Representasi Perempuan dalam Simbol Bahasa Indonesia

Abstract

This study examines the use of feminine symbolization in the Indonesian language as an ideological practice that represents and normalizes patriarchal gender constructions. Language is understood not merely as a means of communication but as a social practice embedded in power relations and gender ideology. The study focuses on feminine lexical elements such as ibu (mother), putri (princess), dewi (goddess), mama, and perawan (virgin), which are attached to non-human entities—including nature, public spaces, commercial products, and mythological figures—through metaphor and personification.

Employing a qualitative approach with Critical Discourse Analysis based on Fairclough’s model, this research analyzes data from everyday language use, popular media, and folklore or mythology. The analysis is informed by linguistic feminism, cultural feminism, ecofeminism, and conceptual metaphor theory.

The findings reveal that feminine symbolization in Indonesian forms systematic and consistent representational patterns. Symbols of virginity and purity position women as moral objects subject to evaluation and control, while maternal symbols idealize women as sources of life yet simultaneously confine them to caregiving roles. The symbols of princesses and goddesses construct women as idealized, sacred, and beautiful figures, but largely passive and constrained in social agency. In the realm of popular media and commodification, feminine symbols are strategically employed to reproduce established gender stereotypes.

This study concludes that feminine symbolization in the Indonesian language is not a neutral linguistic phenomenon but a subtle ideological mechanism that shapes social perceptions of women. Language actively participates in reproducing patriarchal gender constructions by positioning women primarily as symbols rather than as social subjects with agency and autonomy.