INFERTILITY IN GENDER RELATIONS THEORY AT

MANDAILING FAMILIES IN MANDAILING REGENCY

Doni Irwadi1, Wanda Fitri2, Nazirman3

Universitas Islam Negeri Imam Bonjol Padang, Indonesia
doni.irwadi99@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
This research is qualitative research with descriptive analysis. The
informants for this research were family couples with infertility cases who were
selected using a purposive sampling technique of 10 people. This research data
collection technique uses observation and interviews. The data analysis technique
in this research uses qualitative analysis with stage of data collection, data
reduction, and drawing conclusions. The results of this research show that
infertility in gender relations theory on Mandailing families in Mandailing Natal
Regency is as follows: first, society's stereotypes of infertile families are starting
to decrease. Second, there is still subordination on Mandailing families towards
infertile women in Mandailing Natal Regency. Third, gender marginalization of
infertile women still exist in Mandailing families, such as the exclusion of women
in the family and social environtment. Fourth, there is no difference in the double
burden received by infertility women in Mandailing families. Fifth, no violence
was found in the Mandailing family due to infertility.
Keyword: Infertility, Gender, Mandailing families, Patriarchy, Gender equality

[Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kualitatif dengan jenis deskriptif.

Informan penelitian ini adalah pasangan keluarga dengan kasus infertilitas yang
dipilih menggunakan teknik purposive sampling sebanyak 10 orang. Teknik
pengumpulan data penelitian ini menggunakan observasi dan wawancara. Teknik
analisis data dalam penelitian ini menggunakan analisis kualitatif dengan tahap
pengumpulan data, reduksi data dan penarikan kesimpulan.Hasil dari penelitian
ini menunjukkan, bahwa infertilitas dalam teori relasi gender pada keluarga
Mandailing di Kabupaten Mandailing Natal adalah sebagai berikut: pertama,
stereotype masyarakat terhadap keluarga infertilitas mulai berkurang. Kedua,
masih adanya subordinasi dalam keluarga Mandailing terhadap perempuan
infertilitas di Kabupaten Mandailing Natal. Ketiga, Marjinalisasi gender pada
perempuan infertilitas masih ada dalam keluarga Mandailing seperti pengucilan
perempuan di lingkungan keluarga dan sosial. Keempat, tidak ada perbedaan
beban ganda yang diterima oleh perempuan infertilitas dalam keluarga
Mandailing. Kelima, tidak ada kekerasan (violence) yang ditemukan pada
keluarga Mandailing karena faktor infertilitas.]
Kata Kunci: Infertilitas, Gender, Keluarga Mandailing, Patriarki, Kesetaraan
Gender
INTRODUCTION
Every married couple certainly wants children in their family. However,
not all married couples are blessed with the children they want. The absence of
children can be caused by many factors, one of which is infertility or what we
know better as infertility. Indonesia itself is a country with 10-15% of infertility
cases or 4-6 million couples out of a total of 39.8 million couples who are of
childbearing age (Ministry of Health, 2022).
Infertility problems can attack anyone, both men and women. Research
results from Rae (in the Ministry of Health, 2022) show that women have a role of
40-50% in infertility cases, while men are in a lower percentage with only 30%.
This situation can then prove that infertility cases are not only on the women's
side but also on the men's side. Indonesia itself is famous for its society which
adheres to a strong patriarchal system in some of its cultures, so that until now,
when a family has a case of infertility, it is the woman who is suspected of having
infertility.
This case of infertility which is influenced by culture is also related to the
kinship system adopted by the majority of Indonesian people, namely the
patrilineal kinship system (the lineage that follows the father's side) and
parental/bilateral (which follows both), so that no one can strongly confirm that
the case This infertility is not always experienced by women (Kompas, 2022).
Such stigma ultimately causes people who experience it to feel mental pressure,
both from themselves and also socially from their families and the communities
where they live, which of course varies in each region.
The situation of patriarchal culture which is still closely embedded in
most cultures in Indonesia has ultimately made the position of women with
infertility in Indonesia seem to be more cornered in terms of their situation,
whereas in reality it is not only women who experience infertility. According to
Marzuki (2018), this unequal incident occurs because gender relations are not
accompanied by justice or it could be said that the gender relations that occur
among society are still not balanced. Marzuki stated five main problems that cause
gender relations to date to not be implemented fairly, namely: stereotypes
(labelling), subordination, marginalization, double burdens, and violence. These
five main problems are coupled with the patriarchal culture that is still strong in
Indonesian society, which ultimately forms gender relations that are less healthy
and fair among women in various regions in Indonesia.
One example of an area with a strong patriarchal culture is Mandailing
Natal Regency, North Sumatra. The Mandailing Natal area itself is the support of
two types of kinship systems, the patrilineal kinship system which is adopted
because it is close to the Toba Batak area in North Tapanuli and the matrilineal
kinship system which is used because it is close to the Minangkabau community
in the West Sumatra area, but currently in Mandailing Natal the average on
average, they use a patrilineal kinship system with a patriarchal culture or men are
more dominant as holders of power in society (Madina, 2022). Mandailing Natal
Regency itself is also not free from cases of infertility, whether suffered by
women or men. The patriarchal Mandailing Natal culture then formed the concept
that the existence of children is an important thing in the family as heirs to the
descendants of their elders. Due to the view of the Mandailing community that the
existence of children is very important, the research wanted to see how the
community responded to infertile couples in the Mandailing Natal Regency area.
METHODS
This research is based on field research with a qualitative approach to look
at natural condition or phenomena that occur in a place to enable the formation of
new hypotheses or theories ( Sugiono, 2004). This research uses a descriptive
presentation method which attempts to explain problem solving based on existing
data (Cholid & Ahmadi, 2004). This research attempts to clearly describe how
infertility couples in Mandailing families interpret their situation in the midst of
the Mandailing Natal community with patriarchal culture.
The research was conducted in Mandailing Natal district, North Sumatera,
precisely in Kubangan Tompek Village. The informants for this research were
family couples suspected of infertility in Kubangan Tompek Village. The
selection of research informants was carried out using a purposive sampling
technique which was carried out through certain considerations (Silalahi, 2012),
for example the person who knows best about a problem that is currently occuring
(Sugiyono, 2009). The criteria that has taken in this research are: a) infertility
couples who will be studied have been married within the age of 15 years or over.
b) the infertile couples who will be studied do not have a history of infertility
from their parents.
The data source taken in this research is a primary data source obtained
through interviews with infertile couples in Kubangan Tompek Village,
Mandailing Natal Regency. The data collection technique used in this research is
through observation and interviews with research informants. While data analysis
technique are carried out through 4 stages, namely data collections, data
reduction, data display, and drawing conclusions.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Based on the stereotype aspect, the negative views received by infertility
families in Kubangan Tompek Village, Mandailing Natal Regency have changed.
The results of research conducted on five infertility family couples in Kubangan
Tompek Village all confirmed the change in society's stereotypes towards
infertility families. The treatment received by infertile couples in Kubangan
Tompek Village now no longer takes the form of ridicule or insults. They view
the change in stereotype as something to be grateful for because they no longer
feel hurt by the behavior that the local community gave them in the past. Infertile
couples in Kubangan Tompek Village currently receive the same treatment as
other residents without any social exclusion or isolation.
Based on the aspect of subordination in infertility families, this still
happens in Kungan Tompek Village to this day. The results of this research show
that the five pairs of research informants have the same opinion regarding
subordination in infertility families. There are two types of subordination that
occurs in infertility families in Kubangan Tompek Village, namely men who are
still favored in the household and also only men who can control. These two
factors are interrelated, because men are always superior in the family, women in
the Mandailing family in Kubangan Tompek Village cannot be free to express
their opinions and must always obey their husbands.
The subordination that occurs then has an impact on the absolute rights
that a man has in the family, especially in families with infertility. If the infertile
person is a man (husband) he will still have superior rights to regulate the flow of
his household. Meanwhile, if the infertile person is a woman (wife), then the
superior rights obtained by the man (husband) are doubled. With his wife being
infertile, he will have more power over the helplessness that his wife experiences.
So like it or not, women (wives) who are infertile in Mandailing families must be
very obedient and submissive to whatever decisions their husband makes.
Like the informants who had their condition checked by the village
doctor/midwife, women (wives) in infertile families in Kubangan Tompek Village
had to wait for approval from their husbands first. There were those who got
permission quickly because they both wanted to immediately find out why they
couldn't have one and there were also those who got permission after a long time
because of the shame their husband experienced.
The next aspect that still occurs in infertility families in Kubangan
Tompek Village is marginalization. A form of gender marginalization among
infertile women in Mandailing families is that infertile women (wives) are rarely
included in their husband's family events. In the social life of the community, it
turns out that infertile women (wives) also receive the same treatment, namely
that they rarely receive invitations to attend activities in the Kubangan Tompek
Village community that are encouraging or enjoyable. These infertile women
(wives) will only receive invitations from their husband's family when there is an
emergency discussion, such as when a disaster or misfortune occurs in their
husband's family. Likewise, in the social community, women with infertility will
also receive invitations/invitations only when there are social activities that drain
their energy, such as community service in cleaning mosques, mourning the dead,
and also working together to clean village areas. Apart from activities like this,
women (wives) with infertility rarely receive invitations.
 Next is the double burden received by infertility women in Mandailing
families in Mandailing Natal Regency. This double burden can be seen from
women (wives) who are still required to take care of their home and family. The
family that will be taken care of will not only be between her and her husband, but
also her extended family and her husband's extended family. Then the infertile
woman (wife) will also be charged with taking care of the children of her siblings
and her husband's siblings. With those who don't have children, their siblings and
their husband's siblings don't think too much that he is tired of taking care of so
many things alone.
The next double burden received by women in Mandailing families is
that men are still prohibited from doing housework. This situation makes no
difference whether the man (husband) is infertile or not. So even if there is
infertility in the family, if he is a man (husband) he will still not be allowed to do
housework. This ultimately creates negative prejudice against a husband who
wants to help his wife take care of the housework together, such as sweeping the
floor, washing clothes or cooking. So because societal standards have not changed
much regarding men not being able to take care of the housework, women (wives)
in infertile families in Kubangan Tompek Village have a double burden that they
have to do routinely every day.
The final aspect of gender relations theory analyzed in this research is
the element of violence which no longer exists in infertility families in Kubangan
Tompek Village. This is proven by the testimony given by the Head of Kubangan
Tompek Village himself who said he had never received reports of domestic
violence from the five infertile family couples who were informants for this
research. This statement was also supported by the explanations given by the five
research informant couples, which validated that there was no physical violence
occurring in their family even though they had been involved in several
arguments, some of which were due to infertility issues.
The absence of children several times caused the five informant couples
to argue. There were also informants who sent their partners home to their in-
laws, but a few days later their partners were picked up again because they felt
responsible. However, no matter how intense the arguments that occurred in the
informants' households, no data or reports were found to say that they had ever
committed/experienced violence. In this way, it can be understood that in infertile
families in Kubangan Tompek Village there was no violence until this research
was completed.
CONCLUSION
After conducting research related to the problem of the meaning of
infertility in gender relations theory in Mandailing families in Mandailing Natal
Regency, the following conclusions were obtained:
First, society's stereotypes in assessing infertile couples in Kubangan
Tompek Mandailing Natal Village have begun to change to become looser than
before. Second, subordination of infertile women still occurs in Mandailing
families in Mandailing Natal Regency with men still having the upper hand and
having the right to control the household. Third, gender marginalization of women
with infertility still occurs in Mandailing families, as can be seen from women
who are rarely included in their husband's family events and also in the
community. Fourth, infertile women in Mandailing families still receive a double
burden with the requirement to be good at taking care of their home, family and
husband's family. and husbands are not allowed to help with household chores.
Lastly, there was no violence found in infertility families in Mandailing Natal
Regency.
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