台灣社會之男女有別

According to the latest data conducted in 2019 from the UN’s Gender Inequality Index (GII) published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Taiwan ranked the first for gender equality in Asia, and the sixth in the world. In addition, as Ms. Ing-Wen Tsai was elected the first female President not only in Taiwan, but also in the Chinese world, many believe that sexual equality is considerably fair in Taiwan. This may be true but while Me Too movement, against sexual abuse and sexual harassment, began to spread in Japan, Korean and even India, Taiwan has been silent from this significant social movement around the world. It could be argued that attitudes towards males and females in Taiwan are as equitable as statistics of reports when it comes to real life.

In general, Taiwan culture is rooted in Confucianism. Many people agree that the society has been male dominated. Despite the fact that women accounted 44.5 percent of Taiwan labor market, 63.2 percent of business owners at small and medium enterprises were men in terms of entrepreneurship. Salary gap between males and females at the same position still exists in the working place. Women’s financial independence fails…

In addition, general public believe that having a son to carry on the family name is compulsory and most parents prefer to register father’s surname for their children. Another argument put forward is that married women are considered as a property of husband’s family when leaving their birth family. Women take more responsibilities than men in family duties, such as raising children, making meals, doing house chores, supporting parents-in-law, and being a career-woman for extra house income. I feel that this conventional and conservative perception is taken for granted by many parents and families.

Furthermore, it seems to me that the number of boys who are dependent on their mothers- “mama’s boys,” has risen in the society recently. Those in favor of traditional values argue that a wife should be as good as his mother who takes care of all the family duties. It is unrealistic to think that they expect to marry a woman is to take over their mother’s role. Some people believe that the family status of daughters and daughters-in-law remain the lowest among all the family members.

In conclusion, it is doubtful whether many people know the effect of gender inequality. In my opinion, I firmly believe that the best way of further helping is law protection and school education. If we are to raise more awareness on gender equality education, it is absolutely vital that the society may change this conventional perception towards genders.