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If a man walks on a beach full of sunbathers in their bikinis, gets excited and then tries to molest them, what should be done? Arrest the man for indecent behaviour and may be have his sanity checked or make all the sunbathers cover themselves up from head to toe to so as not to sexually arouse the man? Who should society protect more, women who go about their daily lives minding their own business and not harming anyone or some sex maniacs who cannot hold back their libido at the slightest sight of bare flesh and have rape on their mind? If a man mistakes a woman walking after hours after doing overtime at the factory for a prostitute, who is in the wrong, the man or the woman?

Unfortunately, this is exactly what is happening in Indonesia with the ridiculous proposed so-called anti-pornography bill. The moral fabric of our society at the moment is in danger of being hijacked and stood on its head by a bunch of hypocritical dirty old men who have women’s breasts and buttocks, masturbation and sex on their minds: minds that hark back to the sexually repressed Victorian England when they covered up piano legs so that men were protected from impure sexual thoughts. In the name of religion and moral righteousness these people who cannot control their base animal urges are now demanding that the whole society be controlled to conform to their own moral failings. It is tantamount to creating a law that locks up the entire community so that the rabid dog on the loose cannot bite anyone!

The whole thing would be hilarious were it not for the fact that the proponents of the bill are our honorable legislators whom we elect (and whose salaries are paid by our taxes) to solve this nation’s numerous and pressing problems such as eradicating poverty, building roads and houses, creating jobs, getting rid of corruption, bringing in investment and basically creating a better life for us all: people whom we expect to clamp down on the increasing incidents of domestic violence, sexual abuse towards children and discrimination against women. In other words serious problems requiring serious attention and plenty of hard work and discipline. They are not paid to waste theirs and the country’s time and energy fantasizing on issues that normal people have dealt with when they outgrew their teenage years, namely obsession with private parts of the body and all things carnal.

It is even more tragic to see that these self-righteous people see themselves as the guardian of the nation’s morality; that they have the sole interpretation of what is decent and what is not, what is a moral crime and what is not. Take for instance the punishment proposed for people who move their bodies ‘erotically’ in public, which is a jail term of between two to ten years or a fine of one hundred to five hundred million rupiah. While the punishment for having sex with children is a lock up period of between three to ten years or a fine of one hundred million to one billion rupiah. This is clearly the work of minds that are devoid of any concept of the true meaning of morality and decency.

How could moving one’s body so-called erotically (already a subjective definition) in public be considered a crime as it is an action that is open to various subjective reactions and interpretations depending on the context of the event? Sensuality, like beauty, is after all in the eye of the beholder. If on stage as a dance for instance, one person might find it sexy though not necessarily arousing, some might view it as ridiculous and others plain boring. As a performance art it might be considered artistic and original or completely in bad taste not worthy of a review. Whereas if done by someone at the bus stop, most people would find it either embarrassing or pitiful as the person is clearly suffering from some kind of stress or has a screw loose. In any of these cases it is hardly likely sexual excitement be provoked that would lead to rape, sexual orgies and moral depravities. (Except probably in the minds of sex-crazed individuals who should not even be allowed to roam the streets let alone sit in government to begin with.)

Compare this with the punishment for having sex with children which, according to the bill, is considered as ‘pornoaksi’ or pornographic action, a term which incidentally never existed before and could only be concocted by smutty misfits. Sex with a minor is a serious unmitigated crime not open to subjective and multiple interpretations. There is nothing suggestive, pornographic or titillating about it and one should really wonder what kind of morality the person who views sex with a child in the same light as kissing, erotic dancing or baring one’s behind in public has. It is a crime that is up there with rape, homicide, drug smuggling, pedophilia, child trafficking, slavery and other major human transgressions that cannot be quantified by a set amount of fines. (Sex with a child in your family, one hundred million rupiah. Sex with your neighbour’s child, two hundred million. Sex with your boss’ child, one billion?)

The fact is our society already has plenty of laws that are purposely created to protect us from these kinds of perpetrators; the rapists, the sex criminals, the child abusers and sexual predators. Laws that until now have sadly failed and no doubt will continue to fail to protect and give justice to women and children and other vulnerable members of society whose rights are violated, who are abused, beaten up, traded and treated as commodities.

If our righteous legislators are sincerely concerned with preserving the morality and decency of the society, they would do well to see to it that those laws are properly upheld and enforced and not come up with bogus anti pornographic laws that actually put the blame and responsibility on the victims while protecting and providing excuses for the perpetrators. It is a kind of debased thinking that insults our society’s cherished values of tolerance, diversity and cultural riches; an affront to our celebration and appreciation of beauty, arts, creativity and other intelligent refinements that we humans are blessed with and that free us from the trap of our baser animal instincts. That these things should even be deliberated in our parliament is putting the ideals of democracy at its lowest. If anything, there should be a law to protect our society from dirty-minded and gusset sniffing lawmakers. (Desi Anwar)