Gender Equality in Taiwan

Recently, several news items connected to women’s advancement have been the focus of media attention.

In September a new cabinet was installed in Japan, and five of 18 ministers were women, the largest number ever.

In Taiwan, the Academia Sinica selected five new women academicians in July, also the most ever.

These are but two of many statistical demonstrations of women’s growing success. While their achievements deserve to be celebrated, skepticism remains: Is achieving gender equality really just a matter of comparing figures?

With traditional gender norms crumbling, more and more men are working as kindergarten teachers. Wu Yi-chang is founder and director of the S-Nipa Daycare Center in Taoyuan.

Around the world fewer than 30% of government ministers are women. In Japan, for instance, women hold 27% of cabinet positions. In Taiwan the share is lower still at only 12%: Among the 44 cabinet members, only five are women.

The Economist has tried to bring some nuance to discussion of the issue. In an August 9 report on the sexual compositions of cabinets in various nations, titled “Treating the Fair Sex Fairly,” the article’s subhead read: “Female ministers are fewer than their male colleagues, but equally effective.” The piece argued that instead of fixating exclusively on total numbers, it is also important to look at whether women are given important senior posts.

Unlike ministerial-level positions, which are appointed, it is a citizen’s right, regardless of gender, to run for political office. And generally speaking women have achieved greater success at attaining elective office. In Taiwan, women currently make up 34% of the legislature. Although that ratio may be below Scandinavia’s, it is the highest in Asia. In establishing and amending laws, these women legislators are helping to shape the national vision of gender equality.

The religious realm in Taiwan has witnessed a push toward gender equality within its ranks. For instance, the Buddhist Eight Heavy Rules (Garudhammas) have been under fire for reflecting and perpetuating sexist values.

This year marks the 12th anniversary of the Gender Equality in Employment Act and the tenth anniversary of the Gender Equity Education Act.

It wasn’t until the repeal of martial law in 1987 that the government, in conjunction with citizen groups, began to push for gender equality under the law. When you consider that the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women was founded in 1946, the ROC may have started taking its first steps relatively late, but it was quickly able to establish or amend related laws and adhere to international norms.

For instance, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) went into effect in 1981. Although Taiwan isn’t a UN member, it applied to join the convention in 2007. But the ratification document was not accepted by the UN, so instead the convention’s provisions were made part of Taiwan’s domestic law through the CEDAW Enforcement Act, which was enacted in 2011 and took effect in 2012.

International experts completed their review of Taiwan’s second national report on its implementation of ­CEDAW this June. Although the convention has only been in effect here for two years, real steps toward gender equality had already been adopted in many realms years before.

Why should one’s gender require one to conform to others’ expectations?

There are many examples of traditional customs in Taiwan that discriminate against women. For instance, there is the idea that married daughters—described as “water tossed from the cup”—have no right to a share in their parents’ property. Yet with changes to the legal system, conceptions of gender equality can gradually become more accepted and eventually even part of tradition. The way that Confucius Day (September 28) is celebrated is but one example.

In ancient times women were strictly forbidden from participating in ceremonies venerating Confucius. From a modern perspective the rule is a clear example of gender discrimination. Today, not only can women play a variety of roles in those ceremonies, they can also participate in them as mayors, county executives and other political leaders.

The Sacrificial Official to Confucius is the only hereditary title in Taiwan, and it was originally filled by the eldest male of Confucius’ direct lineage. After studying the issue, the Ministry of the Interior amended the rules in 2009, so that it must be filled by a descendant with Confucius’ surname, irrespective of gender. (In Taiwan women hold on to their surnames after they marry.)

It’s more difficult for the law to insist upon sexual equality within religions because of constitutional protections of religious freedom, but there are many voices from within pushing for reform. For instance, the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan has established a “gender justice committee” to bring gender equality to the church.

The times they are a-changing, and gender norms have been moving in step with changing social mores. Although not originally allowed to participate in Confucian ceremonies, women now play various roles within those rites.

In 2001 Shih Chao-hwei, the well-known “righteous nun” who is chair of the religion department at Hsuan Chuang University, made a public appeal to abolish the Eight Ga­ru­dham­mas (Eight Heavy Rules), which are male-chauvinist regulations that govern the behavior of Buddhist nuns. Her appeal caused quite a stir in the Buddhist community.

“I don’t believe that gender equality is just a problem for Buddhists,” says Shih. “In fact, all of the world’s religions were established during a patriarchal era, and all have the same problems.” In the years since she launched that campaign, Shih has continued to push for gender equality among the Buddhist clergy. “I hope to throw back the curtains on these rules, so society can use modern social standards to judge their fairness.”

More than ten years have passed, and this movement for equality in Buddhism spurred by Shih is still gaining steam. The Venerable Master ­Hsing Yun of Fo ­Guang Shan has recently written that the Eight Ga­ru­dham­mas have a historical context, but those rules are no longer suited to the current era. “Since all living things have equality with the Buddha, why shouldn’t men and women have equality?”

Demands for gender equality also involve smashing conceptions of gender-specific work.

In recent years there have been a series of tragic incidents­ involving caregivers and their families. The Taiwan Association of Family Caregivers (TAFC) points out that these tragedies have highlighted three trends about long-term care in Taiwan: the aging of society (with the elderly caring for the elderly), the growing intensity of resulting pressures (with cases of caregiving children killing parents and then committing suicide), and the masculinization of caregiving, with more and more men becoming caregivers.

The association estimates that more than 900,000 people are serving as caregivers in Taiwan. Although there are no statistics about how many of these are men, 15% of the cases requesting assistance from the association involve men, and the number is rising markedly.

Chen ­Zheng-fen, TAFC president and an associate professor of social welfare at Chinese Culture University, points out that both Taiwan and Japan are seeing more men serving as caregivers. The trend is connected to economic hard times, she says.

Often men have difficulty finding work or lose long-term jobs, and without any other option decide to stay home and become caregivers. Even if they start out with a job, they may find that they often have to take time off from work. When the demands at home and on the job become too much to take on together, they choose to leave the workforce.

“They’re pioneers!” says Shane Wang, an associate professor of social work at Soochow University, of the male caregivers who are slowly getting recognized by society. Wang holds that Taiwan by necessity is moving toward becoming a long-term-care society, but most people know little about the issues confronting the many men who serve as a relative’s main caregiver.

For instance, just in terms of attitude men need to make major adjustments if they are to become caregivers.

Wang says that in a capitalist society uncompensated domestic work is regarded as being of low value. Consequently, at-home caregivers are typically regarded as unemployed dependents who are not involved in productive work.

“That isn’t true at all,” he says. “Caregiving at home is a lot of work, and you’ve got to have sufficient strength to be able to handle it. When men return to the home to take on caregiving duties, what situations are they facing? How do they handle them?”

With assistance from the TAFC, Wang recently completed a project documenting the oral histories of 12 male caregivers. These pioneers ranged in age from their forties to their eighties, and they had been caring for a family member for a decade or two. They often were sacrificing or neglecting their own marriage, health, leisure, relationships with wives and children, and paid employment. Many found themselves extremely isolated, with their motives questioned.

As they described their own experiences, Wang could feel how they struggled with stereotypical expectations of manhood. “They typically wouldn’t start by describing the hardships they faced and their emotional struggles,” he explains. “Instead they would just talk about the reasons behind what they were doing, and you would have to gradually infer an understanding of the emotions they were hiding.”

Since the TAFC set up a toll-free counseling helpline for caregivers, they have discovered that men and women differ in how they use the service. Chen ­Zheng-fen explains that men tend to take an “instrumental” approach, inquiring about “how to solve problems,” whereas women caregivers are more “emotional” and use the helpline to vent and share their feelings.

The sexes also show differences in their attitudes toward providing care. Chen points out that men tend to take a “problem-solving” approach and more readily look for outside assistance and resources. Women, on the other hand, emphasize emotions more (such as mother–daughter connections) and are under more moral pressure. If women can’t handle caregiving duties adequately themselves, they feel more guilt.

The French existential philosopher Simone de Beauvoir said, “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” By the same token, one could say that the special qualities of men—independence, firmness, logic and competitiveness—are male qualities that have been molded by patriarchal culture. The concept of gender equality, originally aimed at helping women overcome patriarchal discrimination against them, can also help men break free of the patriarchal shackles that confine them. Those bounds can be found in the law, in social systems and in cultural customs. They all require reexamination and reflection.

The road to gender equality will not be easy. Both sexes need to show greater resolve.