Srintil is a victim of Sex Exploitation

The story of the Dancer by Ahmad Tohari (Trilogy Novel) represents about the Srintil’s life of being a Ronggeng dancer in Dukuh Paruk village, Central Java. At that time, Srintil was eleven years old and she had crowned as a Ronggeng Dancer and and it was bounded her to play with other friends because She had to follow the rituals as a Ronggeng dancer. In Dukuh Paruk village, Ronggeng was a symbol of the right hand from the ancestor whose name Ki Secamenggala that was why the villagers felt enthusiastically to respond the event. Srintil was innocent of being a Ronggeng Dancer and she just followed the rituals. One of the rituals that must be followed by her was Bukak Klambu. It was kind of hell for her because she had to give her virginity to the man who could pay the Dukun Ronggeng highest. It was the final ritual for her to become a ronggeng and legitimate her as a Ronggeng Dancer. Srintil had no choice as a kid. Ironically, her grandfather supported the rituals as a Ronggeng dancer. In this story, Srintil became a victim of sex exploitation. 

After the last ritual which called Bukak Kelambu, Srintil as a major character in novel The Dancer begun to dance officially and had a duty to satisfy the men. The fate had written that she had to dance and slept with men. The dukun Ronggeng always took care of Srintil’s body beautifully. Many people adored her as a ronggeng and many men would like to sleep with her, the more they could give the money, the more they could enjoy Srintil’s body. Secretly, the dukun ronggeng whose name Nyi Kertareja had massaged Srintil’s womb so that she could not get pregnant. If she got pregnant, it would be the last carrier for her and the dukun could not get the money from her. Basically, Sritntil had a talent to be a dancer, she danced beautifully and followed the instrument of the music elegantly. Every time she danced with a man, it would be ended by the desire fulfillment. 

A matter of fact, Nyi Kertareja and Ki Kertareja (a couple of dukun ronggeng) had a big contribution in order to develop Srintil’s carrier as a ronggeng dancer. She always persuaded Srintil so that she wanted to perform her dancing and got a lot of money from the guests especially men who want to sleep with her. The more she could sleep with the men, the more she got the money or gold. Without realized, Srintil had been using by the dukun ronggeng. The purpose was to enrich the dukun ronggeng, and took benefit from Srintil’s performance. At the odd moment, Srintil did not want to perform as a ronggeng, but the dukun ronggeng always reminded that Ki Secamenggala as the ancestor would be angry if she did not want to dance. 

At the age of eighteen, Srintil was realized by the condition of life, she did not want to be a dancer anymore, and she had known the meaning of being a woman. She wanted to have husband, and children. She missed a normal life like other people. Srintil thought that if she slept with a man, it would become as prostitution but for the villagers, it was a quite common. Time passed by, Srintil could not avoid as a ronggeng dancer. Right up to the politic case in Dukuh Paruk village, Srintil was trapped by the problems that she did not know, foremost about the political subfield. Dukuh Paruk only knew about Ki Secamenggala who protect the village and never knew about politic systems, and at that time, there was an assault in the village. The government hustled out the villagers and had to leave the Dukuh Paruk land. Bajus was one of Srintil’s friends who sold her to the politic leaders; again… Srintil had to give her body to fill the lust. Srintil was trapped by the situation. The life pressure made her crazy and lived in the deep sorrow. Finally, Srintil lost her conscious thought. She was sent to the hospital to recover her memories. Injustice life made her down and stress.  Sex exploitation was huge terrible in her life. It is called as veiled prostitution and deviation from the culture.  

From the story above, we can catch that Srintil is being a victim of social event (cultures, customs or traditions). There is no space to explore the abilities as women, sometimes the culture transforms as roles, and they cannot hide it. Srintil was one of victims from sex exploitation, at night she had to dance as ronggeng and in a day, she had to sleep with men. Ahmad Tohari describes how the culture arranges the woman and put her as a second gender or as a submission only. Sadly, she did not have any rights as human being, and it still happens around us and this is one of the oppressions to the women. Imagine! How if the innocent face have to be a sex worker like Srintil and she cannot flee from the roles. To be honest, if I were Srintil, it would be a disaster life ever! and this is the saddest life ever. This story is one of the reflections human lives that have written. I myself do not know whether Ahmad Tohari witnesses himself about the tradition of being a ronggeng or not, but I ever read about the history of ronggeng itself. It is about the thanksgiving dancing to the gods, especially Dewi Sri, the goddess of rice but in Srintil’s case it is bounded sex exploitation, but as we know that literature is one of the resembles of human life. The author tries to present the story that appears in social lives. We have known that many facts tell the same that women are treated as the second gender, and have no choice to their lives. Women and men are born to be equal; there is no specialization status of being men or women. Women are not a tool to satisfy a lust, and not a means of reproduction only. Women have the rights to get the same position among the social lives.