Among the many gaffes Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) has made during this presidential campaign, some of the most shocking have targeted women. Even the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politicians around him seem to be “catching the Han Kuo-yu virus” and letting slip misogynistic remarks, according to Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Chien Hsu-pei (簡舒培).
At least, that is what seems to be happening. For electoral purposes it is tempting to ascribe all of these moral failings to the primary challenger, but recent comments by Han, former premier Simon Chang (張善政) and KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) were not the result of one man’s lack of morals — they are integral to the kind of governance the KMT is promising.
Nor are they gaffes. As the campaign picks up steam, so have the sexist remarks coming from the KMT. Clearly, misogyny has become a campaign strategy.
The flurry of media attention after Wu’s Nov. 17 comment “A man’s life is his lower body, a woman’s life is her upper body” was matched by Chang’s Dec. 12 statement: “President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has not given birth, so she would not understand the feelings of a parent.”
Wu on Tuesday last week got in his own quip by calling Tsai an “ill-starred woman” (衰尾查某), but had competition for the most sexist comment of the day from KMT Tainan chapter director Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介), who said: “Women can campaign in the living room and the bedroom.”
The KMT has apparently determined this to be an effective campaign strategy, as it is not backing down.
After facing criticism for his “fat sow” comment about Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) in November last year, Wu apologized with a bow and admitted his comment was “inappropriate.” Not only is no apology forthcoming for his “ill-starred woman” comment, but Wu has doubled down on the assertion, asking: “Has Tsai Ing-wen not brought misfortune to Taiwan?”
The party has reason to believe that this strategy might work. Populists and authoritarians the world over are consolidating their power through misogyny.
As Peter Beinart posits in the January/February issue of The Atlantic, one of the only constants among new authoritarians is a promise to reassert male dominance. At its core, the kind of governance new authoritarians are touting is patriarchal, with the leader of the national family promising security and prosperity in return for filial piety. Indeed, “keep the country safe, make people rich” is the slogan Han’s supporters have rallied behind.
Looking at the statistics, Taiwan is progressive when it comes to gender equality. Female representation quotas are baked into the Constitution. The nation is first in Asia and eighth globally in gender equality, according to a Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics report released in February. In 2017, women accounted for 38.1 percent of the Legislative Yuan and 37.5 percent of mayors and county commissioners.
However, women are still far from equal. The blueprint for gender relations begins in the home, which has seen far slower progression than in the public sphere. Especially with a woman in the Presidential Office, the KMT is banking on the misogyny bubbling under the surface to boil over to at least half of the electorate.
It is dangerous to keep viewing these comments as “gaffes” or “quips,” as it softens the intention behind them. The KMT’s current brand of sexism is not just a fluke — it is a sign of the underlying authoritarian attitude that informs Han’s campaign, which should be worrisome to all who value Taiwan’s democracy.
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