Jakarta. Being a woman is never an easy task, particularly in Indonesia, where women are expected to fill given roles prescribed by society.
These include being a dutiful daughter, a wife, a mother, a sympathetic listener and sometimes a good cook. On top of that, today’s women also have to juggle careers of their own.
“There are so many roles that today’s women juggle in our daily lives,” says Nurul Sulisto, the Indonesian public relations manager for L’Oreal Paris. “And we all deserve an appreciation for that.”
To that end, L’Oreal Paris launched its “Women of Worth” (WoW) competition in Jakarta recently, as part of L’Oreal’s global campaign by the same name.
The competition encourages Indonesians to nominate any exemplary Indonesian women whom they personally know for a “Women of Worth” award.
There are myriad awards and prizes honoring women, but WoW differs in terms of its very simple requirements.
“Basically you can nominate any great woman you know, including yourself or your mom,” Nurul says.
The only condition is that those doing the nominating must be an Indonesian, male or female, above the age of 18 years, and the nominees must be Indonesian women aged 21 to 60 years.
To nominate someone for the WoW awards, you can log in to the website womenofworth.co.id.
“Almost everyone is now connected to the Internet, so the digital platform is chosen to make it easier for anyone to participate in this competition,” Nurul says, adding that people can log in via their Facebook account or register their details on the WoW website.
The required registration information include name and contact details for the person being nominated, as well as a picture of them and a statement of up to 100 words of why she should win the WoW award.
Another requirement for the nominee is that she should have multiple roles in her life.
“Almost every woman will qualify for these [requirements], which is good, because it’s basically a campaign to make every Indonesian woman realize their worthy contributions to their family, workplace and society,” Nurul says.
There are no educational or career background requirements for the nominees.
“As long as they’re doing their best in their daily roles, they are the Women of Worth [candidates],” Nurul says.
The nomination process runs until Oct. 31, with more than 300 women already nominated to date and listed on the WoW website.
Anyone visiting the website can browse through the profiles of the nominees and vote for them.
“To anticipate against fake votes, every voter should first register on the website before they can vote for the nominees,” Nurul says.
Each voter may vote for as many nominees as they want. However, they can only vote for each nominee once.
Browsing through the different profiles is guaranteed to bring a tear to one’s eye. Many of the women there have been nominated by their own mothers, sisters, friends and colleagues, so their stories feel very intimate and personal.
Through the nominees’ brief profiles, one can learn about the ordeals that these ordinary women have faced and overcome, and understand how important it is that their stories be known.
A number of prominent Indonesian women have been chosen to serve on the competition jury.
One of them is Dewi Motik Pramono, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Women’s Congress, or Kowani.
Kowani is a non-profit women’s organization that aims to empower Indonesian women. The organization, which was established in Yogyakarta in 1928, has more than 30 million members all over Indonesia today.
“The spirit of the WoW award is in line with the vision and mission statements of our own organization,” Dewi says.
“We hope that through WoW, more women will become convinced of the worthy role they play in their family and society and feel encouraged to do much more.”
The jury will look through all the nominees and choose 20 candidates from among them.
The first selection by the jury will be based on the reason given for why the nominee was nominated.
“The candidate should consistently do the best for herself, her family and society without hoping for anything in return,” says Fenny M. Dwivany, another member of the jury.
Fenny is a researcher in molecular biology at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), who in 2007 won the L’Oreal-UNESCO International Fellowship for Women in Science for her research on the ripening process of bananas.
The 20 short-listed candidates will then be invited to Jakarta for an interview with the jury.
On Nov. 21, L’Oreal Paris will name three winners based on the jury’s assessment and the number of votes that they receive on the website.
These three winners will each get a prize of Rp 25 million ($2,060).
“And we hope that they will use it for a good cause,” says Melanie Masriel, the head of communications of L’Oreal Indonesia and a jury member.
Maudy Koesnaedi, an actress and brand ambassador for L’Oreal Paris, says she nominated her good friend Meta Djoefri for the competition.
“She’s been my good friend since junior high school,” Maudy says.
“So I’m well acquainted with the ups and downs of her personal life.”
Meta is a single mother of a boy with special needs. She sells Islamic clothing to earn a living, while taking care of her young son herself.
“What amazes me is that she always comes and helps whenever one of her friends needs her,” Maudy says.
“I honestly don’t know how she manages that.”
Currently, Meta has received more than 300 votes on the website.
Maudy serves on the WoW jury, as does fellow actress and L’Oreal Paris brand ambassador Dian Sastrowardoyo.
“We, as women, face many ordeals, from the petty to the huge ones that make us stumble,” Maudy says.
“But if we can rise up and become an inspiration for others, that’s a Woman of Worth.”
For more information, visit womenofworth.co.id
The post Valuing Indonesian Women for All That They Are Worth appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.
