Sexist Concepts In Javanese Comedy: A Critical Discourse Analysis On Segawon's Dagelan

Abstract

Dagelan or Javanese comedy shows are the favorite entertainments for many people living in Java Island, Indonesia. They present male and female characters performing acts and dialogues specifically produced for comical effects. In such interaction, gender differences may easily become the topic of conversation as one gender (male, in particular) exploits them in such a way as to arise laughter. The concepts of ideal women in Javanese culture are used as a base to mock, criticize or underestimate female characters. Of course, sexism should be observed in its context as a part of a humorous presentation. It is still interesting, however, to analyze how cultural values are employed to discriminate against women, as done by a comedian named Segawon in his shows. The data were five dagelans of Segawon’s from which expressions of sexism were collected and analyzed to find the sexist concepts. It used CDA approach using Mills’ model as the tool of analysis. The findings show that there are six sexist concepts expressed by Segawon in his comedy shows. They are: 1) males as the norm, women are dependent, 2) women are weak, lacking in strength and ability, 3) negative evaluation of women, 4) glorifying the maltreatment/mistreatment of women, 5) women are no more than possessions, 6) valuing women based on their appearance rather than their intelligence or personality. These concepts were expressed using various ways like imperative utterances, questions, metaphors, associations, hyperboles, vulgar words and idioms.