From Equality to Androgyny

This study examines the dynamics of husband-wife relationships in progressive Muslim families in Indonesia, focusing on the transition from the principle of gender equality to the practice of relational androgyny. Employing a qualitative research design grounded in feminist theory and the sociology of family and law, this study utilizes in-depth interviews with three informants selected through purposive criteria to capture lived experiences of egalitarian Muslim households. The findings reveal that progressive Muslim families construct fluid, negotiated, and participatory relational patterns in parenting, decision-making, and economic roles, moving beyond formal equality toward contextual and practice-based relational arrangements. The main driving factors include increasing socio-cultural transformation, relative autonomy from traditional familial structures, and reflective religious consciousness, while the primary obstacles arise from the persistence of patriarchal cultural internalization, dominant conservative religious interpretations, and gender-biased socio-political frameworks. This study further demonstrates that the integration of relational androgynous values is actively cultivated through family-based education, role modeling, and the reinterpretation of Islamic teachings toward gender justice. These findings confirm the significance of relational androgyny as a praxis-oriented and contextually grounded framework in Islamic gender and family studies, contributing to the development of a more equitable, adaptive, and sustainable Muslim family model in contemporary Indonesia.