Digital Patriarchy on Arab Women in Urban Area
Yuanita Aprilandini Siregar
1
, Ubedillah Badun
1
, Francisia Saveria Sika Ery Seda
2
1,
Department of Sociology Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia
2
Department of Sociology, Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
Keywords: Arab Women, Patriarchy , Digital World.
Abstract: The purpose of this study to see that networks and ethnic solidarity are constructed through digital social
media while strengthening the patriarchal culture of the Arab community in Jakarta. This study uses interview
and content analysis methods. The interview was carried out to the management of the Rabithah Alawiyyah
and Al-Irsyad Jakarta organizations and conducted a content analysis of the web pages of the two
organizations. Research findings show that network and ethnic solidarity can be built and strengthened
through digital social media. However, digital social media is also a channel for reproducing patriarchal
culture. Therefore, this article sees that neopatriarchy is now transformed into digital patriarchy which has an
impact on increasing the social prestige of Arab men but on the other hand results in the oppression of Arab
women in 4.0 industrial revolution era.
1 INTRODUCTION
The Term Digital have been defined by using high
technology on human everyday life activities in order
to get effiency and effectivity for improving quality
of live. In this context, high technology had been used
through Informational Technology of
Communication (ICT). Nowadays ICT through social
media activity are very familiar used by our millenial
generation (minimum birth year in 1990).
Digital technologies simultaneously offer
liberatory possibilities for destabilizing old
hierarchies while at the same time they create
mechanisms for retrenching well-established patterns
of inequality, stratification, and domination. It is
through the recognition of this tension that we have
come to see the need for the critical practice of what
we now call “digital sociology” (Daniels, 2017; p.19).
Digital sociology provides a lens through which to
understand the individual and society after
digitization. Digitization is the process of converting
information from analog into discrete units of data
that can be more easily moved around, grouped
together, and analysed. Moving, remixing, sharing,
and circulating information is easier and faster when
that information is digitized. The array of digital
media technologies, which often get lumped together
as “the digital” or “the internet,” are playing a central
role in the unfolding transformation of society.
Digital technologies are reshaping large-scale
institutions such as government, finance, and
education in ways that are still unfolding, at once
embracing more openness and enacting more
surveillance.
The sociology were trained in grew out of a
theoretical response to the transformations of the
Industrial Revolution. If sociology is to continue to
thrive as a field that is relevant to the concerns of the
21st century, it must offer a compelling theoretical
understanding of the current revolution in digital
media technologies. Early feminist theorisations of
gender and digital technology, from a range of
disciplines, tended to bifurcate into overtly positive
or negative theoretical and political positions, with
some emphasising the digital (the Internet) as a means
of overcoming gendered inequality and others
adopting a more technophobic approach which
stressed the inherent masculinity of such technologies
and urged women to resist patriarchal oppression
through feminist forms of engagement with the digital
revolution (Carbin, 2013: p.37).
Identity has been one of the most keenly debated
arenas in the field of gender and technology studies,
in particular, the radically transformative potential of
the Internet in shaping a ‘gender-free’ future, but
sexism and other intersecting forms of inequality
have been also reproduced in the digital era. One of
the main contributions by feminists to sociological
Siregar, Y., Badun, U. and Seda, F.
Digital Patriarchy on Arab Women in Urban Area.
DOI: 10.5220/0010035204070413
In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Social and Political Development (ICOSOP 3 2019) - Social Engineering Governance for the People, Technology and Infrastructure in
Revolution Industry 4.0, pages 407-413
ISBN: 978-989-758-472-5
Copyright
c
 2020 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
407

understandings of technology is that of
technofeminism (Carbin, 2013: p.39), a theoretical
perspective which meshes cyborg feminism with a
social constructivist theory of technology.
Social Media in academic discourse produced
liquid identity especially on millenial generation. But
how social media have affected on human relations?
This Research found that social media produce
strenghtening ethnic identity and maintain the
patriarchat culture especially on Peranakan Arab
Women in Urban Areas.
2 PATRIARCHAL DISCOURSE
'Patriarchy' has been discussed as an ideology which
arose out of men's power to exchange women
between kinship groups; as a symbolic male
principle, and the power of the father. It has also been
used to express men's control over women's sexuality
and fertility; and to describe the institutional
structure. Patriarch according to Weber is a form of
male leadership system both in the family and the
wider community (Walby, 1989; p. 214). Starting
from Weber's thought, then the concept of patriarchy
was developed by feminists who had a variety of
definitions and meanings. In general conceptions,
patriarchy is a social relationship where men
dominate women (Beechey, 1979; p.66). Marxist
feminists adopted the concept of patriarchy as a form
of women's subordination such as the subordination
of the workers to the production process. Mitchel
(1974) uses the concept of patriarchy which refers to
the system of marriage where women are exchanged
with a number of dowries by the male family given to
the woman's father. The symbolic power of the
husband and father towards women is the result of the
inferior position of women in the family (Beechey,
1979).Einstein defines patriarchy as a sexual
hierarchy that manifests in the role of women as a
mother and cheap labor in her home (Beechey, 1979;
p.68).The fundamental patriarchal basis is truly
rooted in family institutions (Beechey, 1979; p.
70).Still, according to Beechey, the family has a
patriarchalfunction, namely the process of planting
differences in sexual roles, character and social status
of boys and girls that place women in subordinate
positions.
Patriarchal conception also experiences some
paradigm shifts from traditional patriarchy to modern
patriarchy (Patil, 2013, p. 855). Traditional
patriarchyrefers to the father of family leadership
(rule of the father). While modern patriarchy refers to
the division of labor between the domestic and public
sectors between men and women and the reduced role
of women in the family. The shift of patriarchal
conception is also seen from the study of the
relationship of colonialism, namely from absolute
patriarchy to patriarchal patriarchy.The Patil
argument shows that the patriarchal conception is
general and universal, it has “torn down” by
intersection studies and produce a conception of
domestic intersectionality. This is because there is no
single factor and universal cause of oppression
towards women (Collins, 2009; p.120). Oppression
analysis levels return to the (domestic) realm because
of the socio-cultural diversity of women, especially in
the third world (ex-colonial countries). Patil argues
that domestic intersectionality must also be revised
into intersection-transnational patriarchy. Patil's
argument that looking at the diversity of oppression
factors towards women must also be seen how the
factor of colonization influences gender relations in
the ex-colonial countries of the European nations.
Patriarchy can take the form of ideology, relations
or social reproduction. Patriarchy as an ideology
means the subordination of women due to
powersymbolically in the hands of men, namely their
husbands and fathers. Whereas patriarchy as social
relations and reproduction means that the relation of
industrial inequality between workers and their
employers also occurs in the home between husband
and wife (Beechey, 1979; p. 75-78). Patriarchy is an
ideology of oppression of women because the sexual
hierarchy system that places men has a higher level
than women. This causes men to be considered to
have status, roles,and privileges in society when
compared to women. In a sociological perspective,
patriarchal culture shows a system in which men are
the ruling party and is considered reasonable because
it is aligned with the division of labor and function
based on sex/sex, while from the cultural point of
view it can be traced to the roots of feudalism,
religious teaching, tradition and adat, from a political
point of view, namely colonialism, imperialism and
militarism, while from an economic perspective
namely capitalism (Clearent, 2013; p.1460).
Furthermore, Walby alsosee patriarchy as a dual
system, namely, patriarchy works through two
reproductive channels, namely capitalism and other
stimulus factors, such as law, race, religion, and
ethnicity (Walby,1989; p.220) . Walby argues that
there is no single factor that is universal in the process
of patriarchal reproduction.Walby also argued that
there are six forms of social structures that perpetuate
patriarchal reproduction, namely (Walby, 2007):
patriarchy in the production process, patriarchal
relations in labor wages, patriarchy resulting from
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state policies (patriarchal state), forms of male
violence, patriarchy in sexual relations, and
patriarchy produced through patriarchal culture. The
six social structures above finally converge and
produce two (2) forms of patriarchy, namely public
patriarchy and private patriarchy(Walby, 2007).The
concept of patriarchy in the public sphere refers to the
oppression, inequality,and subordination of women
in the public sphere. Whereas patriarchy in private
space means that women's oppression, inequality, and
subordination occur in the private sphere, namely in
their own homes.
The patriarchal conception of the study of Islamic
and Gender Studies shows that one of the causes of
Muslim women's expression is the lack of interpreters
of the Qur'an and Hadith from women so that the
process of interpretation is considered male bias
(Damanhuri, 2018). At least there are 3 narrators of
hadith/hadith history (HR) that are well-known in
Islam, namely HR Abu Hurairah, HR Bukhari, and
HR Muslim who are all men. In his argument,
Damhuri presents inconsistencies and “inequality”
between the verses in the Qur'an which describe the
female figure, rules in the household, polygamous
rules, authority and women's rights with narrated
traditions. Some Muslim feminists have also sued
several verses and hadith interpretations which tend
to be male bias, namely Laila Ahmed, Fatima
Mernissi, Amina Wadud, Nashrahuddin Umar,
Gunawan Andan, Musdah Mulia andZaitunah
Subhan. The solution offered by Damnahuri is to
contextualize the hadith in the process of
interpretation. Thus, it can be avoided by male bias
and the tradition of Arab jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic era)
in the process of interpreting the verses of the Qur'an
especially those relating to husband and wife
relations, rights and position of women, and gender
relations.
Based on the theoretical study above, the
patriarchy discussed earlier has not included the
element of digital media as one of the changes in the
form of community interaction from the real world
(virtual world). Because the current interaction
pattern precisely shows that the digital world is an
important factor of interaction between humans, so
the research question in this paper is how ethnic-
based communities are built through the digital world
and how patriarchal culture is reproduced through the
digital world channels? This research uses content
analysis from several web pages that are networked
with Rabithah Alawiyyah and Al-Irsyad
organizations. Rabithah organization is a
representation of the Arab group Alawiyyin, while
the Al-Irsyad organization is a representation of non
Alawiyyin Arab groups in Jakarta.
3 ETHNICITY, NETWORKING,
AND SOLIDARITY IN THE
DIGITAL WORLD
Network and solidarity one of them is formed through
the dimensions of ethnicity (Karner, 2007). The
dimensions of ethnicity refer to physical
characteristics and cultural preferences. Based on the
two groups studied, namely the Arab group Al-Irsyad
(representation of the Arab nation- non Alawiyyin
crossbreed) and the Rabithah group (representation of
the Arabian descendants of the Alawiyyin group), the
similarity factor is the one that united them to become
members of the organization. This similarity starts
from physical forms/characteristics, cultural
preferences, and religious narratives of each group. In
this context, the Rabithah organization is more
concerned with the element of maintaining nasab
(lineage) so that the issue of pureness becomes a
central point of bond among its members. Meanwhile,
the Al-Irsyad organization emphasizes renewal (with
its conception of "Aliran Baroe") and the
modernization of education.As a result, the networks
formed and produced by these two organizations are
also different. The ulama and Habaib/Habib network
is the main one in the Rabithah organization, while
the economic and educational networks are the
domain of the Al-Irsyad organization (Hayaze, 2017).
The question is now, how is the form of network and
Arab ethnic solidarity maintained in the digital era
today? How to attract the interest of the young
generation of Arab finance to participate in the
organization?
The author argues that the internet as a form of
information communication technology (ICT)
transforms network forms and ethnic solidarity in the
social world (real world) into virtual worlds that can
strengthen group identity. The young generation of
Arabian descendants of Alawiyyin uses ICT with the
aim of finding ancestral lineages (Nashab), getting to
know each other and interacting with the family of
one clan (spread) in several regions, preaching the
marriage of fellow group members, organizing
seminars and book reviews, as well as diversity
(assembly ta’lim, dzikir assembly). While the Al-
Irsyad account contains program socialization,
women's empowerment, research seminars,and
education.
Digital Patriarchy on Arab Women in Urban Area
409

The Rabithah organization was founded by Arabs
from the Alawiyyin lineage such as Sayyid Alwi bin
Thahir Alhaddad, Sayyid Muhammad bin
Abdurrahman Shahab,andSayyid Ahmad bin
Abdullah Assegaf (Jacobsen,2007). Rabithah
Alawiyah has 42 branches in various regions in
Indonesia, the center of which is on Jalan TB.
Simatupang, Jagakarsa, South Jakarta. One of the
Rabithah autonomous institutions, namely Maktab
Daimi, which deals with the recording of genealogies
of Alawiyyin descendants in Indonesia and prints
nashab books carried out by the central Rabithah
Alawiyah, aims to record the history and genealogy
of Alawiyyin scattered throughout the archipelago.
Maktab Daimi was formed on March 10, 1932, with
Sayyid Ali bin Ja’far Assegaf who was in charge of
recording genealogies and as the head of the first
Daimi Maktab (Kroef, 2016). At that time Sayyid Ali
sat on the Betawi branch of the Rabithah Alawiyah
Supervisory Board. Sayyid Ali was assisted by
Sayyid Shaykh bin Ahmad Shahab. The Daimi
Maktab reference book or book is the seven-volume
book Syajarotu Ansab Assadah Al Alawiyyin with a
number of pages 3176 written by Habib
Abdurrahman Almahsyur from Hadramaut ( Kroef ,
2016). This book is only owned by Maktab Daimi
Rabithah Alawiyah. Then the seven-volume book
Syajarotu Ansab Assadah Al Alawiyyin with 2034
page numbers collected by Ali bin Ja’far Assegaf
(Kroef, 2016). This book continues and expands
books from Hadramaut with data collected by
Alawiyyin from several regions/provinces in
Indonesia. Only the Maktab Daimi made a book
written by Habib Abdillah ibn Isa Alhabsyi which
numbered fifteen volumes with a number of pages
5323 which was an amalgamation of Hadramaut
books and books collected by Ali bin Ja‘far Assegaf.
This book was written in 1757 M (Kazuo,2012).
The Rabithah web page contains members of the
Arab descendants of the Alawiyyin group, namely
those who have the habib / habaib title. This page was
formed to make it easier for members to network and
stay in touch. Some Rabithah activities include
religious activities, seminars, sekufu marriages, and
questions about nasab (lineage). Some news posts
regarding social, religious and political issues are also
on the page. Through the Rabithah web, an Arab
crossbreed can also submit a Nashab registration form
to find out who their ancestors are online. Educational
scholarships, especially in Middle Eastern countries,
are also provided in this year. Some links from
Rabithah's page are networked with the association
page of Sayyid and syarifah (asyraaf UI & PNJ) on
the account @asyraaf.org, facebook community of
habib and ulama lovers (https://www.facebook.
com/Para.Pecinta.Habaib.dan. Ulama).
The Sayyid and Syarifah Association is a term for
the descendants of the habib / habaib. These children
actively participate in events organized by Rabithah
Pusat in Jakarta.
Al-Irsyad Al-Islamiyyah Organization (Jam’iyat
al-Islah wAl-Irsyad al-Islamiyyah) was established
on 6 September 1914 by Sheikh Ahmad Surkati
(Hayaze,2017). Al-Irsyad in the early days of his birth
was known as a group of Islamic reformers with
Muhammadiyah and Islamic Unity (Persis). The three
main figures of this organization: Ahmad Surkati,
Ahmad Dahlan, and Ahmad Hassan, are often
referred to as the Indonesian Islamic Reformation
Trio. Other Al_Irsyad figures such as Hosein
Bafagieh and Abdul Rahman Baswedan were
founders of the Indonesian Arab Party and wrote
about Indonesian Indonesian Arabian descent. Some
female leaders of Al-Irsyad also voiced criticism of
the practice of polygamy, the tradition of seclusion of
Arab women and the use of veils for women.
The display of the Al-Irsyad webpage contains Al
Irysad's youth and women's activities. This page is
open because Al-Irsyad's membership is not limited
to Arab descendants. However, the management
structure of Al-Irsyad remains held by Arabian
descendants. This page is networked with tower
center research institutes held by the highly educated
central Al-Irsyad youth with the account address
@menaracenter.org. Some of the activities posted in
the old Al-Irsyad are a seminar, education, social,
political and religious activities. Menara Center's
seminar and research activities also network with
LIPPI, Rujak Center for Urban Studies Jakarta, C2O
Library Surabaya, Kampungnesia Solo, Hysteria
Semarang, Kampoeng Bogor. Especially for
networking with the media, Menara Center
networked with AyoRek, and JJIB (Islamic Traces for
the Nation). While a network of academics, Menara
Center networked with UI, New York University,
Austrian Academic of Science, Radboud University,
Nijmegen University.
The digital world also penetrates into the private
sphere of the family institution(Jhonson, 2015). The
search results of the researchers showed that there
were several clan-based Facebook accounts, both
from Alawiyyin and Non-Alawiyyin. Researchers are
invited to join the fam AbdulAziz facebook account
with the account name bin AbdulAziz and account of
the Arabian village now. For both of these last
Facebook accounts, there are a lot of posts that
highlight political issues, such as the DKI Governor
election and 2019 Presidential election. The majority
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of members are supporters of Anies Baswedan for the
DKI elections and Prabowo's stronghold for the 2019
Presidential Election. , as well as incorporating
religious sentiments for the formation of public
opinion and discourse.
The development of the digital world with the
help of internet technology (ICT) encourages
communities or ethnically based organizations such
as Rabithah and Al-Irsyad to also transform into
virtual communities in addition to physically
possessing organizational assets and branches in
several regions of the archipelago. This indicates that
traditionally formed solidarity based on ethnicity,
geography,and culture also colors current social
media. Ethnic, religious, cultural, geographical
sentiments precisely strengthen the solidarity that is
formed through the virtual world.
4 REPRODUCING PATRIARCHY
THROUGH NETWORKING
RABITHAH AND AL-IRSYAD
Patriarchal reproduction through ICTcontain multi-
layered oppression. This implies that patriarchal
oppression does not only move at the individual level
but also in groups and communities (Jhonson, 2015).
The writer will discuss how patriarchy is reproduced
through the digital world (digital world), namely
through social media channels, such as web pages,
Facebook, Instagram,and Twitter. Searching the
author through the Sayid and Syarifah UI and PNJ
Association (Asyraaf UI/PNJ) accounts show that the
younger generation of Alawiyyin still maintains their
identity as Sayyid and Sayyidah by keeping their
descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. This
association introduces their children to fellow
Alawiyyin people to interact and get acquainted,
including as matchmaking media and ta run. The
UI/PNJ Ashraaf organization also networked directly
with Rabithah, for example in terms of organizing
family-themed seminars. The theme of this seminar,
one of which was posted on the Rabithah web page
was a seminar and pre-wedding talk show
khsussyarifah (Alawiyyin woman) who was not
married. This seminar discusses the importance of the
glory of the nasabthat is on him, in other
words,purityness as a Syarifah must be maintained by
providing motivation for Alawiyyin women to hold a
sekufu marriage (Kazuo, 2012 ). Furthermore
Asyraaf UI / PNJ in me Instagram also posted pictures
of Henna Fun Day programs for young women who
wanted to learn to use Henna in their hands and body
especially for weddings.
Authors also browse the Family Development
account page in the Rabithah web. Some of the
content in it is seen as religious legitimacy to motivate
women to be good wives and mothers. Some of the
posts are titled & Successful Career as a Housewife”
Al Qomah (A Mother's Love Story), “A Mother's
Values in Mata Al Imam Al Qutb Al Habib Ali Bin
Muhammad Al Habsyi”, at least represent a central
role of Alawiyyin women as a Mother and Wife who
are strengthened through religious propositions.
Next, article postings “Danger of Spitting Aurat”,
“Women and Hijab”, and “Must Wear Hijab?”
describes the message that a woman's body must be
closed as a protection against her from the vision of
men. Construction of women “well” and in
accordance with Islamic guidelines is to use hijab.
Some clerics and ustadzah also post supporting
comments on this page. Some wedding invitations are
also shared through the Rabithah Alawiyyah website.
Seen from the names of couples and bride families,
all of them comes from the Alawiyyin people. This
also strengthens the doctrine that the sayyids and
syarifah are encouraged to conduct secufu marriages
(Kazuo, 2012 ).
Rabithah Alawiyyah's webpage is also networked
with FB accounts of Habaib and Ulama Lovers. Some
of the posts in the account also reinforce how
patriarchal reproduction is strengthened through the
interpretation of the conception “after the dark rises
brightly” RA Kartini, “features of the wanitahsoleh!”
The following is an excerpt and analysis of 4 posts
about women's construction which “ideal” which
strengthens patriarchal reproduction through social
media channels.
The first article is that the conception of the
darkness comes out brightly” RA Kartini who was
reinterpreted by the admin account of FB Habaib
Lovers and Ulama described that after RA Kartini
knew the meaning contained in the letter Al Fatihah
after following the Mbah Soleh Darat recitation and
interacting with him through letters and assemblies,
and presented the Faidur-Rohman book containing
translations In the Javanese language, Kartini was
inspired by the Holy Quran(Al Baqarah : 257) which
contains an image of believers who are guided by God
from darkness to Divine light. Furthermore, the three
articles posted are the characteristics of women, a
rebuke to women, and for you women show that
women who are pious are women who are sincere,
worship, repent and obey. This is in line with the
rebuke for women when opening his aurat in public
until attracting the attention of men, women become
Digital Patriarchy on Arab Women in Urban Area
411

the party to be blamed. Finally, the posts for young
women clarified the stad point, position and role of
women as wives who obey their husbands whose
values are equal to men who fight (jihad) in the way
of God. Intersection between ethnicity, religious
background and gender position has been occurred by
the position of Arab women oppressed by her
husband strengthened by the narration of Islamic
bible (The Holy Qur’an). Arab women had three
layer oppression according her socio-cultural position
using gender intersectionl perspective (Tohidi, 2007;
Lykke,2010; Babbit, 2011).
The author also browses the Al-Irsyad Al
Islamiyyah webpage and tries to see posts about
women's issues. The page describes a narrative that is
slightly different from the Rabithah web page about
women. Al-Irsyad is an organization that has the
ideology of renewal inherited from Hosein Bafagieh.
He criticized the narrative of Arab women who were
confined in 1930-1942. The spirit of women's
modernization is also carried on the content of the Al-
Irsyad web page, such as the process of cadre Al-
Irsyad Women's Management (PB), training and
upgrading of PB Al-Irsyad instructors which focuses
on women's development, competence, and expertise.
Especially for the national upgrading was held to
provide debriefing for cadres in the Al-Irsyad region
and branch of women throughout Indonesia.
Some of the material given in national upgrading
programs is leadership ability and leading meetings,
developing education (creative methods in schools,
curricula, avoiding school violence), school
management (how to make schools, how to manage,
how to develop, how to find good teachers), public
speaking, personal social responsibility and
communication, creative problem solving and
mindset training. Organizational material related to
the basic values of the Al-Irsyad organization,
discussion of Bylaws, formulation,and delivery of
work programs. This material has been adapted to the
situation and conditions faced by women today. In
this context, social and educational problems still
dominate the Al-Irsyad Women's PB management
domain. Because the roots of this organization are
social, da'wah and education.
From those Al Irsyad and Rabithah web content
analysis, Al Irsyad women more likely empowering
women program. Their historical roots were delivered
from Hosein Bafagieh modernization movement.
That counter movement produce critical ideology for
AL Irsyad women characters. In this context, Al
Irsyad women could bargaining, negotiating and also
contesting Arab male domination in thei organization
(Kardiyoti, 1988).
5 TOWARDS A DIGITAL AGE
(PATRIARCHY)?
In general term patriarchy defined male dominated
over women, women subordination similarly with
industrial labour subordination, re-arrange married
with “mahar” system, sexual hierachial man over
women, oppression of being mother and housewife,
and free women-labour at home (Soman, 2009). The
invention of internet technology can eliminate
boundaries between regions and even between
countries. In this context, the Arab crossbreed
community using social media to form and maintain
its network through Facebook, Twitter, Line and
Instagram accounts (Achyutha
, 2011; p.155) .
In fact, the Al-Irsyad and Rabithah organization
also has an official website account which is
deliberately made to attract the younger generation to
be involved in the organization's activities. If the
network of Arabian crossbreed communities in
ancestral times was produced through patterns of
migration and marriage, the social networks produced
today were mostly carried out through social media.
The discovery of internet technology has actually
become a driving factor for changes in networking
which was originally built from social reality into the
virtual world (Ray, 2007).
Furthermore, in the digital world, there is also a
process of reproduction of patriarchy through the
content and discourse of Rabithah and Al-Irshad's
web pages. Procurement of seminars in five-star
hotels but discusses the primacy of a career as a
housewife, married sekufu, using hijab, the obedience
of wives to husbands is precisely one form of
patriarchal culture in the Arab community but in the
form of digital-based social media packaging. The
author argues that changes in current interaction
patterns that emphasize the large role of the virtual
world also make it a patriarchal reproductive tract. In
this context, the researcher offers a digital patriarchal
conception in explaining the above symptoms.
Patriarchy in the context of Arab society has a
variety of definitions, namely (Joseph, 1996; 205) :
First, giving priority rights to men and elder people
(including older women) in the family and supported
by religious factors. Second, patriarchy comes from
Arab society that is still traditional and modern Arab
(neopatriarchy). Third, the father figure in the
traditional Arab family has full authority and
responsibility so that he gets respect from all his
family members. The power of a father is supported
by ownership of economic resources, such as
ownership of land, resources,and money produced by
members of his Arab family. Patriarchal practice can
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be observed in plain view in Arab society because the
family is the main basis for the formation of society.
In his writings, Joseph also distinguishes patriarchy
in the Arab world into five (5) forms, namely: social
patriarchy, economic patriarchy, political patriarchy,
religious patriarchy, and patriarchal selfhood (in self
patriarchy).
Social patriarchy refers to Arab families who
place the position of father and son having authority
and power, including male lineages (patrilineal) used
by Arab society. Economic patriarchy refers to the
distribution of inheritance which places men to get
greater inheritance rights than Arab women.
Religious patriarchy is the daily practice of the
community that is obtained from the
teachings/guidance of the religion it adheres to.
Inheritance law and marriage law are examples of
how religion provides guidelines for behaving in
community members. Finally, the patriarchy of
selfhood refers to the formation of character and self-
concept of an individual who accepts the conception
of men more powerful than women.
Through this paper, the researcher seeks to
incorporate elements of the digital world in Joseph's
study of neo-patriarchy in modern Arab families. The
novelty of the concept offered by the author, which is
digital patriarchy related to ethnicity, gender
identity,and construction, cannot be separated from
the exposure of social media in the digital world. If
Patil is concerned that neopatriarchy occurs in
modern Arab families, digital patriarchy is one form
of the neo-patriarchy in milenial era. In this regards,
digital patriarchy is one of the consequences as well
as the problems that must be faced by Arabwomen on
revolution industry 4.0 era.
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