Everyone in this country already knows Kartini’s Quote, “Habis Gelap terbitlah terang,” which can sometimes be translated as from darkness to light. Notably, we defined this as a quote otherwise, the initial form is Kartini’s book. This quote can sometimes be a reflection or a role model for women and men as well, but I would like to emphasize this for the women's side only. As a reflection, this quote should be applied in women's daily lives. The “From darkness to light” could be defined as the mental or religious life value for women’s reflection. Whereas a role model can be defined as the woman's actions to face the problem. Due to life in this current hardship time, this value can stimulate women’s actions to face the difficult time.

Women normally have two main roles in their lives – domestic and professional duties. This case is for women as professional workers. I don’t want to underestimate the housewife or women who are involved in domestic duties. They also cannot get away from mental issues. All women can apply this quote and connect to Allah's rules, and they can face their lives. According to this quote, every problem always has a solution, no matter how hard of dark that women should face. We already know that women tend to use feeling frequently compared to using logical thinking. The different patterns may appear between the women who have one duty and multiple duties. First, women who have one duty tend to face domestic problems with their kids going home late or some broken pipe in the kitchen. This problem may lead women to think too much – sometimes we call it overthinking. Of course, feeling dominates the women's thinking, but they can manage it through Kartini’s quote. They can apply the balance of thinking polarization between feeling and logical hub. It is not easy, because it is influenced by the nature of women, but it is doable. The second case may come from women with multiple duties; they must manage professional duties at the same time as domestic duties. Of course, everyone would say it is harder, but she fights for it and knows when she must apply logical thinking over the feeling thought, she can manage it. Via Kartini’s quote, she can solve the huge problems back then.

Apart from the reflection mode, this Kartini’s quote can be a role model. Here, the role model tends to be the woman's actions. Historically, Kartini’s book is titled “Habis gelap terbitlahterang,” also known as the letter of Javanese princes or Kartini’s letter bundling. She wrote those letters during the time of hardship, gender disparities around her. Her actions show us that women should act and not only rely on their values or thinking. Role model in here should be taken after women can make a reflection. Hereby, women’s actions nowadays are different from Kartini’s time. In my point of view, however, women’s actions nowadays lead to the removal of the nature of women. They say this is feminism era who supports women to be independent. This feminist person may lead to the “misconception” of women's equality. Why I said misconception, it is caused that women nowadays think independence is to fight a man, to conquer a man, or sometimes to do selfish actions. Here, we need to pull back to Kartini’s value that her fighting is aimed at leading women to be more intelligent without underestimating the man’s role. Feminism and masculinism have different polarizations, and both should walk in their own line without interfering with one another.

Dr. Paed. Asih Widi Wisudawati 

Program Studi Pendidikan Kimia

Fakultas Ilmu Tarbiyah dan Keguruan

UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta