Playboy Indonesia and women’s rights

Well would you believe it!

The rumors were true: an Indonesian version of Playboy will soon be published. The first issue is expected in March.

Interestingly, though, it will only feature completely new talent. So there’s no chance then that Tiara Lestari will be the first issue’s playmate of the month.

But could Indah Ludiana be the first playmate? I’ve got a feeling she could be. After all, she is reportedly in the States at the moment doing a photoshoot for the American magazine.

But Indonesia’s Playboy is gonna be a much toned-down affair with the girls wearing bikinis and sexy nightdresses and not going nude.

Even so, the conservative elements are not happy.

The hardline Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia, for example, has already said that it would stage rowdy protests:

"Different or not, Playboy is Playboy. It is a porn magazine," said group chairman Irfan Awas. "The magazine will damage the morality of the nation," he said.

Playboy a pawn mag? Well that’s debatable to say the least! What would they make of Swedish Ewotica?

And even the moderates are up in arms:

"It (the magazine) will trigger a 'disaster'. The magazine should be banned," said Muslim cleric Hasyim Muzadi, who leads the country's largest Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama.

This is all very predictable of course.

But it’s not as if the conservatives are against Playboy because they actually care about women’s rights.

Quite the reverse, in fact.

In politics, for example, the conservative factions in Indonesia’s Parliament do everything they can to ensure that women are still seen as inferior to men and are excluded, wherever possible, from the sphere of political decision-making (women occupy just 8 percent of the seats in Indonesia’s Parliament).

Sure Indonesia may have had a female president - Megawati Sukarnoputri – but she was often made a target simply because of her gender.

Actually, I think the Indonesians should take a leaf out of the Swedes’ book given that women make up around 50 percent of Parliament members in Sweden. And this in a country where very permissive attitudes toward ewotica are common.

Coincidence? I think not…

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