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Survey shows women are still discriminated against

A recent survey on "Gender, Culture and Customs," conducted by a bookstore suggests the continued existence of discrimination toward women in traditional Taiwanese culture and customs.

The survey, conducted earlier this month and whose results were made public yesterday, targeted a broad range of females from students to career women.

The women were asked to rate 10 traditional customs including marriage, childbirth and funeral rituals on a scale of one to ten, with 10 referring to the most intolerable practices.

Su Chien-ling (蘇芊玲), director of the Taiwan Gender Equity and Education Association, said that feminists are very successful in fighting for their rights on the streets, but when a traditional holiday or occasion comes around, these women are "all too happy" to go along with these rituals.

Family tree

The top-ranking "intolerable custom" in the survey is the tradition where women, married or unmarried, are not allowed to have their names recorded on the family tree, which results in the women of a family being forgotten over time, Su said.

Customs such as splashing water out of the door when a daughter from the family marries and brides stepping over a heated stove or on debris also sparked many complaints from participants in the survey.

Traditionally, water was splashed out of the door after a daughter married to represent the daughter leaving -- now gone, like the water, she belonged to the groom's family and did not return except on the second day of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Brides stepped on debris because it is believed that the bride could "crush" her old habits and any bad feelings she may have had prior to the marriage.

"This talk about getting rid of a bad temper is rot," Su said, "It is women who are usually the victims of domestic violence. Men are the ones that should get rid of their bad tempers."

Families should also be happy and celebrate when their daughters-in-law give birth to a baby girl, instead of believing that only baby boys are worth a celebration and dinner party, Su added.

A "First Menstruation Ceremony" was also held at the press conference as a way of celebrating the joys of entering womanhood. Celebrations of this kind should be encouraged for all women, Su added.

Not disgusting

"Menstruation is not dirty or disgusting. Traditionally, women are not allowed to hold incense and pray during their period," she said. "This is an indication that society still believes women are of a lower status."

The survey was conducted by Fembooks. Established in 1994, it was the first feminist bookstore in the country and has a collection of books by women, for women and about women.

A total of 367 questionnaires were returned.
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