Talent Is Gender-Neutral

On the morning of February 24, when most people are deep into the nine-day lunar new year holiday, the ringing of a telephone suddenly cuts through the crisp air of the forensic investigation team office on the second floor of the Taipei County police headquarters. Inspector Fang Ya-chen, the officer on duty, answers the call: "There has been a carbon monoxide poisoning death. We request a forensic team to investigate the scene," says a voice from the other end of the line at the Panchiao precinct office.

In less than 20 minutes, Fang arrives at the scene with her team leader and colleagues. After they force open the door, Fang first sees the bodies of an adult and a child lying on the bed, and the body of a woman face-down in the middle of the bathroom. Because they have been dead for more than four days, the smell of the natural gas still coming out of the water heater has long been overpowered by the stench from the bodies.

With her professional training, Fang Ya-chen controls the nausea welling up in her stomach. She takes out a brush, film, and a camera, and after looking over the body, steps over the fluid coming out of it and carefully begins to collect fingerprints and other small items from the scene, noting even the tiniest bit of potential evidence. After four straight hours of collecting evidence, Fang heads directly to the laboratory and, paying no attention to the smell from the corpses that now hangs on her hair and clothes, uses the "superglue fuming method" to find the fingerprints she needs for her investigation.

Cut to another scene, from the shocking death to an aromatherapy room, filled with the sound of Buddhist sutras being chanted. The sun outside is dazzling, but inside, Chang Hsi-tsung puts all his attention on the communication between his two hands and his customer's body. With his thick, masculine hands, he skillfully guides the tension out of his customer's body, changing the energy in the room.

According to Chang, the only male aromatherapist at Canjune, one of Taiwan's best-known aromatherapy spas, "Most people think aromatherapy is something women do. But there are many levels to the sense of touch: it can be gentle, or it can be bold and forceful, so there is no difference between genders. At the same time, much of the work of an aromatherapist involves observing oneself. It's a very gender-neutral kind of work."

A female forensic investigator and a male aromatherapist are just a microcosm of the tectonic changes taking place in gender in the workplace. In the last three years, "gender crossing" has been seen every day in the world of work, including Ting Liang-chen, the first female captain in the ROC Army; Wu I-chang, the first professionally licensed male nanny; Wu Lih-jen, the first high-ranking female senior official in the Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Investigation; Ari Lin, a man who sells foundation garments for women; Tu Yueh-yuan, the first female lead engineer at Taiwan Power Company; and Kao Jui-liang, a male emergency room nurse.... The result has been a huge shift in jobs--a workplace revolution.

With both manly bravery and a woman's sensitivity, Ari Lin gladly uses himself as a model to demonstrate to an audience of women the proper way to wear bras and girdles. His story of "the man who sells women's underclothes" has been used in a number of company advertisements, bringing him some free publicity. (photo of Ari Lin and his wife).

Changing Trends 1:
Portfolio work

According to Lin Fang-mei, a gender researcher and professor at National Taiwan Normal University's Graduate Institute of Taiwan Culture, Languages, and Literature, "'Portfolio work' is the wave of the future, and the greatest challenge lies in the 'portfolio' itself, because these activities will blur many of the boundaries that we take for granted, such as paid and unpaid employment, the workplace and the home, students and non-students, and the gender roles of men and women."

The British management guru Charles Handy uses the phrase "portfolio work" in his book The Elephant and the Flea to refer to the duties that people in the future will take up in the home, in volunteering, in studying, and in paid work. The balance of the portfolio, he argues, will be different according to each person's stage in life.

Chang Hsi-tsung from the Canjune spa is a good example. Born in 1971, since graduating from the physics department at National Central University he has worked as a chef, a theater performer, a recording artist, and now as an aromatherapist. He spends a third of his time serving clients, a third teaching students, and the other third refining his technique and continuing his studies in the field. The rich and varied content of his working life makes him happier than his old classmates--many now quite wealthy--who work in technological fields.

When tackling a grisly murder scene, is a man's strength needed to hold things together? Not for Taipei County Police Inspector Fang Ya-chen, who has broken the old "sugar and spice" stereotype. Here she collects information from the scene and will use scientific methods to learn what happened.

Changing Trends 2:
Women in the knowledge economy

As men and women shift roles, another force in the "gender-neutralization" of work comes from the economy.

According to American management expert Peter Drucker, knowledge work has already superseded the boundaries of gender. The British magazine The Economist reported the best evidence to support this statement: in the United States, there are 140 female college students for every 100 male students; in Sweden, the ratio is 150 to 100. According to data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, in 2001 there were 612,000 female students in post-secondary schools in Taiwan, or 50.5% of the total number of students.

As higher education provides opportunities for women, they have moved from a quantitative change in increasing employment rates for women to a qualitative change where women serve as business leaders, redrawing the world's economic map. According to The Economist, in the emerging economies of East Asia the ratio of female to male workers is 100 to 83, which exceeds that found in the club of wealthy nations in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In developed countries, half of all economic power is contributed by women, and gradually women have taken over as the main force in household earnings.

In the past ten years, Taiwanese women's labor participation rate has grown from a marginal three tenths to a record high of 48.68% last year. Their income has increased by 170%, while men's incomes have increased by 140%.

As women move from traditional roles as wife and mother into the workplace, they break through the first set of challenges. As they move into middle management and have a first taste of power, they face a second set of challenges. Moreover, if they want to enter the top levels of leadership and shoulder the responsibilities for their organizations' successes and failures, they have to break through the glass ceiling--a difficult task. Cases of women entrepreneurs who work entirely independently from men, such as Jance Lu, founder of memory module manufacturer Power Quotient International, are very rare. Among Taiwan's 1,219 listed companies, companies with a female founder make up fewer than 1%.

Over time, it is becoming clear that women are using their position to break up men's monopolies in the business world. Nowadays, it seems every industry has its stories of women who refuse to be bested by men.

In the male-dominated Bureau of Investigation, Kaohsiung office director Wu Lih-jen is the first high-ranking woman on her team. In the 1970s, when hardly any women worked for the bureau, after Wu completed training she was assigned to an office in Taoyuan where no women had been working. The first day she went to work on an investigation, a suspect said to her face, "Isn't anyone on duty here? Go fetch a man!"

Wu, however, wanted no special treatment, and made herself a "genderless" person. No matter what kind of person she encountered, from gangsters with tattoos all over their bodies to drug dealers who lost control of their bodily functions during interrogation, she dealt with them as a professional.

In the super-masculine ranks of the ROC Army, Colonel Ting Liang-chen, Political Warfare Director for Airborne Cavalry Brigade 601, overcame women's limitations of physical strength. In her basic training, she worked alongside male officers, patrolling the camp at night and serving as duty officer. She was even brave enough to undergo parachute training, enjoying no special privileges as a woman. After 28 years in the military, on January 1, 2007, she became the first high-ranking female officer in a first-line combat unit in the ROC Army.

Changing Trends 3:
Men in the world of feelings

Just as many women "invade" fields traditionally dominated by men, some men are now making inroads into occupations that were strongholds for women. According to a survey by the British nanny service Tinies, although men currently make up only 4% of the nannies in the UK, the number of male nannies has shot up from 8,500 four years ago to 12,000 in 2006, as "male nanny" has become a new profession.

According to Lin Fang-mei, the primordial physical competition for survival between men--whether with swords and axes or guns and cannon--is no longer suited to our historical era. The arrival of a knowledge- and service-based economy means that a competition of strength in the workplace has changed into a competition of knowledge, detail, and attentiveness; it also means that the empathy and tenderness locked within men has been "liberated," too.

On the morning of May 9, on the third floor of the Grand Formosa Regent Hotel, Keefe Shieh is still at work after a long night in the "office," preparing the scene for the wedding of the son of Shiatzy Chen, chief designer for the renowned couture label Shiatzy. A son of Changhua farmers who studied agriculture in high school, since childhood Shieh has loved working with plants. In his second year of high school, he took second place in a national flower-arranging competition held by the Taiwan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Forestry, an experience that led him into a career as a florist.

Shieh says, "For me, flowers are as essential as breathing." Even though his relatives and friends have mocked him at times, he never grows tired of this work. Nowadays he is known as the man whom high-end corporate clients turn to for floral design, and his success demonstrates the "empathetic competitiveness" that many men have.

Low labor participation rate for Taiwan womem

Limitation #1:
"Butch" vs. "Ma vie en rose"

According to traditional beliefs, men love to battle for superiority and seek praise and renown as the victor, while women are docile, please men with their sweet demeanor, and make sacrifices to help others. These stereotypes have created deep divides between men and women. With all of the "gender-crossing" in today's society, it may seem that these lines no longer exist, but they can suddenly reappear like a strong spider's web. In moments when they do not expect it, sometimes gender-crossers find these old divides reasserting themselves with painful consequences.

As the first "male Florence Nightingale" in the nursing school at the Tsu Chi College of Technology, Huang Chi-chang found that gender barriers put a wide gulf between him and his legions of female classmates. Women could "huddle together" when they wanted to discuss some questions about their studies, but he was often excluded. In the beginning, some female classmates completely rejected him saying, "Why don't men go and be doctors? Why do you want to make up beds and change bedpans? Is there something wrong with him?" For many people, he became an example of a "girly-man."

For Kao Jui-liang, a senior-level male nurse at Taipei Wanfang Hospital, the difficulties he had matching the bedside manner of his female colleagues meant that he left his career altogether for a time to work in a family printing shop, a job that could not be farther from nursing. In the end, however, he did not lose his enthusiasm for nursing, and found a position in an emergency room, a place in hospitals where gender plays less of a role in the workplace.

Just as some men have to put up with Ma vie en rose stereotypes, women who want to move into the male-dominated worlds of government and politics often feel they must sacrifice their femininity, becoming just as hard, ambitious, and combative as the rest of the guys.

"In general, many women who can make it into upper management have a personality that, like their male colleagues, is tough, decisive, and blunt," says Mr. Tsao, who has worked for many years as a reporter for the technology industry. "If they are not tough, they will not gain the respect of the competitive male managers working below them. As a result, they often end up coming across as 'butch.'"

While women in upper management are seen as "butch" in the office, when they go home they are expected to change back into their old roles, and often find that their work and status outside the home is ignored by family members.

Midday one Sunday, one Ya-chun (not her real name), a high school director of academic affairs, makes the usual weekend trip to her in-law's house in Hsinchu with her husband and child. At lunch, her husband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law all talk about the details of their work and jobs. But even though Ya-chun may have a thing or two to say, the men behave as if they have no idea she is an experienced manager. In the eyes of her female in-laws, she is only a wife and mother, and should stay in the kitchen with them to cook and feed the children. For women who are gender-crossers, aside from the double burden of work and home, they must also face contradictions and confusion about their own identity.

Limitation #2:
Persistent gender discrimination

Chen Hui-hsin, National Chengchi University law professor and director-general of the Taiwanese Feminist Scholars Association, argues that in an educational system that is dominated by men and centered around national development and economic growth, although women's educational and employment opportunities have expanded, unbalanced educational policies, sexist structures within schools, and stereotype-ridden course materials still have a negative effect on children. When it comes to the workplace, an ideal pairing for many bosses is an ambitious, combative male manager and a kind, attentive, motherly female secretary.

Beyond external social factors, Lin Fang-mei also found that "many women tend to fear success." It may not be that they do not want to succeed, but rather that they are afraid that too much success could make the men around them feel inferior, or make them appear less attractive themselves. Others may lack confidence and are unwilling to take on the heavier duties that come with success. Despite this, many women still desire success, but this web of contradictions can block their further development in the workplace.

Limitation #3:
Work vs. home

According to Lin Fang-mei, "In their work, women are not good at using their power to strategize and form groups and cliques to create a platform of their own, because they are afraid that this kind of behavior will make them look arrogant and conceited." When men want something, they will say so, whether or not they can get it. Women, however, are held back by long-held ideas that "lack of talent is a virtue in women." They are ashamed to show their ability and desire for power, and would rather play the hard-done-by role of a person whose talents are not recognized than talk openly about what they want.

Despite these problems, however, according to Chen Pang-yu, a woman with many years of experience in the media and now vice-president of Power Quotient International's PR department, women have always had a greater capacity to handle stress. Passing from their "father's house" to their "husband's house" in traditional society, their adaptability and capacity to handle stress is naturally greater than men. As social restrictions relax and gender roles become more flexible, crossing boundaries in the workplace is even easier for them.

Since the French writer Simone de Beauvoir published The Second Sex in 1949, all varieties of feminists have shown for the last half century how women are oppressed. Patriarchy, however, is a double-edged sword: it not only oppresses women, but also places limitations on men. For example, men should not cry, complain, or admit mistakes; at the same time, they should work for success and to honor their family name. There is no telling how many men have lost their self-respect and spirit under the heavy burden of these social expectations.

Many in society expect men to be brave fighters who do not shy away from the possibility of failure. Many men who cross over into other lines of work that make them into "sensitive men" are bitterly criticized for not caring about their families, and some parents even refuse to admit that their son is a dancer or a flower arranger. Some men with more gentle personalities are called mama's boys or gay.

Chang Hsi-tsung is now the only remaining male aromatherapist from the four who started classes at Canjune at the same time. When asked about his work, he says that male aromatherapists go into this work because they are interested in it. They hope that in this world of wonderful scents that they can find a future for their lives, but when they reach a certain age, they will probably be forced to change careers. Otherwise, they will be like Chang himself, and get used to people saying that he "hasn't grown up" or "has no potential."

Ignoring jokes about being a "flower boy," Keefe Shieh has used his special skills to win renown among famous Taiwanese and the royal family of Thailand.

Conclusion:
Gender-neutral attributes sought

From a biological perspective, there is no disputing that there are inborn differences between the sexes. According to research by psychologists, however, intelligence, personality, aggressive behavior, and maternal behavior can be learned after birth; women can become soldiers protecting a fortress, just as men can call themselves professional nannies.

In postmodern society, the arrival of the knowledge economy and service industries means that only those groups that have great flexibility will have the best chances for survival and development in a difficult world of global competition and the disintegrating nuclear family. This is not to say that all women should become competitive, or that men must turn themselves into the gentle, sensitive "new man," but to hope that both men and women can break down gender barriers and live in a way that is true to themselves. When everyone can develop their own interests, potentials, and unique qualities and not be inhibited by moribund patriarchy, then crossing boundaries in the workplace will truly have meaning.

In her famous book A Room of One's Own, the modern English writer and feminist Virginia Woolf emphasized that humans' highest level of thought and outer limit of creativity could be found in androgyny--regardless of physical responses or expansion of thought, the ideal state is the unification and integration of both sexes.

When seen in this way, a person with gender-neutral characteristics--both soft and hard, tough and gentle--will be more comfortable amid the many border-crossings in the workplace, and the possibilities for "gender-crossing performances" will become even more interesting.

Yin Su-hui (right), a 1993 graduate in the first aviation class for women in the Air Force Academy, currently an instructor for VIP transportation pilots. At left is Captain Wang Hui-shu, a member of the ninth graduating class.

Wu Lih-jen, director of the Kaohsiung office of the Bureau of Investigation hopes that female investigators will understand the need for gender neutrality and receive the same treatment as male officers. In this way, they can work more effectively, and the whole team will be more successful.

Changes in labor participation rates in Taiwan by gender / note: Labor participation rate (%) = labor force / population over age 14 x 100% Labor means the population over age 14 years that can work, including those employed and unemployed

Male aromatherapist Chang Hsi-tsung believes that there are many levels to the sense of touch: it can be gentle, or it can be bold and forceful, so there is no difference between genders.