guts to speak up against it,” said Musdah of the Indonesian Conference of Religions and Peace (ICRP).
“It’s about the silent majority who is afraid of discussing [controversial] religious issues, when it actually has the right to do that.”
This frightened silent majority, consequently, she said, “has caused the voices of smaller groups like those in East Java to be heard more than theirs.
“They [the silent majority] have excluded themselves from the debate, leading to people thinking they actually agree [with that smaller group],” Musdah added.
The small group, as Musdah referred, is the Forum Musyawarah Pondok Pesantren Putri (FMP3) comprising 250 leaders of female Islamic boarding schools across Java and Madura.
Besides hair rebonding, the forum also banned Muslim women from changing the color of their hair, holding pre-wedding photo sessions, working as ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers and using ojek services to go to certain places, as this forum believes these actions may incite immoral acts.
Riding on an ojek, they argued, has the potential to bring women into contact with the male ojek drivers’ skin, and expose their aurat (parts of the body that must be covered). Previously, the same forum had also forbidden Muslims from using social networking site Facebook.
However, Islam does recognize the rights for women to beautify themselves, Masruchah explained.
“It has to do with the motives behind us doing so,” she said. “We do not necessarily do that to attract the opposite sex. Many of us want to look pretty for ourselves — we just want to feel comfortable and confident,” she added.
Despite women having to bear all the blame for inciting immoral acts, Masruchah reminded, Islam views both genders equally.
“So, let’s ask: what about men ‘rebonding’ their hair?” she said. “How come that has never been an issue?”
Once again, Musdah shared a similar view.
“Islam talks about morality — and it applies to both women and men,” she said. “The Koran has asked both genders to protect their appearance and sexual organs.”
The Koran, Musdah went on, has no explicit rules about beautifying oneself — it is not prohibited
to wear lipstick or other kind of makeup.
“It merely asks both men and women to not do too much to beautify themselves,” she said. After all, she underlined, we know the hadith saying, “Allah is beautiful and loves beauty.”
And it’s the same hadith that tafsir expert and former religious affairs minister Quraish Shihab cited to his daughter Najwa Shihab — a MetroTV news presenter, when she asked him about hair rebonding.
“So I asked Dad Quraish Shihab about rebonding,” Najwa tweeted in her Twitter account. “[He said] Allah is beautiful and loves beauty. As long as [rebonding] doesn’t harm us or others, it’s allowable.”
Quraish’s words were then quoted in many other people’s tweet messages — making it one of the trendiest Twitter topics.
“If we disagree about something, we should speak up — for everyone’s sake,” Musdah said. We shouldn’t doubt our own religion,” she added.
Musdah said she couldn’t understand why mundane activities like hair rebonding or hair coloring had become such an issue in Indonesia, while in fact, she revealed, women in Arab countries had never fussed about them.
“Have you ever been to hair salons in Arab countries?” Musdah said. “Have you ever seen the hair of Arabic women?”
To tell you the truth, she said, “Arabic women are very sexy — although they wear veils, dye their hair in all kinds of colors — red, green and blonde.
“They perm their hair, rebond it… and are always taking advantage of beauty technology!”
Arabic women, Musdah continued, love to visit hip salons and spas.
“They do it regularly — and there has never been any fuss about rebonding, coloring and so on in their countries,” she said. “So, why does it have to cause such a ruckus here in Indonesia?”
The personal gets political: A woman gets rebonding treatment at a beauty salon in Jakarta. A group of clerics in East Java has issued an edict that labels rebonding, pre-wedding photos, ‘70s-style punk hair and female ojek drivers haram.
Sidebox:
How does one define beauty?
Some of us women think we weren’t born beautiful. It’s not necessarily because someone has said it to our face — it’s because we’re the ones embracing this self-perception.
Of course, we don’t only have ourselves to blame. If you flip through the pages of any glossy fashion and beauty magazine, then you’ll know where you stand compared to commercially defined beauty ideals.
But just how do you define beauty? A curvy waist with a flat tummy? Fair skin and straight hair? Well, your list could be longer, but one thing is certain: Women will pursue their desire to be beautiful their entire life.
“The capitalist world has long defined what beauty is,” said women activist Masruchah. “Beauty is fair skin; beauty is straight hair — so those with curly hair will be tempted to get their hair straightened.”
And unfortunately for some women, not only are they are “bounded” by their beauty obsessions, they’re also restricted by certain religious beliefs.
“There has always been intervention — rules in society that dictate [what] women [should do or look like],” Masruchah said.
Masruchah went on to describe how beautifying oneself had always been associated with women.
“Not all women love to spend time making themselves more beautiful. Men also love to groom themselves,” she said. “So rules should not only be made for women, because sensuality doesn’t only belong to them.”
Muslim scholar Siti Musdah Mulia agreed, saying that these kinds of male-dominated perspectives have led to the issuance of gender-biased edicts.
“Women always get blamed for causing immoral acts,” she said.
In Islam, Musdah revealed, beauty and grooming belong both to men and women.
“The Koran tells both women and men to wear perfume and beautiful attires,” she said. Why?
“Because beauty is naturally embedded within humans. And Islam wants its followers to appreciate beauty.”
And when it comes to the concept of beauty, “Being beautiful is essentially about how we can contribute to others,” Musdah said. “It’s not about whether you can straighten your hair, and so on. Defining beauty is more complex than that.”
But of course, if you’re really keen on getting that chopstick-looking hairstyle, then it is your prerogative to do so, as “you have the right to beautify yourself for the sake of your own satisfaction,” said Masruchah.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/01/29/collision-beauty-and-beliefs.html
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/01/29/how-does-one-define-beauty.html
