Keywords
body discipline
communal panopticon
Men Bekung
Men Brayut
How to Cite
Abstract
This study examines how discursive power regulates women’s bodies within the Balinese practice of sing beling sing nganten. Using an applied-philosophy design and Foucauldian discourse analysis, it draws on field observations and in-depth interviews conducted in several Balinese customary communities between 2023 and 2025. The findings show that power operates through three interconnected mechanisms: disciplinary regulation of the female body, multilayered family and community surveillance resembling a communal panopticon, and normalising judgements structured by the contrasting symbols of Men Bekung and Men Brayut. Together, these mechanisms encourage women to internalise fertility expectations and regulate themselves without overt coercion. The study is limited by its focus on the philosophical dimensions of power and does not assess individual clinical or psychological outcomes. Nevertheless, it contributes to Southeast Asian gender studies by demonstrating how reproductive norms can function as biopolitical techniques within a customary patriarchal setting. Its novelty lies in integrating body discipline, communal surveillance, and the Men Bekung–Men Brayut symbolic opposition into a single analytical framework for understanding the regulation of women’s reproductive bodies in Bali.
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