Pelakor: An Unjust Discursive Term for 'the Other Woman'

Abstract

This article investigates the use of the word pelakor on Instagram by Indonesians. Pelakor (short for Perebut Laki Orang, literally meaning ‘a thief of someone else’s husband’) is a coined term used popularly to refer to a woman perceived as responsible for ruining a couple’s marriage. Adopting a textual and interpretive analysis as my method, I analyse the ways in which this term is used as a social label that sanctions women while erasing the role of men in narratives of infidelity. Building on feminist critical discourse analysis, the study shows how pelakor is sociolinguistically grounded in gender bias, revealing both a misogynistic attitude deeply rooted in Indonesian society and the critical role played by social media. This study contributes to the field of social media discourse studies, a growing area of research in sociolinguistics, by exploring the use of a sexist term on Instagram.