Queen-bee phenomenon: Barriers to women’s participation in politics

Abstract This research has the objectives to uncover the perspectives, judgments, and reactions of women toward other women who enter politics; the underlying assumption that motivates such thinking and actions, and; the practical implications of such thinking and actions in the political sphere. These questions are based on the fact that patriarchy is also affecting women. The strong patriarchal culture in Indonesian society results not only in the perceived superiority of men over women but also in the perceived superiority of women over other women. The latter is often referred to as the “queen-bee phenomenon.” Affirmation actions of women’s participation in politics do not necessarily increase the number of women representatives in the legislative. In Indonesia, regulations have been issued to support women being involved in the political sphere, but women still find it hard to get a seat at the table. Using a qualitative approach with a gender perspective, this study aims to provide an overview of the queen-bee phenomenon. The results show that: 1) Some women think that women are not supposed to enter politics; 2) They ground this view in religious and cultural values; 3) They express their views verbally, in their attitudes, and actions. Overall, the findings show that patriarchy is not only perpetuated by men but also by women against other women.


Introduction
As stated in the election law, women are encouraged to participate in Indonesia's public sphere and politics.However, the number of women legislative members in the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (MPR) has only reached 20.8% of the total 30% quota (MPR-RI, 2023).The increase has been marginal, and, in some areas, such as Central Java, the number of women representatives from the legislative general election only reached 20.5% of the total members of the Regional House of Representatives of the Central Java Province.At the city level, Semarang only has nine women representatives of 52 board members.It meant there were only 18%z women representatives in the city legislative board (DPRD Kota Semarang, 2020) Political parties have tried to increase the number of women's legislative members.One of the programs is by establishing a women's bureau whose sole purpose was to recruit female cadres (Elizabeth, 2019).However, this effort has not been fruitful.In the societal context, mass organizations have also rolled out various programs to increase women's political participation.The Regional Leaders of Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama held a collaborative workshop with Bawaslu (Humas Bawaslu Kabupaten Batang, 2019) and the Regional Leaders of Fatayat Nahdlatul Ulama and Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama held voter training (Sudjatmiko, 2019).Both programs aimed to attract women audience to be interested in politics.
Studies on the struggle for women to take part in politics are extensive.For example, in Canada and Northern Ireland (Anderson & Gillies, 2018), the political structure was a barrier to participating in politics.In the context of the European Parliament, such as in Germany, the social barrier is the absence of affirmative action for women to enter politics (Jenichen, 2020;Sundström & Stockemer, 2022).In Kenya, the same is true that the barriers is political culture (Were, 2017).Meanwhile, in Sweden (Hugemark & Roman, 2014), the barriers are gender and ethnic discrimination.In Tunisia (Abdo-Katsipis, 2017), the barrier was more personal.In South Africa (Mlambo et al., 2019) and Lebanon (Geha, 2019), the barrier was the low awareness of women's importance in politics.However, all the studies mentioned above focus on the political, social, and personal aspects, and none has discussed the cultural barriers.
This article fills the gap in the discussion by focusing on the rejection from fellow women stemming from the patriarchal culture.The theme of the queen bee phenomenon in politics with this kind of study is the novelty of this study.The three main issues that become the focus of this study are the perspectives, judgments, and reactions of women toward other women who enter politics, the underlying assumption that motivates such thinking and actions, and; the practical implications of such thinking and actions.The discussions aim to unravel the barriers to active participation in politics.The finding is expected to help improve the democratization process in Indonesia.
The basic assumptions of this research are that: 1) there is a negative perception from women towards women who enter politics; 2) the negative view is rooted in the patriarchal culture in Indonesian society; 3) the negative view discourages women from participating in politics.

Politics and democracy
The term of politics can generally be interpreted as an effort to achieve the ideals or an ideology (Wiley, 2016).Politics is related to power and can take the form of competition between individuals, individuals with groups, or between groups (Roskin et al., 2012).Matches occur because there is a need to maintain ideology or create policies following one's desires.Establishing a policy requires power because consensus needs to be achieved for it to be accepted.In this case, power comes to play.
Democracy is inseparable from politics and assumes diverse constituencies (Cheibub, 2007) In the political process, any members of society have the same rights and responsibilities to participate (Tilly, 2007).However, in terms of gender, men are often more involved in politics than women.Therefore, affirmative political actions for women are needed to achieve more equitable political processes and allow women more opportunities to be involved in various political fields (Agustina, 2009;Aulya et al., 2022;Napsiah, 2009)

Barriers to women in politics
Research on the barriers to the political arena has been conducted extensively, with the findings grouped into three.The first group is about the political structure, such as the one found in Canada and Northern Ireland (Anderson & Gillies, 2018) and Pakistan ( (Bibi, 2020;Khayyam & Tahir, 2019;Sumbas, 2020).The study by Sumbas A. shows how gender views influence political policies related to women's participation (Sumbas, 2020).Any discriminatory policies against women can result in low participation.Meanwhile, Sundström & Stockemer in their study within the European parliament, found that party structure and policies greatly determine the level of women's participation in politics.They found the existing political structures often result in participation barriers (Sundström & Stockemer, 2022).Strong patriarchal culture has taken root in various political structures and processes, making it difficult to dismantle.
The second barrier is related to social and gender discrimination.Anne Jenichen, in her research in Germany, found that women from minority groups experience both forms of discrimination, social and gender (Jenichen, 2020).Therefore, affirmative actions are needed to support women from minority groups so that they can be involved in politics (Schneider & Carroll, 2020) found that gender-based discrimination in politics is rooted in the cultural value that distinguishes men and women's roles.It is proven that gender-based discrimination is also become the obstacle for women to take part in political sphere.
The third barrier is the low awareness of the importance of involving women in politics, as found by Abdo-Katsipis (2017) in Tunisia, Mlambo et al. (2019) in South Africa, and Carmen Geha (2019) in Lebanon.Mlambo et al. found that in South Africa, the generally low level of freedom, the low human development index, and the electoral process discriminating against women have discouraged women from entering politics (Mlambo et al., 2019).Similarly, Carmen Geha et al. found that women's political interests in Lebanon were low.Even the empowerment efforts did not get a positive response, and the programs were considered irrelevant.From these studies, we can conclude that the general public's perception has presented women as a party that is not interested in or supposed to be in politics (Geha, 2019).This is so ingrained in society that women see it as a norm.
In the Indonesian context, research on barriers for women to entering politics found that they were mainly cultural, i.e., patriarchy (Elizabeth et al., 2021).Patriarchal culture is so strong that it is manifested in all social processes, including politics.Likewise, Parawansa stated that the barriers are complex, from culture to structure (Parawansa, 2002).Similar findings were also observed in different areas in Indonesia, such as in Gorontalo (Sahi, 2012), Kendal (Suciptaningsih, 2013), and Bima (Nurbayan & Tahir, 2019).
Unlike the past studies mentioned above, this study does not focus solely on women's participation in the political sphere but also on the involvement in various mass organizations that become the home base for legislature members.To the best of our knowledge, this area is still under-researched.

The queen bee phenomenon
The term queen bee was first coined by researchers from Michigan University, Staines and Abramson, after examining the promotions of women workers in workplaces (Mavin & Grandy, 2012).A queen bee is a concept concerning destructive behaviors shown by anti-female female leaders.This term refers to the tendency of female leaders to always act negatively towards their female colleagues, sting when their power is threatened, and even thwart other women's careers in the workplace (Mavin, 2006;Mavin & Grandy, 2012); queen bee shows that women are women's worst enemies (Ellemers, 2014) and that women leaders can be highly critical of other women (Derks et al., 2011;Hurst, 2016).A queen bee does not want to help fellow women and creates unhealthy competition instead because they need to protect themselves and maintain their power (Hurst, 2016).A queen bee also exhibits destructive behaviors, manipulates, betrays, sabotages female co-workers' careers, refuses to cooperate, spreads gossip, insults, and demeans people (Hurst, 2016).With this, a queen bee makes other women unable to make progress (Derks et al., 2011).
Existing literature confirmed that the queen bee leader has masculine behavior and is assimilated into a male or patriarchal culture (Derks et al., 2011(Derks et al., , 2016;;Ellemers, 2014;Faniko et al., 2021;Suharnomo & Permatasari, 2019).A queen bee often mercilessly bullies their female co-workers and is aggressive, bossy, arrogant, and rude (Hurst, 2016;Kelan & Carr, 2016;Mavin, 2006).This masculine leadership trait makes a queen bee dubbed an apostate woman (Mavin & Grandy, 2012), or a woman who eliminates female traits that should be a feature.Therefore, co-workers and subordinates of the queen bee will feel ignored, less understood and understood, and less willing to forgive mistakes (Mavin, 2006).

Methods
Locus and focus of research.This research was conducted among female legislative members in the Indonesian DPRD, Central Java.Central Java Province is selected as the locus of this research because this province has been a parameter of various development programs in Indonesia.The focus of this research is on the obstacles experienced by women members of the legislature when they go through the process of becoming members of the legislature.The relationship between legislative members and other organizations outside political parties makes the focus of the study involve personnel in these outside organizations.The organizations outside of political parties are women mass organizations and professional organization.
Research type and approach.This study is field research using a qualitative approach.Field research is research that is intended to reveal the facts that exist in some community members in their behavior and the surrounding reality (Morse, 1994;Pelto, 2016).Meanwhile qualitative research approach refer to a type of research that explores and provides deeper insights into realworld problems (Morse, 1994) The facts revealed are about the obstacles experienced by women in becoming legislative members due to obstacles from fellow women.This obstacle is the focus of the study.
Participants.This study involved twelve participants, consisted of three key informants and nine informants.The informants consisting of six legislative members from the three most-represented parties, two from women's mass organizations, and one from a professional organization.The inclusion of the nine informants held the representativeness principle.Representativeness is an important prerequisite in qualitative research (Spradley, 2016).The representation of informants in this study refers to the leaders in each data unit, taking into account informants' experience, knowledge and involvement in the study unit, as required as informants (Spradley, 2016).The leader of each data unit become the key informant, who show the researcher who are the informants.Totally this research involved nine informants and three key informants.All of the informants and key informants agreed their participantion in this research.The data of the participants in this research are as shown di the Table 1.
Data collection.The data were collected using structured and unstructured interviews and document studies (Fontana & Frey, 1994).Structured interviews using interview guidelines were conducted in interviews with subject related to organizational processes and events that occur in daily life.The guidelines are available in the appendix.Unstructured interviews were conducted to gather data related to the experiences, attitudes and values shared by the informants (Chauhan, 2022;Nathan et al., 2019).Unstructured interviews are usually carried out with in-depth interviews.This in-depth interview made it possible to understand the values referred to by the informants because of a process called probing (Schwalbe & Wolkomir, 2002).The interviews were conducted in person or using media (phone, WhatsApp, and email).Mainly the interview is done directly, face to face, especially in the unstructured interview.But for the data confirmation related structural data, it is possible to apply media (Cachia & Millward, 2011;Kaufmann & Peil, 2020).The documents contain the relevant data about female legislators, such as the numbers, the distribution by party, and the distribution by faction and commission also needed in this study.This document study is important because qualitative research relies on quality information and argumentation (Morse, 1994).
Data analyses.The data collected using various methods, specified according to the theme, and verified for conformity (Spradley, 2016).After being systematized, the data were then analyzed using a gender perspective.An analysis using a gender perspective assumes that differences between men and women are culturally shaped.Therefore, this study aims to understand how patriarchy, like other cultural powers, co-opts the knowledge system of community members, including women.

Verbal rejections
Verbal rejections were found in the public contexts, within the community, and in formal and organizational contexts.In the public context, the rejections came from community figures and women's mass organization leaders.R1, for example, said: If a woman becomes a member of political parties or politicians, she will lose her femininity.How will she function as a mother or as a wife?Becoming a politician takes a big portion of her time.If the husband does not understand his wife's work, they may not be able to compromise and finally file a divorce.(R1, 65 years old, head of provincial women's mass organizations) An administrator of the professional organization, R2, expressed her rejection of women's involvement in politics by stating: I can't imagine what it would be like if the legislative board members consisted of more women.My colleague goes home late at night or even in the morning.In my opinion, it is too hard, physically, psychologically, physically, and socially.(R2, 54 years old, professional organization administrator) A leader of a religious women's organization in Central Java, R3, also expressed her rejection: As a leader of the organization, I 'support' women to advance in various fields, including politics.However, I do not think it is appropriate to support them fully.In fact, I feel guilty if I give full support because if something happens to their family, I cannot help deal with it.That is just the nature of this job.A legislative board member or a politician must be able to perform their duties optimally.(R3, 60 years old, provincial women's mass organization administrator) The leader of a women's organization, R1, expressed a similar opinion: Compared to duties in politics, in my opinion, social work is more suitable for women because it can be done flexibly.It is impossible for politicians to work flexibly because they are bound to state duties.If politicians work flexibly, the country's political conditions can deteriorate.Not to mention if the woman politician has young children, who need extra care from their parents.
4.1.1.1.Rejections in the form of attitudes.Rejections may also be expressed in attitude in personal interactions or an organizational context.This attitude is shown, among others, by ignoring women legislative board members.In one observation from a mass religious women's organization's plenary meeting, some women gave the cold shoulder to a woman politician, R4.She, R4, was the organization's administrator, who then became a legislative board member.No one paid attention to her when she came into the plenary meeting.When she said hello to the forum, only some even gave her a look.This unpleasant attitude was felt by party members, R5 and R9, as they said "I feel uncomfortable with the attitude shown by the organization leader to me."This attitude was also felt by the management of the women's mass organization, as they expressed "I see how the organization leaders are particularly indifferent towards members who are actively involved in a political party."Another party member, who was also a member of a mass religious organization and legislature members, R6, experienced the same feeling as R4, as they said, "I can feel and understand that.It is not only for R4 but for me as well.I don't want to think about such things.I fully understand."Furthermore, formal rejection is shown, for example, when a member proposes to get a recommendation from the organization to become a legislature member.The leader of the organization simply dismisses the request.Moreover, the women's mass organization preferred to supports male candidates.This was stated by R6, who was running for the legislature candidacy at that time: "I did not get any responses.I asked for recommendations from the organization, but they supported male candidates instead."Likewise, R7 submitted a request of recommendation to the party's administrators.Recommendations from professional organizations are important in the general election process.Even though women practically ran the organization, but they did not respond to her request.

Rejection in the form of actions.
Rejection in the form of actions can be observed significantly within an organization, for example, in the nomination of board members' candidacy.Organizations with many members usually elect the boards from their internal organizational members, but women are not nominated even when there are several positions.The candidacy is more open to male members instead.
Likewise, in a board member election, members of an organization tend to choose male candidates for various reasons.In an interview, organization members admitted that they preferred not to vote for female candidates despite having the same organizational background.In other words, the rejection is both organizational and individual.Commenting on this, R1 and R3 explained that an autonomous organization only follows the parent organization.If the parent organization recommends a certain candidate, the independent or under-bow of the organization must follow through.

Religious texts against women's involvement
Participants in this study stated that their objection to their female colleagues entering politics was motivated by religious texts.An administrator of a religious-based women's mass organization stated that the opposition against women entering politics is the Qur'an Surah An-Nisa verse 34, which can be translated into: "Husbands are protectors of women (wives) because Allah has made some of them (men) more superior than some of the others (women)." Their interpretation claims that because women are not obligated to earn a living, a job as demanding as a legislature member with a heavy workload and risks is not suitable for women.R3, an activist in a women-led mass organization, expressed her opinion as follows: Indeed, our religion emphasizes that women do not have an obligation to provide for the family.In this case, I think there is no need for women to go out of their way and take up a demanding job.Yes, it is demanding because the duties as a board member extend outside the work hours.They may be required to work outside of the office in a maledominated environment.Is it possible for a woman to have enough time for family and to take care of herself?And how is the society going to be? Informants, R4, R5, R6, quoted another verse from the Qur'an: QS.Al-Ahzab: 33 as follows: "And stay in your house, do not put on make-up and behave like the Jahiliyah people (the ignorant)."A daily administrator in a women's organization, R1, stated: "In my opinion, women as politicians are too ahead of the time.Our society is religious.Becoming a legislature member is difficult as one has to jump from one event to another.How will a woman fulfill her duty as a wife, and also as a mother?"Another administrator, R2, on a different occasion, stated: "Legislature is a masculine work environment.It is a man's world.Women may feel uncomfortable working in an environment dominated by men.The job may not actually be right for women."A similar opinion was found in another organization.R3, an administrator from a women-led professional organization, said: I support my friend to become a legislature member, but only half-heartedly because I am worried that something will happen to my friend.Many cases already show how being a member of the legislature tears family apart.With the high risk, I do not think being a legislature member is the right choice for women.
Another basis for the opposition against women entering politics is a hadith that asserts, "Women provide the first schooling system," which means that women in their domestic functions play an important role in educating their children.Therefore, if women decide to work in politics, especially by becoming legislative board members, they cannot put 100% into educating their children.R8 stated that she received such advice when asking for a recommendation to run as a legislative board member.

Cultural values that do not support women's involvement in politics
Appropriateness is also a recurrent topic in this study.According to the local culture, Javanese culture, in particular, two terms are seen as the basis to view how women are not culturally supported to work in politics.The terms are "wanita" 1 and "garwa. 2 " A leader of a professional organization, R9, stated that: In Javanese, women are called wanita.The meaning is "wani ditata and wani nata" 3 meaning that women must obey the rules and keep order.Rules in this context are cultural and religious values.Women must take care of themselves.If a woman works, she should choose a "safe" job.Women's work in politics is "unsafe" and does not fit into the cultural and religious values for women.
R1 and R3 expressed their views on the term garwa as follows.
"Garwa" means "sigaraning nyawa" 4 (soulmate).After being married, a woman is inseparable from her husband.If a woman decides to enter politics and become a legislature member, it will be impossible for her to be by her husband's side because being a council member will take most of her time.This can break a family." Another daily administrator, R1, added that various family problems arising in society are partly because women do not adhere to cultural corridors.R2 and R3 also express this view.Considering the reality of work in the political field, dividing attention with family matters is difficult.They state: "Women may be active outside, but not in politics.Their abilities are useful for the community but can still play an important role in the family."

Women's views on women's involvement in politics
In discussions with women activists, there is a personal motivation to be actively involved in politics.They view their involvement in politics as a citizen's obligation.For example, as some women legislative board members, R4, R5, R7, R8, stated that: Women must participate and think about their country.The political arena is an important point where we can voice our aspirations.Men dominate politics, so important decisions taken by the state are mostly masculine.I am not bothered when someone says that women are not supposed to enter politics for various reasons.The important thing is that I have the right goals and the right actions.I am not too influenced by the negative views of those opposing women's political involvement.
Likewise, there are also reasons why women are hesitant to enter politics.R3 stated: Since I was a high school student, I have been active in religious-based organizations.In fact, I was molded in the organizations.As I am matured, I continue to work in religious-based women's organizations, but I was brought up in a culture of tawadu. 5Therefore, I became hesitant when the election law was issued and women were encouraged to participate in politics, but the seniors seemed displeased.On the one hand, I want to do something.On the other hand, I feel that the organizations will not support me entering politics.
The opinion above reflects how women are shadowed by a patriarchal culture, even in women's organizations.The figures' opinions and the environment inevitably shape how women view the world, including how they perceive their involvement in politics.
The interview also revealed that women would not go out of their way to enter politics if they had to clash with cultural and religious views.Several informants mentioned this, and one activist put it as follows: I am actually interested in being active in politics, but I am discouraged by the comment of "the elders" stating that my organization will not go into politics.It's uncomfortable to be a subject of conversation, so I'd rather choose a way of life other than politics.

The underlying reasons to come up with the reasons above
The informants explained that because the organization is under the "umbrella" of Islamic mass organizations, any actions should be based on Islam and its values.R3 and R1 stated: Because we are administrators of an organization based on Islam, the basis for thinking and acting is Islamic and Javanese cultural values.In my opinion, women should follow religious and cultural values so that society will be in order.
Likewise, the leader of a professional organization, R2, stated that: I think that following the religious and cultural foundations will fall into place.If, according to religion, women are better off at home, it does not mean women cannot contribute to their community.There are many other things to be done but not involved in politics.Politics will shift priorities.Following the religious teachings will make women safe, and politics will be fine.

Patriarchal woman: Queen bee expression
The findings in this study show that patriarchal culture is not only related to male and female relations (Ademiluka, 2018).Patriarchal culture can also shape women (Garcia, 2021), so they have gender ideas that lean towards patriarchy.In terms of political involvement of women, patriarchal gender ideas tend to oppose it (Hurst, 2016).In the relationship between women and women, some may not want to be rivaled in public achievements (Ellemers, 2014).This women expression of not wanting to be rivaled or defeated by another women is called the queen bee phenomenon (Salles & Choo, 2020) The competition between the sexes in various psychological studies is called intrasexual competition.In this context is the competition or rivalry between women against another women.
Patriarchy is a culture of hegemony for both men and women (Beechey, 1979;Witz, 1992), If patriarchal hegemony befalls men, the distinction between men and women emerges, with men being seen as superior and women subordinated (Facio, 2013;Mies, 2014).However, if patriarchal hegemony befalls women, the queen bee phenomenon appears.Queen bee phenomenon hinders women's participation in politics (Zakar et al., 2018), not only because of the perceived superiority of men over women but also the perceived superiority of women over other women as a result of the perceived superior self-image (Salles & Choo, 2020).The queen bee phenomenon is an impact of patriarchy on women.The impact of the queen bee phenomenon is no less than the phenomenon of masculinity violence because in the context of this women-women relationship, women are inhibited by women.So women have a position as a barrier to other women based on patriarchal values

Points of reference to reject women's involvement in politics
Observing the reasons given by the informants, it can be concluded that the reasons are grounded in religious and cultural values.The informants referenced Qur'anic verses, hadith, and cultural (albeit biased) values (Sharma, 2018;Wood, 2019).These reference points guide the informants' reinterpretations of women's political involvement (Glas et al., 2018).Therefore, the message conveyed leans so much toward opposition toward women's participation in politics (Facio, 2013;Hekmatpour, 2021;Schnabel, 2020).In particular, according to the informants, a job in the legislative body is not tolerable because it clashes with various religious and traditional rules.It can be underlined here that women in the context of the queen bee phenomenon are women groups who defend and disseminate patriarchal values, which hinder women's involvement in politics because politics is seen not as a women's world.Additionally, patriarchy is not only perpetuated by men but also by women themselves.The reproduction of patriarchal culture by women occurs through various channels, such as the dissemination of texts in forums and religious transmissions (Elizabeth, 2017b;Puluhulawa, 2021), folklore (Sugiarti, 2021), entertainment programs (Setiawati, 2020), and visual expressions (Elizabeth, 2017a).Through various channels above, values are internalized among women (and men), so patriarchy becomes deeply ingrained.Dissemination using various channels is becoming more effective because it is done repeatedly in various forums and carried out over a long period.

The impact of the rejection on the overall participation rate
The rejection of women's involvement in politics impacts the participation rate of women (Abubakar & Ahmad, 2014).The rejection from women will only strengthen the patriarchal culture (Abdo-Katsipis, 2017).It functions as a legitimacy of the patriarchal culture that has been hegemonizing society.Therefore, the rejection of women's participation in politics by leaders of women's mass organizations ultimately results in the widespread public rejection of women's involvement in politics.These women do not support women's struggle to enter the public in the political field, but even join hands with patriarchal men to reject women's involvement in politics.This rejection makes it difficult for women to become members of the legislature.This difficulty is because women's self-actualization cannot be separated from the prevailing culture (Beechey, 1979;Garcia, 2021).Suppose the values in society emphasize that women are not suitable as members of the legislature, in that case, the learning process of women will be oriented to these cultural values because they are seen as ideals.The impact is especially profound when the rejection comes from public figures such as those leading women's organizations.Women are made to believe that politics is not for them.Patriarchal values , which is a mainstreaming value is being more and more strengthened because there are groups of women who show the queen bee phenomenon The rejection toward women's involvement in politics results in the attitudes and actions that oppose women's participation in politics.The queen bee phenomenon becomes the strengthening agent toward the rejection of women involvement in politics In a paternal community structure, vice and virtue depend on what the community leaders say (Beechey, 1979).In case that women community figures show the queen bee phenomenon, it must be meant as the strengthening of the patriarchal value.It is that happened in Indonesia.Although government regulations support the involvement of women in politics, if community leaders reject it, the results are unlikely to be fruitful.People will follow their leaders without thinking critically.

Conclusion
The findings show that the expressions of rejection of women's involvement in politics come from women themselves.The rejections can be verbal or reflected in attitudes and actions.The allaround rejection shows how strong the patriarchal culture is in Indonesia.It should also be noted that patriarchy is not only related to how men view women or how women view men but also to how women view women.If the idea for women is to stay away from politics, this idea will circulate and hegemonize society.
The underlying assumption to rejecting women's participation in politics is that it is not in line with religion and culture.These two pieces of guidance direct the attitudes and behaviors of the community members.Religious texts may be interpreted differently, but there seems to be a united idea about women's political involvement.The rejection is deeply established in existing cultural concepts and is fostered continuously by both men and women.Rejection of women's involvement by women results in diminishing participation occurred because women do not feel accepted or supported when entering the political arena culturally, socially, and individually.They need to safeguard their actions to be culturally appropriate.
Considering the deeply-rooted patriarchy in Indonesia, there is no easy way to unravel the complexity.The limitedness of this study is only focused on a small part of the complexity.However, cultural reinterpretation could be carried out, and the reinterpreted values could then be enculturated in families and society to introduce a new understanding of the role of women in politics.Such efforts to reinterpret culture and practical implementation could be a direction for future study.