Youthful warrior masculinities in Indonesia

This chapter looks at contemporary masculinities in Indonesia, the fourth most-populated country in the world. Theoretically, this chapter makes use of the work of Honneth on recognition and Horrocks on the formation of masculinities. Horrocks proposes that dominant ideas about ideal masculinity are influential in the shaping of male subjectivity and are communicated through myths, heroic narratives, and legends. These abound in the traditions of the Indonesian archipelago, along with a range of beliefs and superstitions about the gendered body and warrior invulnerability. At the same time, global discourses of gender equity, gay rights, hypermasculinity, and Islamist activism are also influential, although we do not discuss them here. Nor is there any claim that the masculinities described below are in any way normative for Indonesia. We use accounts taken from our ethnographic research and some relevant studies to look specifically at how warrior mythology and concepts of the male body inform some current constructions of youthful masculinity.