Refleksi Demonstrasi Suara Ibu Peduli: Perjuangan Aktivis Perempuan Menggulirkan Reformasi dan Melawan Orde Baru

Abstract

The demonstration by the Voice of Concerned Mothers (SIP) on February 23, 1998, is often reduced in the public narrative to a spontaneous action by “housewives” demanding affordable milk prices. However, these narratives obscure the political complexity, strategy, and courage of the feminist activists who initiated the action amid the repression of the New Order. The history of the SIP demonstrations is not just a story about rising milk prices, but an organized effort to “break the silence,” create space for political intervention in the context of the economic crisis, and reject the authoritarian Soeharto regime. The authors agree that the SIP action of February 23, 1998, was the first openly feminist political action to be carried out to overthrow Soeharto. The strategy of using the symbol “mother” and the “milk” issue is not a coincidence, but rather a clever camouflage to protect the movement from subversive accusations and to build a bridge of empathy with society. This paper traces the history through a collaborative autoethnographic approach, utilizing the personal experiences and narratives of the SIP demonstrators who were arrested as the primary data. This study examines the layers of strategy, emotion, and dynamics that shape the collective meaning of the SIP movement.