As I wrote this article, there is a little video had gone viral. People can clearly see from the video that the woman (Dian Sastrowardoyo, a popular actress) dismissed a fan’s hand in the premiere of her upcoming movie, Kartini. The hand of the fan clearly trying to held her inner arm near her breast and we can see that she shuddered before keep walking and smile to the camera.
People are clearly mad about this. They calling her not a Kartini (a pioneer for women’s education in Indonesia) and said it is not how a woman should act. They also argue that it is not how a public figure should act towards their fans.
Even the director of the film, Hanung Bramantiyo, apologized because of it. According to CNN Indonesia, Hanung Bramantiyo said, “As the director of the film Kartini, I apologized if any of the actors are not polite to the audiences or fans. We are trying to be nice to everyone, but we are also human beings. We can also be tired and our tiredness can make us act not that nice unconsciously. I believe what Dian and the other players do is not something deliberate. I am so sorry.”
But, I feel that it is all about how women have no rights over her body. Clearly, like I said, from the video, we can see how he tried to put his hand between her arm and her left breast. I can see why she dismissed that hand and shuddered.
Dian Sastrowardoyo, the actress, has no obligation to apologize or clarify anything. She is the owner of her own body and she has the rights to avoid any action that she did not like to her body.
It is not okay to touch someone we do not even know without their own consent, even though that person is a public figure. Especially, when we targeted some area of their body that they do not want people to touch. It is all about body’s authority but people, especially Indonesians, do not get it.
Women have the rights to dismissed people’s hand who want to touch her without her consent. It is a part of the right of her own authority towards her body. What people still do not get this year, in this 21st century, in 2017, is that public figures are humans too. They have the rights to feel uncomfortable, they have the rights to dislike what the fans do to them. They have feelings.
Stop this kind of actions. Understand that a woman has the rights to her own body. Dian Sastrowardoyo dismissed a fan’s hand that clearly made her uncomfortable do not make her less a ‘Kartini’, it makes her a better Kartini because she knows her boundaries and she protects it.
