Satukangeun Lalangsé: Sundanese Sexuality From Behind the Curtain

The weekly popular tabloid newspaper GaluraGalura is published in SundaneseSundanese in Bandung and has a circulation of 9,000. It is part of the Pikiran RakyatPikiran Rakyat, the daily Bandung Indonesian language newspaper group. It contains news items and features about WestWest Javanese society past and present and is clearly designed to stimulate a sense of localLocal pride in SundaneseSundanese achievements and Sundanese cultural artefacts and performances. One regular feature of the newspaper since 2008 is a page entitled Satukangeun LalangséSatukangeun Lalangsé (Behind the Curtain) (Behind the Curtain). This page relates what are said to be true stories about the trials and tribulations of married couples and familiesFamily, always described from a first-person perspective. The aim of this contribution is twofold. First, it aims at shedding light on how the stories endorse the opinion that SundaneseSundanese women are often deceived in their hopesHope of what marriageMarriage will bring and that their hopesHope are frustrated by the hand of fate, the arbitrariness of their husband’s behaviour, or the ingratitude of their children. Second, it adds to our understanding of how the description of polygamyPolygamy, adultery, and unexpected familyFamily misfortunes correspond to what people would understand to be plausible and possible within the institutions of the familyFamily and marriageMarriage.