Peran Huishoudschool (Sekolah Rumah Tangga) dalam pendidikan dan pembentukan citra perempuan ideal di perkotaan Jawa 1901-1942

Abstract

In Indonesian women’s historiography, studies of women’s education remain largely centered on formal schooling within the public education system, while domestic skills education has received comparatively limited scholarly attention. This article examines the role of Huishoudschool in urban Java during the late Dutch East Indies period (1901–1942). Employing historical methods with a gender perspective, this study analyzes primary sources including colonial newspapers, women’s magazines, and annual reports of women’s schools. The findings reveal that Huishoudschool functioned not merely as an educational institution for women but also as a key instrument in shaping colonial constructions of ideal femininity. Its curriculum emphasized domestic skills such as cooking, sewing, laundry, childcare, nutrition, and health, delivered through a two- to three-year program. These educational practices reinforced colonial hegemonic ideals that positioned women primarily as household managers, devoted wives, and moral educators of children. The institutionalization and popularization of Huishoudschool in urban Java contributed to the standardization of feminine ideals that persisted beyond the colonial period. This study argues that postcolonial notions of the “good woman” in Indonesia cannot be understood independently of the historical legacy of Huishoudschool, which continues to influence gender norms and domestic education discourses.