Mamah Muda Morphogenesis in Indonesia

There has been changes in the young housewives’ activities, as currently, they not only carry out domestic activities in the house, but also go outside of the house. Activities, such as taking children to school, become part of domestic roles, then meeting other young modern mothers and forming group. This group then raises the “mahmud (mamah muda)” or young moms term. Changes in traditional reproductive roles in the domestic sector are interesting to be analyzed using the Morphogenesis Theory by Margaret Archer. This theory acknowledges that there is an asymmetrical relationship between external structures that are relatively autonomous with internal cultures, and at the same time, there is a reciprocal relationship between the two. The cultural case of this young mothers groups could be used as an example of this Morphogenesis theory.

Constructivist paradigm study using this kind of phenomenological approach was able to explain how the process of morphogenesis change occurred, by conducting in-depth, open-ended interviews to ten mothers in their 30s whose children are in kindergarten/elementary school. This study was able to answer the research purpose, which was young moms, is the reality of changes in structure-culture and culture-structure, produced through the causality of both groups through communication of symbolic convergence that is the exchange of information (material) into symbols (non-material).