Does Taiwan’s First Female President Mean Gender Equality?
On January 16, 2016, 56.1% of the Taiwanese electorate voted for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen. She became the first female leader not only for Taiwan, but also among Chinese-speaking countries. Although some people might not fully recognize its significance, this event marked a milestone in history.
According to an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer written by American columnist Trudy Rubin in 2018, there are only twenty women who hold the post of head of state or head of government in the world — 6.3 percent of 315 international leaders. Among them, two heads of state, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and Denmark’s Margrethe II, are queens who inherited their positions. Such a ratio not only implies a serious inequality in political power between men and women, but also an immense challenge to true gender equality.
Needless to say, the fact that Taiwan is one of those countries with a female president marks a brilliant accomplishment. Moreover, female participation in Taiwan politics has been significantly higher than the global average. In 2017, the proportion of female members in the Taiwan parliament rose to 38.1% — ranking 10th in the world and leading other Asian countries like Singapore, China, South Korea, and Japan. Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics recently released a 2019 report showing that Taiwan’s gender equality ranks 8th in the world and the highest in Asia. Compared with countries with higher levels of development in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Taiwan even outperforms Finland, Iceland, and Germany. The data shows the significant progress made by Taiwan in empowering women as well as its leading position among most countries in expanding gender equality.
In addition to the election of a female president in 2016, Taiwan also saw the election of seven female mayors across twenty-two counties and cities in 2018 at a record-breaking proportion of 31.2% for local elections in Taiwan. As a result, 2018 became known as the “Year of Women”. However, despite the media’s touting of the rise of “girl power”, women’s political rights, and the era of gender equality, the reality is still quite disappointing.
The cabinet-level members of county and city governments are still dominated by men in Taiwan. The proportion of females among the heads of bureaus and first-level supervisors is only 19.19%. Additionally, although the proportion of female county and city council members elected was more than one-third, there are only two female speakers and three female deputy speakers across the twenty-two parliaments.
Under careful examination of the overall political environment in Taiwan, it can be found that men still overwhelmingly control power in each bureau. The emergence of a female president had not meant the full achievement of gender equality in politics. Even though Taiwan has realized remarkable achievements on gender equality, it is still a male dominated scene in its politics.
The reasons behind a relative absence of women in politics are often a subject of interest. Female politicians often face problems that arise due to several gender stereotypes. For example, women are still bound by traditions that regard women as primary caretakers with the responsibility of getting married and bearing children. When a female politician has a child, society will often accuse her of neglecting the child for the development of her political career. In contrast, if a female politician remains single, society will likely speculate that she is a lesbian. If the politician is a man, however, no one would raise doubts about their ability to care for their family. In addition, there is still an expectation in modern society for women to be gentle and obedient in their nature. Therefore, the sheer environment of political work is hostile to women due to the need to struggle, debate, and publicly expose their private lives. It is difficult for women to break from this social framework.
Regardless of the status quo, it’s nevertheless inspiring to witness Taiwan’s remarkable progress on the road to gender equality. Due to social perceptions, organizational culture, male hegemony and the exclusion of women in politics, there is still much room for improvement in Taiwan. Gender equality is by no means achieved by simply electing a female president!
Other articles in this issue
Bolstering Immigrant Women’s Economic Status: Immigrant Women’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator in Taiwan
Take a look into how Taiwanese government has cooperated with NGOs to bolster immigrant women’s entrepreneurship and renew images of the community.
A Paradoxical Situation: A Peek at Women’s Entrepreneurship in Taiwan
Similar to other highly developed countries, Taiwan is subject to the same paradox in which high rates of economic participation coexist with low rates of entrepreneurship.
Author: Jess Lin
A graduate student with a master’s degree and an interdisciplinary background. Studied at the Institute of Creative Industries Design. Specializing in the issue of SDGs, especially on environmental protection, responsible consumption, and gender equality.
