Considered ‘Cheap’, Sakdiyah Ma’ruf Fights Negative Stigma against Female Standup Comedians

“The television station once said ‘We saw that you often wear the wrong outfits’, then they would send pictures of clothes I should be wearing,” said a female standup comedian, Sakdiyah Ma’ruf, when we met her at her home, mid-March 2019. 



Sakdiyah is confident this kind of issue will never be experienced by male standup comedians. They also have more freedom in delivering jokes, while female comedians are considered less funny. Going further, female laughing too hard can be considered impolite.



It is not easy to be a female standup comedian in Indonesia. Sakdiyah Ma’ruf suffers from negative stigma rarely felt by male standup comedians. She argues that female comedians are often considered cheap for being expressive in front of the public. Female comedians are always asked to put on attractive appearance.



According to Sakdiyah, this is why there are less female comics than males. Even in an event inviting 60 standup comedians on March 2019, there were no more than 10 female comics. 



Stigma and negative opinions against female comedians do not scare Sakdiyah. On the contrary, she feels challenged to convey jokes on sensitive issues, such as the behaviour of religious people, intolerance, and defence of minorities and women. 


“Because comedy is a way to express yourself without yelling or sounding preachy,” said Sakdiyah. 



Sakdiyah’s ability to turn sensitive human rights issues into comedic themes has been rewarded by a number of international awards. In 2015, she received the Vaclav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent for standup comedy category at Oslo Freedom Forum, Norway. 

Her name was equal to previous recipients, from Chinese art activist, Ai Wei Wei, to Russian women rock band, Pussy Riot. On November 2018, her name was ranked 54th out of 100 world’ inspirational women from BBC.



Sakdiyah covers daily stories when she is on stage, either her own experience or other people’s through her eyes. By doing comedy, she wants to engage in discussions and open minds.  



“I see girls marry at a very young age, 15 years. Violence against women is also running rampant. When I was taking my undergraduate and graduate school, these problems were also experienced in other areas. That’s why I feel that I need to talk about this,” said Sakdiyah.



Sakdiyah chooses comedy as her arena since this is her culture and habit since she was young. As a kid, she used to invite friends over just to listen to her stories. Her parents often took her to watch Warkop DKI and other comedy films at the movies. 



During college years, Sakdiyah joined movements and started to be directly involved with community assistance programs. The inspiration came in 2009 when Sakdiyah found Robin Williams’s Live on Broadway DVD – a grand standup show by Robin Williams. 

Mesmerized, Sakdiyah watched it numerous times. From here, Sakdiyah found her plan and decided to use comedy as a means to convey her opinions. 



Sharing Duties with Her Husband



As a female worker, Sakdiyah Ma’ruf has special tips on how to manage domestic and public affairs. She would share duties with her husband, Muhammad Shobar Al Amin, in managing the household and taking care of her 10 months old son. Her husband ultimately resigned from his work at a construction company and opened his own business so that their career can go hand in hand.



When Sakdiyah is performing an open mic, her husband would take care of the baby. Vice versa, she would take care of her son when her husband is off meeting clients or taking care of his business outside of town. 



“If it is not possible, me or my husband often bring our son to work. We share roles in taking care of the house and child,” said this TEDxUbud inspirational speaker. 



According to Sakdiyah, many females withdraw themselves from economic participation due to the lack of a system to support women to contribute in public domain. In fact, women’s economic involvement contribute to development.


Support for female workers should not only come from their spouses but also from there the place they work or conduct activities in. For example by providing daycare or nursery room. Sakdiyah explained that not many offices in Indonesia provide these facilities. 



“In Australia, free daycare rooms are available not only in workplaces but also on campus,” said the first hijab comedian from Indonesia speaking at Chaser Lecture and Sydney Ideas at University of Sydney, Australia. 


In addition to the issue of facilities, Sakdiyah said that many female workers in Indonesia still experience sexual harassment. This is why women back away from public roles. Sakdiyah hopes these issues of women in Indonesia can be addressed soon to create more inclusive work opportunities.



Sakdiyah’s dream of having inclusive working opportunities for women is in line with the theme of Indonesia Development Forum (IDF) this year, which is “Mission Possible: Seizing the Opportunities of Future Work to Drive Inclusive Growth”. The forum that will be held by the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) is supported by the Australian Government through Knowledge Sector Initiative (KSI). IDF 2019 will bring together stakeholders to find evidence based solutions and good practices.**