Fembooks, opened in 1994 and located in an alley off Hsinsheng South Road near Hsinhai Road, was recently selected by the Council for Cultural Affairs as one of six feminist landmarks of Taiwan. It was started with capital of NT$4 million provided by the major feminist organization the Awakening Foundation, scholars and experts in gender issues, and the public.

Gingin's, opened in 1999, is located in a small lane off Roosevelt Road Section 3. Its owner, J.J. Lai, is himself gay, and has been active in the gay rights movement for years. He chose to open a bookstore to give gays a place to go, "even in the daytime."

The restroom at Gingin's has clear walls and is covered in flyers for gay-themed events. Owner J.J. Lai believes Taiwanese are too conservative when it comes to the human body and need to loosen up, hence the eccentric design.

"A room of one's own"

Both Fembooks and Gingin's happen to share the goal set forth by English feminist pioneer Virginia Woolf in her A Room of One's Own: creating a space in which socially oppressed groups like women and gays can come together and develop freely.

Fembooks manager Yang Ying-ying says that in the past, most people thought of "books for women" as meaning ones on flower arranging, beauty, homemaking, and other light topics rather than anything showing independent thought. "Fembooks was established to provide the public with a caring outlet that understands the many faces of feminism," she says. "There are three kinds of books on sale here: books by women, books for women, and books about women."

J.J. Lai was deeply influenced by Fembooks. After incidents like the one in 1997 when police began targeting gays for detainment on Changte Street and one in 1998 when a restaurant on Yungkang Street refused to serve gays, he decided to open a space where gays could meet safely. He made research trips to New York and San Francisco before opening Gingin's.

Fembooks, recently selected by the Council for Cultural Affairs as one of six Taiwanese landmarks of feminism, is located in an alleyway off Hsinsheng South Road. It's on the second floor--the first floor is the famed Witch House pub and performance space.

Money problems

Both Fembooks and Gingin's are attached to political movements relating to gender issues, yet their styles of operation are very different. Fembooks, which also has a publishing wing, sticks strictly to feminist and women's rights areas and is rather serious. It has had a rocky ride the last few years.

Yang says that after the DPP took power in 2000, many feminist and other activist groups slowly came to be absorbed into the government. The power of their movements and their ability to bring issues to the attention of the public grew weaker, and Fembooks began losing business.

During the SARS epidemic of 2003, Fembooks was in danger of having to close its doors, but managed to pull through with the support of loyal customers.

Fembooks is still hanging on by a thread. When business is bad it might lose NT$60-70,000 a month. Yang says that nonetheless, they are not willing to change their guiding principles to meet market demand: "The shareholders are considering turning Fembooks into a non-profit, which can accept donations, to save it from its financial troubles."

Bright pink, symbol of pride

Compared to Fembooks' troubles, Gingin's is doing well. Lai, who obtained an MA from Tamkang University's Department of Architecture, chose pink as the main color of the store, keeps books, magazines, A/V products, and adult novelties scattered throughout, and designed a restroom with transparent walls and a curtain. The atmosphere sets Gingin's apart from your average bookstore.

Lai says that during World War II, the Nazis forced gays to wear a pink triangle armband. "Pink represents historical wounds, but it is also a symbol of softness, liveliness, and reconciliation," he says. "As for the clear walls in the restroom, we think that Taiwanese are too conservative when it comes to the human body, and we hope to liberate them with this design."

Gingin's doesn't have a lot of floorspace, but the "small but beautiful" shop carries a wide selection of books, magazines, comics, CDs, and DVDs relating to gay or gender issues. It also sells T-shirts, accessories, tank tops, and even condoms and sex toys. For the convenience of international customers and those who'd prefer to maintain their privacy, Gingin's also has an online store that has received orders from as far away as Russia.

A change of atmosphere

Lai says that when Gingin's first opened, many customers would stand outside looking around for a long time gathering up the nerve to walk in the door. Some even suggested creating a darkly lit, low-key design so as to allow customers to keep their privacy. But Lai was determined to bring gay culture into the open and insisted on his bright space. "With the changes society has undergone, now the vast majority of customers walk right in, unlike how they'd slip in in the past," he says.

In addition to gays, many young people interested in gender issues come to Gingin's. Lai says that many straight girls like to read gay comics in the "Boy Loves" genre. "The main characters in those comics are usually pretty boys that are nice to look at," he laughs. "Anyway, there's no real gender characterization so they give readers space to use their imaginations. That makes the comics really popular."

To keep rising rents from eating away at his profits, Lai took out a loan and bought the space outright. It's one of the very few independent bookstores in the Wing-Raw-Den area to own its own storefront.

Though business is good, Gingin's still has its troubles. Lai laments, "There are still people with the attitude that gays shouldn't be so out-in-the-open, like one of our neighbors who wants us to take down our front-door sign on account of a rule in the tenants' agreement that says signs have to be approved by all residents."

Friends from afar

Though both the styles and the financial outlooks of the two stores are different, both stores are rarities in the Chinese-speaking world. Both Fembooks and Gingin's note that foreign customers often stop in. "Many foreigners admire the fact that Taiwan can have such a bookstore," says Fembooks' Yang.

Whether it's Fembooks, which is on the verge of change, or Gingin's, which has many sides to its business, both of these long-standing gender-oriented bookstores are a testament to Taiwan's multifaceted, tolerant society and among the most open places in the ethnically Chinese world. This, too, is something of which Taiwan can be proud.