Men's and Women's Glasses on Contradictory Topic: The Shackles of Femininity and Masculinity in Novels

 Kitchens and women have different definitions, but in social order, the kitchen is always associated with women, even the loyalty and expertise of a good woman is measured by how great she is at serving food for the family, and vice versa, if women are not good at doing activities in the kitchen, then he will be labeled bad, even though cooking is a common thing, can be done by both men and women. This social stereotype often makes women feel tortured, including the Empress. Until then he found a magical thing when he visited the city museum to find recipes for his new dishes, he read the story of Diah Ayu, one of the cooks during the Dutch colonial period. Diah Ayu and Maharani have the same problem even though they live in different eras. Diah Ayu then carried out a rebellion by making cooking spices that contained poison in order to be free from the Dutch colony. Diah Ayu does not fight through violence, does not fight using sharp bamboo in the front row, she fights where she feels constrained, quietly but deadly. This is what inspired Maharani after she returned from the city museum, carried out a rebellion from her own husband, did the same thing as what Diah Ayu did to the Dutch people.

Unlike Maharani, in Lesung Pipit's story which tells of a young girl belonging to the kembang desa, labeling the prettiest girl in her village who was forced to marry a smelly old shaman (dukun), her father was forced to have an agreement with the cunning dukun, because her father was healed by the shaman because venomous snake bite. Lesung Pipit was forced by the dukun to agree to the marriage, without being given a chance to voice her refusal. Her father handed Lesung Pipit to the old shaman after taking an oath under the Bible, although he couldn't bear it, it seemed that her father had no other choice. The Shaman who is in power because she has saved her father's life, has social status in society, acts arbitrarily. Lesung Pipit felt that she had been sacrificed by her father to pay the debt promise, he feels that her free life is being taken away, for that, Lesung Pipit tries to find a way to get out of the marriage that she believes will curb her freedom. She then gave her virginity to some men she didn't recognize, it could be said as a rebellion because here she was trying not to be attached to the old Shaman, she was willing to sacrifice herself, giving up her pride for the sake of freedom. Until the first night, when the old shaman found out that Lesung Pipit was no longer a virgin, the dukun immediately divorced her, swearing 'whore!' addressed to the si Lesung Pipit, as if women were married only to satisfy men's lust. But at least, Lesung Pipit was free from the marriage she didn't want.

CONCLUSION 

The contradictory topics referred to in this discussion are male writers who discuss women's issues, namely toxic femininity, and female writers who write about men's issues, namely toxic masculinity. The debate about men who can't write women and women who always create nonsensical and overly perfect male characters can be answered. Both male writers and female writers can both well write characters that are the opposite of their gender if he does his research, observes carefully, and puts himself in the right position. As a female writer who discusses men's issues, Adelina describes the male character in her story as having an 'unreal' physique and perfect nature, meeting the criteria of 'men written by women'. Zio and Daryll are both portrayed as attractive men who don't care about the construction of masculinity in society, both characters are the dreams of most women. But Adelina still represents the issue of mainstream toxic masculinity in accordance with the facts that exist in the real world. If most writers of popular literature in the genre of young-adult fiction always use the same formula how they describe the main male character in the story, namely; a mysterious, aggressive, strong alpha male, popular for his good looks and mischief, becomes the leader of a gang, which highlights his masculinity side. 

In this story, Eka creates a great female character who is far from the public perception that women are weak creatures who need male protection. In shaping the characters and themes raised by Eka Kurniawan, he really puts himself in the right perspective. Dispel the notion that men know nothing about women. Feminist critics feel the need to emphasize how difficult it is for men to really imagine what women are going through. It's quicker to smell preemption, rather than legitimate empathy, whenever a male writer tries to represent a female point of view. They fear that they will perpetuate stereotypes, so that the patriarchal side may have the last word or at best, steal the insight female writers deserve to express themselves.

Femininity and toxic masculinity can exist because of the patriarchal system that is still very thick in society. Toxic masculinity and toxic femininity seem like two sides of the same coin, but power is an undercurrent that pressures men to play aggressive, violent, intimidating, and sexually dominant roles in order to stay in power, and women try to please them, in power to avoid punishment and pain. If you look at it from the point of view of feminism, which aims to bring about gender equality so that women are no longer number two in society, not under the power of men, women have the right to do anything like men do, free from the stereotypes that bind women to progress. It can also make sense that masculinity does not have to be defined by being strong, must be macho, must not wear anything feminine. That men also have the right to express emotions, like things that smell feminine, free to express, and have a gentle nature. In essence, toxic femininity and toxic masculinity are both trying to combat the patriarchal system.