Indonesia’s policewomen were rarely in public (or even police) consciousness prior to 2013. Yet the succeeding five years saw an explosion in visibility. Public furore concerning forced virginity testing of recruits, national debate over permitting women to veil on duty, and social media sites consumed with beauty concomitantly propelled policewomen into the limelight.

This seminar draws on these three examples to illustrate how various forms of power are levelled precisely at the borders of a woman’s body, what is framed as bio-borders. It focuses on three bio-borders: hymens, veils, and beauty. Drawing on Franck Billé’s work on skin and geopolitical boundaries, these bio-borders are analysed as sites where Indonesia’s neoliberal moral authority is asserted and contested.

As an enforcer of state law, a policewoman’s virginity, purity and appearance signifies Indonesia’s moral standing and mandates overt surveillance and control. Policewomen thus undergo intense daily moral labour to conform to expectations. As good moral ephemeral citizens showcasing Indonesia’s public face, policewomen: feel unable to contest forced virginity testing; are empowered to demand the right to wear the veil on duty; and are complicit in accepting (and enjoying) beauty as a recruitment requirement while simultaneously expressing regret that they are judged on appearance.

Sharyn Graham Davies is Associate Professor in the School of Social Sciences and Public Policy at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. Sharyn has been researching gender and sexuality for two decades, with a primary focus on Indonesia. Sharyn has published a number of articles and books on this topic including Challenging Gender Norms in Indonesia (Thomson Wadsworth, 2007) and Gender Diversity in Indonesia (Routledge, 2011). Sharyn is also co-editor, with Linda Bennett, of the volume Sex and Sexualities in Contemporary Indonesia (Routledge, 2015). This latter book won both the 2015 Ruth Benedict prize awarded by the American Anthropology Association and the 2017 International Convention of Asian Scholars award. In 2014 Sharyn was Leverhulme Visiting Professor at Cambridge University and in 2017 was Visiting Professor at Peking University. In July 2018 Sharyn was Sabbatical Visitor at Sydney Southeast Asia Centre.