PARA PEREMPUAN YANG DITINGGALKAN ZAMAN: Studi Peran Perempuan Petani Pasca Perubahan Sistem Mata Pencaharian dan Pangan di Dusun Wintaos, Gunungkidul

DIAH WIDURETNO, Prof. Dr. P.M. Laksono, M.A.

2022 | Tesis | MAGISTER ANTROPOLOGI

Kawasan Karst Gunungsewu yang tandus dan kering menjadi daya dukung lingkungan yang relatif rendah. Komunitas yang hidup di area karst Gunungsewu termasuk warga Dusun Wintaos, Girimulya, Panggang, Gunungkidul, berupaya mengadaptasi alam karst sebagai ruang hidup dan sumber penghidupan. Mereka memproduksi pangan keluarga dengan menerapkan sistim pertanian yang mengadaptasi kondisi alam setempat. Para perempuan Wintaos, terutama yang lahir sebelum dan sekitar 1970-an, sejak anak-anak dibiasakan beraktivitas tani dan mengolah pangan. Mengamankan kebutuhan pangan keluarga di masa itu jadi tujuan bertani. Perempuan dan laki-laki, meski memiliki diferensiasi pekerjaan di lahan dan pengelolaan hasil panen, namun mereka mampu berkolaborasi demi mencukupkan pangan. Modernisasi sarana transportasi, komunikasi, pendidikan dan pertanian, sejak 1980-an, membawa perubahan pada semakin tingginya ragam kebutuhan rumah tangga yang membuat kebutuhan atas uang juga semakin tinggi. Di sisi lain, modernisasi transportasi dan komunikasi membuka akses pada pekerjaan off/non farm. Usia produktif, terutama laki-laki, meninggalkan pertanian demi mengejar pendapatan cepat dan ajeg melalui kerja-kerja off/non farm. Penelitian ini bermaksud mencari jawaban atas pertanyaan: Bagaimana peran perempuan Wintaos dalam rumah tangga petani menghadapi perubahan penghidupan modern yang mendorong para laki-laki keluar dari pertanian? Untuk menjawab pertanyaan tersebut, metode yang diterapkan dalam penelitian ini adalah observasi terlibat dan wawancara mendalam. Informan dalam penelitian ini dibedakan menjadi dua yaitu informan utama (yang kompetensi dan pengalaman hidupnya menjadi fokus penelitian ini) dan infoman umum (warga Wintaos yang juga memberi informasi). Semua informan utama sadar dan mengetahui maksud penelitian ini, namun nama-nama mereka dalam tesis ini disamarkan. Dibandingkan perempuan, laki-laki lebih mudah mengakses pekerjaan non/off farm sehingga mayoritas laki-laki usia produktif meninggalkan pertanian. Perempuan menjadi pelaku utama budi daya tani entek amek. Perubahan ini tercermin dari bergesernya sistim nilai yang dianut, dimana laki-laki dengan prinsip ((jika) habis mencari) meninggalkan perempuan yang menerapkan ((jika) habis (bisa) memetik). Tuntutan pemenuhan kebutuhan non pangan berpengaruh pada pola budi daya tani yang kini jadi berbeban ganda, subsisten dan komersial. Perempuan lebih banyak menanggung kerja-kerja budi daya tani. Dalam menjalankan kerja-kerja domestik dan subsistensi, perempuan tidak mendapat upah. Sedangkan laki-laki yang bekerja off/non farm berupah, seolah-olah penghasil nafkah utama keluarga. Kerja-kerja perempuan petani seperti tidak terlihat. Peminggiran perempuan terjadi akibat modernisasi dimana perempuan menjadi sekunder dalam mengakses kesempatan kerja baru juga tidak diapresiasinya kerja entek ngamek yang dilakukan perempuan.

The Gunungsewu Karst is arid and barren, it provides a relatively low level of environmental support capacity. Communities who live in the Gunungsewu Karst area, including the inhabitants of Dusun Wintaos, Girimulya, Panggang, Gunungkidul, have been making various attempts to adapt to karst character of their natural environment. Their family food production is based on a vernacular farming system, an adaptation to the local environmental condition. Wintaos women, especially those who were born before and around the 1970s, have been accustomed to farming and food processing activities since they were children. During the periods, to secure the family need for food become the main goal of farming. Women and men, though all having differentiated into various tasks in the field and on how to process harvests, collaborated together to meet the day-to-day needs. Since the 1980s, modernisation of transportation, communication, education and farming have brought transformative changes into what the households need. The needs for a household become varied. It intensified a condition where the needs for money also become higher. On the other hand, modernisation of transportation and communication have opened up access to various off/non farm jobs. Many men, especially those who are in the productive age, have been conditioned to opt for leaving their farming practices in order to pursue fast cash and regular income by doing off/non farm jobs instead. This research aims to answer the following question: How would the role of the Wintaos women in the farmers' families in dealing with the modern life changes be redefined particularly since this new situation has forced many men to leave farming practices? To answer the question, this research applies participatory observation and in depth interviews methods. In this research, the informants are divided into two groups. First, the main informants, of whom their competence and life experience become the focus of this research. Second, the general informants, various Wintaos inhabitants who provided information for the research. All informants were aware of the intention of the research. For ethical purposes, they appeared not in their true names in this research. Compared to women, men usually have more ease to access various non/off farm jobs. This propels the majority of men, in their productive age, to leave the farming. Women become the main actors of the entek amek principle and cultivation system. Entek amek is a Javanese phrase which literally means if there are no more (food) available, we can gather the harvest (in the field). This reflects the shifting values where men with their entek golek principle left women and their entek amek principle. Entek golek is a Javanese phrase which means if there are no more (food) available, we can just go look for them (somewhere else). The demands for fulfilling non-food needs impact on the existing farming cultivation system. It brings forces on the system to become subsistent and commercial at once. Since the women are left in the village, the burden is now in their shoulders. In doing the domestic and farming works in their own fields, the women do not get the income. Whereas the men who work in various off/non farm jobs get their income. It engenders a situation where men are narrated as the sole breadwinner for the families. The works of women farmers are relegated to become invisible. Modernisation leads to a complex condition where marginalisation of women becomes a recurring reality. Women become secondary to access new work job opportunities. They live in a condition where the importance of their entek amek principle is being devalued and underestimated.

Kata Kunci : subsistensi ; pangan ; modernisasi ; urbanisasi ; marginalisasi ; perempuan