A search through the Awakening Foundation’s database on the women’s movement in Taiwan shows that the foundation has long advocated that women must enter politics — in the widest sense of the word — and strive for equality if they want to change the logic and environment of the political scene.
During former vice president Annette Lu’s (呂秀蓮) terms in office, an elementary-school girl wrote in an essay on the topic “My Dream” that she wanted to be vice president when she grew up. Gender equality educators used this as an example to ask why girls should not dare to dream about becoming president, vice president or anything else they want to be.
With the presidential election only weeks away, Taiwan might be close to the historical moment when a woman becomes head of state. What does this indicate, and what does it mean to this new democracy?
None of the presidential candidates have proposed any women’s or gender policies, including Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who heads the opinion polls and is the only female candidate.
Some say she should be a president for the whole public, not just women, but there is no clear division between men and women: women’s political, economic, social and cultural disadvantages inevitably affect their family members, who rely on women most.
Take the case of Radio Corp of America, a now-defunct electronics company involved in a water pollution scandal in Taiwan. Those who suffered most in the nation’s gendered society were the female workers who were working while taking care of their families.
When air is unhealthy to breathe, many laborers still need to work outdoors, pick up and drop off family members or look after those who are ill.
In Taiwan’s first democratic election in 1989, the Awakening Foundation and other women’s groups proposed 10 major policies. During every election since, they have proposed such policies and demanded that candidates respond to them.
Looking at past government transitions, all presidents failed to implement women’s policies, even the basic pledge that one-fourth of their Cabinet members would be female. Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) only achieved this during the first year of their presidencies, and the proportion dropped after Cabinet reshuffles.
Social conditions have deteriorated during the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) eight-year rule from 2008 and trouble is everywhere. The capacity of public services like childcare and long-term care has deteriorated, prices have risen and quality is uneven.
Discrimination against pregnant women and sexual harassment in the workplace are rampant. Women’s careers are interrupted by marriage and pregnancy, and they lack economic security in their later years.
Food safety problems and environmental pollution scandals are frequent, and due to the commercialization of higher education, university tuition has been rising and students have problems finding jobs after graduating and must accept low salaries while they are burdened by student loans.
The killing of women is commonly seen, including crimes of passion, violence in connection to breakups, domestic violence and child abuse. Despite all this, budgets and personnel for government agencies have been reduced, rather than increased.
Moreover, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are discriminated against at schools and in the workplace. For same-sex couples who want to have their relationship recognized by the government regarding property inheritance and legal representation, legal amendments addressing marriage equality and partnership rights have been delayed in the legislature. The government says that it is necessary to reach a “social consensus.”
Single-parent, migrant worker and Aboriginal families have fewer rights and welfare resources, while the government argues that its tax revenue is insufficient, although it repeatedly cuts taxes for the rich in complete disregard of social distributive justice.
During televised presidential debates to take place tomorrow and on Saturday next week, Tsai will hopefully give clear and definite answers as to whether she will be able to implement a variety of women’s and gender policies that the KMT has failed to implement over the past eight years.
Hopefully, KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) and People First Party presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) will give some positive surprises — what remedies do they have for the Ma administration’s poor performance?
If a woman is elected president, hopefully the male-dominated political logic and environment will change and more women will enter the political landscape.
On the other hand, female politicians might quickly adopt the traditional male-dominated politics and stand with the interests of capitalism and the patriarchal logic of big business.
Hopefully, the three presidential candidates will propose women’s and gender policies and focus the debate on concrete policies to benefit the public and social development.
Tseng Chao-yuan is a senior researcher at the Awakening Foundation. Chen Yi-chien is chairwoman of the Awakening Foundation and an associate professor at the Graduate Institute for Gender Studies at Shih Hsin University.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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