A war of wills not a women's war

A conflict has been brewing between Lin Mun-lee (林曼麗), head of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, and Lung Ying-tai (龍應台), head of the city's Bureau of Cultural Affairs, fueled by disputes from the opening of the second fine arts museum to Lin's museum renting out space for government banquets. With the museum and the bureau failing to reach a consensus, the row has been tagged as "a war between two women." The moniker seems to imply that the conflict has occurred simply because they are women.

Is that the case? Why is it that when conflicts occur between men, society and the media habitually attribute them to "differences in concepts," "political struggles," "market storms," or "realities that fell short of ideals" -- anything except a "battle between two men"?

Why is it that all these differences disappear when the conflict is between two women, leaving only an empty gender tag?

Even in the simplest of terms, the conflict between the two institutions is not something that occurred overnight. It involves many issues, including the official status of the museum, the attitude of the cultural authorities, contradictions between the cultural administration and professional cultural institutions, independence-unification sentiments and hidden political identities. Subtle mutual contempt between cultural workers has also made the conflicts more complex and thorny.

In any case, both sides should finally return to their cultural professionalism and tackle the issues on their own merits. They should leave other aspects of the conflict for later, when they have some extra energy to explain. Going round in circles on a non-professional level will only cause professional issues to bog down. It will also reinforce the stereotypical labeling and allow it to confuse the real issues.

Ho Jung-hsing is chief of the city desk at the Liberty Times.