User:WiiFyneLM/Lengger lanang

Lengger lanang is a traditional male-only dance from the Banyumas people of Java. It is an alternate version of the lengger dance, which worships Dewi Sri, a fertility goddess, and is traditionally typically performed by women. Banyumas society, being an agrarian society, held importance to worshipping deities related to the harvest, thus the lengger dance also held significant importance to this. The lengger dance held a religious element and is a traditional part of Javanese culture but is stigmatized as "spreading LGBT values".

History
The lengger dance resembles many other Southeast Asian fertility dances but the exact origin of lengger lanang is unkown. The prevailing theories involve Jatilawang and Mataram. The Mataram theory suggests that lengger lanang started appearing within Banyumas culture around 1755. There was also a theory that it is derived from the Ronggeng dance.

Beliefs
The lengger lanang is sometimes preceded by fasting or meditating to assist with allowing the indang (spirit) to enter them and help with their dancing. It is believed that particularly talented lengger lanang dancers were once women in their past lives and thus have the soul of a woman alongside the soul of a man. According to Ana Celeng Gawe Geger, a religious indigenous story, a long time ago wild boars would come down from the mountains to destroy the crops of the Banyumas people before they could harvest it. Then the people, men as women, would flail their arms around to scare away the boars. This practice would be passed down and become the traditional art of Lengger Banyumasan.

Clothing
The traditional clothing of a lengger lanang dancer includes a mekak, jarik cloth, sampur, cundhuk, sirkam, menthul, and giwang. A mekak is a cloth top, a jarik cloth in this case is worn around the waist, a sampur is a cloth like a scarf, and cundhuk, sirkam, menthul, and giwang as jewelry. The hair is also worn in a bun and there is usually an amount of makeup that although normal for Asian standards, is considered excessive by western standards.

Courtship
Traditionally, a lengger lanang who was particularly talented or popular would become akin to a local celebrity. As a result, just like their female counterparts, lengger wadon, they would become the focus of admiration and often be traditionally coveted by local men who would be eager to date him. However, due to the rising stigmatization of the LGBTQIA+ community within Indonesia as a result of moral panic, these relationships would be stigmatized as well so they tend to be kept secret, emotional and sexual.