Javanese culture widely known for its affiliation with patriarchal system where the roles of political leadership, moral authority, social rights and so on are dominated by men. The application of Javanese Culture is quite established in Yogyakarta Sultan Palace simply because the palace is a main cultural center. This fact actually tick curiosity of Muhamad Khabib Cahyo Nugroho (Sociology Education), Yulia Kartikasari (Sociology Education) and Zia Khusnullabib Ahmad (Sociology Education) to find out more about the issue on gender equality in Abdi Dalem Punakawan Tepas. These students work under guidance of Nur Hidayah, M.Sc.
Muhamad Khabib Cahyo Nugroho explained that the purpose of the study was to find out the factors that underlie the establishment of different work in Abdi Dalem Punakawan Tepas and know the application of gender equality in the division of work of Abdi Dalem Punakawan Tepas. He added that from research conducted at the Yogyakarta Palace, the team found out an interesting fact that male Abdi Dalem Punakawan Tepas do the work that commonly done by women. On the contrary, female Abdi Dalem Punakawan Tepas perform works that are mostly carried out by men. This shows the existence of equality in the Sultan's Palace.
In addition, female Abdi Dalem can also occupy organizational structures such as the chairman. In this case they work together in carrying out their duties. There is gender equality in Abdi Dalem Punakawan Tepas through the division of their duties in the Palace. (Eko; Tj. Lak)
