Does phallic masculinity still matter? Masculinities in Indonesian teenlit during the post-reformasi period (1998-2007)

This paper examines the representation of masculinities in commercial or popular Indonesian literature for young people published during the Post-Reformasi period. Within the climate of more open socio-political atmosphere of the period, the teenage literature shows more involvement of young female writers. While the representation of female protagonists indicates more progressive gender roles, the portrayal of male protagonists in teenlit written by female writers reflect a more conservative gender perspective. On the other hand, ways of being male in the form of literature written by male authors indicate the stream of masculinity derived from the Javanese aristocratic values (priyayi). This variant of masculinity, which was promoted actively in the previous regime (the New Order regime), shows signs of restraint.