[1] She began teaching at the University of Indonesia in 1991, and was responsible for the inaugural Feminist Paradigms course before she enrolled at EHESS the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in 1992.

Noting the difficulty of finding feminist materials in Indonesia and hoping to promote democratization efforts and protect minority rights, she began work, supported by Ida Dhanny, Asikin Arif, and Toeti Heraty, to establish the country's first feminist journal.

[5] During the Asian Financial Crisis, Arivia – recognized as one of Jakarta's leading feminist scholars[6] – protested against the government using the rising price of milk as a camouflage.

The protesters prayed, sang, distributed flowers, and read a statement that called for greater women's participation in resolving the crisis.

This collection, published a year after the controversial Pornography and Pornoaction law was passed, has been read as a condemnation of the Indonesian state's continued power over women's bodies and sexuality.