Fantasizing the feminine in Indonesia.

"[A] brave attempt to interrogate previous scholarship on Indonesian women and to argue for the particular importance and significance of this area in comparative feminist theory. . . . The collection is innovative in that it includes a number of Indonesian women as contributors and tries to change the image of a country that 'remains anchored in exotic spaces' in the popular imagination. . . . [R]ich in detail, anecdote, argument, and jokes. . . . Buy it, read it with absorption, and see if it manages to unsettle some of your own views of masculinity and femininity in a uniquely Indonesian way." --American Anthropologist "The core aim of this lively and assured collection ... is to seek out not the essentialist notion of 'Indonesian women' but the feminine within the fragile and artificial unity of the construct of Indonesia. . . . The collection is a welcome intervention into scholarship on gender in Indonesia and should be on all reading lists." --Maila Stivens," Journal of Southeast Asian Studies" "Clear, insightful, and rich in data, this volume is based on fieldwork studies and contains much original thought and analysis. . . . Essential for all Indonesians and feminist collections; recommended for Asian collections." --Choice "[A] landmark study on contemporary Indonesian women and keenly deserve[s] the attention of anyone who takes interest in Asian figurations of the feminine." --Kenneth M. George, "Signs" "Disparate views of the situation of Indonesian women, both past and present, are presented by American and Indonesian scholars. A long introduction by the editor, Laurie J. Sears, discusses both the importance of cultural identity to Indonesian women and the impediments they encounter in publicly articulating their unique problems." --"Crossroads" "[A]n important contribution to Indonesian studies and will appeal to those involved in postmodern and postcolonial debates." --Pacific Affairs