Female Habitus and Symbolic Violence in Intan Andaru's Perempuan Bersampur Merah: A Bourdieusian Perspective

Gender inequality in cultural narratives often operates not through physical violence, but rather through subtle, socially legitimized symbolic mechanisms. This article aims to analyze how women's habitus and symbolic violence are represented in the novel Perempuan Bersampur Merah (The Woman in the Red Scarf) by Intan Andaru. Departing from Pierre Bourdieu's theoretical framework, particularly the concepts of habitus and symbolic violence, this study uses a qualitative method with a literary text analysis approach. The results show that the female characters in the novel experience internalization of patriarchal domination through a process of social habituation that makes inequality accepted as normal. Symbolic violence works through language, cultural symbols, and social practices that normalize submission and encourage the unconscious participation of female subjects in structures of domination. These findings emphasize that literature not only reflects social reality but also functions as an arena for the reproduction of symbolic power relations. The contribution of this research lies in enriching the study of Indonesian literature within the discourse of global cultural sociology, while also offering an alternative reading of gender issues that goes beyond moralistic approaches and normative feminism.