Portraying the Gendered Life and Sexuality of Indonesian Teenagers

DetEksi, as a popular teenagers' precision journalism in Indonesia, has conducted an extensive number of polls about gender and sexuality. On the subject of gender, contemporary Indonesian teenagers have been represented to live in a patriarchal society which differentiates the appropriate gender roles and performances for males and females. This media challenges the existence of particular gender social roles; however this publication tends to support the social and economic construction of gender performances, especially in relation to beauty. In terms of sexuality, DetEksi portrays contemporary Indonesian teenagers as a sexually active generation who live in a society where sexual life is strictly regulated by the state and religion. Since the Indonesian society has the sexual culture of “silence, shame and secrecy” (Bennet, 2000, p.54), there is lack of formal sex education for this sexually active generation. Stimulated by curiosity, these teenagers learn about sexuality from various media. As a result, contemporary Indonesian teenagers become the potential target market of pornography, an obvious benefit for the global porn industry.