President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday encouraged women to become whoever they want to be, while expressing her hope that the media would stop using the term “strong women” to describe those with successful careers.
Tsai made the remarks in a video recorded for a forum held by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taipei to mark International Women’s Day tomorrow.
Over the past few years, the nation has seen many women working hard in their professions and challenging gender stereotypes in various industries, Tsai said.
For example, an increasing number of women work as soldiers, police officers and firefighters, protecting the public and their property, no matter how tough the missions are, she said.
Numerous female physicians, pharmacists, healthcare professionals and researchers have made significant contributions to the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, she added.
Tsai said that she hopes the “successful woman” would not become just another gender stereotype, but a natural part of society.
One day, people will hopefully no longer hear “strong women” in the media to describe women with successful careers, she said.
The government should implement more measures to break gender stereotypes and promote gender equality, she added.
The theme of the forum this year was the “courage” of women in Taiwan in facing various challenges and meeting the needs of life’s different stages.
Six female panelists with different backgrounds were invited to discuss issues such as postpartum care and childcare, the reproductive rights of women with disabilities, widowed women living alone, and elderly women in retirement.
In his opening speech, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said that despite the vast majority of attendees at the day’s events being women, he believed more men should attend to better understand the topics.
“Women have the courage to be persistent; to not give up, to be positive; to explore all of the possible ways to achieve a desired solution; and to be gentle,” he said. “Gentleness is an excellent trait found in many women, but it should be found in men, too.”
Some goals cannot be met by an insistence on forcing one’s way through, Chen said, adding that showing some gentleness and reason might open up new possibilities for progress.
“The power of gentleness is key to our impressive performance in fighting the virus,” he said.
Many healthcare workers and employees at centralized care facilities are women who have shown that difficult situations can be solved through compassionate care, rather than tough discipline and punishments, Chen said.
Asked how he defines “courage,” Chen said that courage comes from caring — such as for human beings or for nature — because when people care about someone or something, they find the strength to help or improve a situation.
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