Category Archives: Girls

This clip shows that in some parts of Indonesia, transexuals are not only accepted in their communities, but fill an important role in the rituals of their culture.  At least, this is the case among the Bugis of South Sulawesi.  This is far more progressive (to my mind) even than what occurs in the West. 

But it’s not all sunshine, lolipops and rainbows for Indonesia’s transexuals.  As this story from the Jakarta Globe shows, they are under attack from Islamic fundamentalists.  While that story comes from earlier this year, I’m sure I read about a more recent transvestite beauty pageant which was actually closed down by a raid from the radicals.

Well, transgender is older than Islam.  I suppose that traditional societies have accepted people who are slightly unusual, while Islam is still searching for a way to accommodate them within its tenets.  In the meantime, it’s unfortunate for those people who are caught in the middle of this disruption.

Interestingly, it’s not only in traditional parts of Indonesia that transexuals are accepted.  It is by no means uncommon for a television show to be cohosted by a transgender celebrity.  Perhaps their naturally outgoing nature provides a good contrast to the usual milquetoast presenters who inhabit Indonesian TV.

A singular example of a transvestite celebrity is Dorce Gamalama:

Dorce was so famous that at the height of her popularity she hosted her own show.  She has even been permitted to adopt several children as her own (Indonesia is indeed a land of surprises).   She professed strong Islamic beliefs and often wears the jilbab (headscarf) in public.  You may not be aware that the jilbab is more than a mere item of clothing.  It symbolises a willingness to live according to Islamic principles.  A woman wearing a jilbab is akin to being a secular nun (if such a person existed).  Having said that, not all women who wear jilbabs live up to this asperation.  Still, those who wear the jilbab and do not act in a suitably pious manner tend to come in for harsh criticism from their peers, so they usually change their ways or revert to having their hair uncovered.

As her career ebbed a few years ago, Dorce made what she must have thought was a populist move by attending the funeral of the terrorist bomber Imam Samudra, going so far as to spend time with his mother to give moral support.  She is even reported to have said publicly that she wished him to go to heaven as a martyr.  Perhaps she merely hoped to recover some of her dwindling audience by appealing to the lowest, or she hoped for some free publicity.  As my boss used to say: if something looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck – it’s probably a duck.  Dorce certainly acted, looked and spoke like a terrorist sympathiser.  The ironic thing is that Samudra would probably have wished Dorce dead, if he hadn’t himself been dead already.

I’m pleased to say that, as far as I know, Dorce no longer has her own show and is not currently on Indonesian TV to spread her radical views.

BTW, I always thought the Bugis were entirely muslim, but it seems from the first clip that some pre-Islamic beliefs continue to be observed, at least in parts of South Sulawesi.