JAKARTA, Indonesia — After model Andhara Early posed for Indonesia's first Playboy edition and landed on its cover, police called her in for questioning.
Investigators asked her to explain what she was doing in each of the five photos in her eight-page spread. It made no difference that she didn't pose nude -- or that the photos were no more revealing than a lingerie ad.
"Police asked me whether my picture was pornography or not," she recounted. "I said, 'It's not. It's art, definitely art.' "
Playboy's entry to the Indonesian market has fueled debate over what constitutes pornography and how women should behave in the world's most populous Muslim country.
Indonesia, more moderate than most Muslim nations, faces mounting pressure from a growing conservative Islamic movement to pass a law redefining the concept of pornography and outlawing behavior that clerics consider an affront to Islam.
A measure before parliament would ban "pornoaksi," or porno action, a newly created offense so broad that it could include wearing a miniskirt or baring a navel. Kissing in public would be punishable by up to five years in prison. Dancing erotically could bring seven years. Exposing body parts that could be deemed erotic would be punishable by as much as 10 years.
"If you wear something sensual or sexy, it will be considered pornography," said Gadis Arivia, a professor of human rights and Western philosophy at the University of Indonesia who has helped organize opposition to the bill. "It will criminalize a lot of women in Indonesia."
Opposition to the measure has been especially strong in Bali, the predominantly Hindu island that depends heavily on tourism. Some worry that restrictions on attire could ban traditional Balinese dress and scare off foreign tourists accustomed to wearing revealing clothing. At one point, the governor of Bali threatened to secede if the bill was passed.
The threat of having to cover up has stirred moderate and middle-class Indonesians to political action, something that has seldom occurred since President Suharto was ousted and democracy was ushered in eight years ago. Opponents have organized demonstrations, launched a petition drive and pressured members of parliament to reject the measure.
"It's frightening because we see Indonesia being slowly turned into a conservative country," said Arivia, who attended high school in the United States. "We are scared to death that Indonesia will become an Islamic state. The majority of people would not want that."
