Hollandsche ontucht en Inlandsche veilheid. Gemengde Indisch-Hollandse huwelijken in historisch-sociologisch perspectief

Samenvatting

On Dutch Lewdness and Inlander Corruptibility: A Historical-Sociological Perspective on Indonesian-Dutch Mixed Marriages. Acceptability of Indonesian-Dutch mixed marriages is still influenced by stereotypical images that stem from the colonial age. More generally, the relationship between intergroup mixed marriage and stereotypical images is only one of a complex of interrelationships between intermarriage, interdependence and power, group composition and size, and stereotype. Due to a shortage of Dutch women in the colony, Dutch domination of the Indonesian archipelago would have been impossible without mixed marriages. In Indonesia, the Dutch created a caste society based on racial symbols, appraising white females as the most desirable wives, followed first by Eurasian and then Indonesian women. In postcolonial Netherlands, vestiges of this racial validation can still be seen in the way some elder Eurasian and Dutch parents validate their children's mixed marriage: Eurasians prefer mixed marriage, whereas for the Dutch the opposite is true. Most cases, however, showed unproblematical acceptance of mixed Eurasian-Dutch marriages. Some of the Dutch positive reactions can be explained in terms of a Dutch attachment to Indonesians rooted in the colonial experience. Acceptance of mixed Moluccan-Dutch marriage was more problematic, both from a Dutch and a Moluccan point of view. This is mainly due to the troubled relationship between the Moluccan minority and the Dutch state. Younger mixed couples, both Eurasian-Dutch and Moluccan-Dutch, experienced less characteristic reactions. A few of the younger couples met with Dutch negative reactions based on stereotypes. These reactions seemed more likely to have been based on heterophobia rather than on racist stereotypes stemming from the colonial age. 1 Table, 40 References. Adapted from the source document.