I often make the point to my students that, if we watch carefully, we find that many issues revolve around gender differences. When policy decisions are taken, the lack of consideration for the female point of view may give men the upper hand, a situation of which men can pretend to be unaware.
The human race holds contrasting views on the male and female body. Men have absolute control over their bodies. Women, on the other hand, lack such autonomy and are subject to the control of men. Society does not mind men exposing their bodies, even sometimes praising them for showing the masculinity.
Women, by contrast, are not allowed to reveal their bodies at will. Any such exposure is considered obscene, scurrilous and immoral.
As a result of these conventions, scantily clad betel-nut beauties are generally considered vulgar, ill-mannered and legitimate targets of censure. They are even blamed when accidents occur near their stands due to carelessness on the part of drivers. It is for these reasons that the policies of the "three nos" and "new three nos" have been introduced in an effort to ban the betel-nut beauties or at least get them to keep their clothes on. Arguably, however, the people who really should be censured are the owners of the betel-nut stands.
A male mayor like Taipei's Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) can show his physical self-confidence with jogging and exercising. Society considers this healthy and praiseworthy, even a good way to divert attention from his ineptitude as mayor and minimize public scrutiny of his administration. Ma can then spend his four years in office by haughtily presuming to be the favorite official, confident that he will win another term in office.
No one has complained about or imposed restrictions on Ma's dress. No one has objected to this kind of hidden ecstasy pill. Nor has anyone requested that he keep more of his clothes on. If jogging is a personal interest that is irrelevant to his running of the city, why should he always be accompanied on his runs by a phalanx of photographers? Did Chao Li-yun (趙麗雲), former chairperson of the Council of Sports Affairs, not fulfill her duty to promote physical education and training? She does not dress scantily when exercising, even though she has an attractive figure.
Betel-nut beauties are members of the working class whose revealing dress is required by their employers. Photographs of them that appear in the media are not generally taken with their consent. They are therefore obliged not only to display their bodies at work but also to face a second exposure in the media. The end result is that they become targets of scathing criticism.
Ma is blessed with all the assets of a senior, male politician. The fact that he dresses scantily testifies to his freedom to do so and appeals to the public. The elaborate plan mapped out by his team, which enjoys the media's support and collaboration, incorporates Ma's jogging shows, which are more appealing and more edifying than those of the betel-nut beauties. With the twofold advantages of his gender and his rank, Ma gets the upper hand from dressing scantily.
I have no intention of encouraging my fellow females to unite in dressing scantily. But let's just imagine how society would view a female mayor who behaved like Ma? Could she also spend four years in office haughtily presuming to be the favorite official?
Annie Lee is a researcher and vice president at Taiwan Research Institute.
Translated by Grace Shaw
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