MUSCULAR MINIE
Rifkianto Nugroho (detikcom, Bekasi)
Since 2009, Rusmini Sudjarwo (45) has started transforming her physique, in line with the beauty standard she swears by. This transformation is done as an effort to overcome a past trauma of body shaming. The effort has shown results. She manages to build the best version of herself, and the visible result has cultivated her confidence. The process is motivated by a group of bodybuilders.
After her physical transformation, Minie can now stand tall with her new identity as a muscular woman, taking her to many new experiences and opportunities. Besides being a housewife, she also wins at different bodybuilding events, and being a jury in competitions. To Minie, hope is gained through a long and winding road/
“I’m determined to remain muscly until I’m 70,” she said while wiping her sweat in the stuffy gymnasium. The hard determination comes from her tough experience with body shaming – something that she would never want to revisit.
From Minie’s story, we are reminded to be more sensitive towards the practice of body shaming, something detrimental to its victims. The perpetrator could even be imprisoned according to Article 27 verse (3) UU ITE, with up to six years of punishment for shaming on social media, while Article 289 to 296 KUHP stating that the punishment for direct shaming is 15 years.
But imprisonment threats alone are not enough to deal with body shaming. Education and empathy, taught since early days, could grow the humanity within the society.