Hunter and Lines: Gender, Sex and Sexuality among Same-Sex Relations in South Sulawesi, Indonesia
Nurul Ilmi Idrus (Hasanuddin University)
Lesbianism is not a new phenomenon in Indonesia, but their existence has not been acknowledged by the majority of Indonesian society, partly because the social norm determines that heterosexual relation is the ideal sexual partnership. Thus, opposing this norms results in opposing heterosexual ideal relationship and/or opposing their ‘women’s nature’ (kodrat), as an ideal Indonesian female personality.
The local and colloquial term for lesbian in South Sulawesi is harley which comes from two words, hunter and lines. While the former refers to a masculine woman, the latter denotes a feminine woman. Both are characterised by masculine appearance and male sexual role as well as feminine look and female sexual role respectively. Despite the fact that tomboy is not always identical with lesbian, it is more difficult to examine whether or not an individual is a lines since her physical appearance is in no different from an ordinary woman than to indicate a hunter because of her tomboy appearance and behaviour which is more potential for one to suspect her lesbianism.
This article will discuss the lesbian’s own ‘culture’ in South Sulawesi. It examines how one becomes a lesbianand how she and her partner determines who is either hunter or lines; how they manage their homosexual desire and their future with their partner; and how their membership in harley celebes community is impacted on their social life, within their family as well as society. The discussion will be illustrated with a number of case studies from my day to day interaction with a number of lesbians in Makassar in 2005.
