Some of
the subway stations along the Taipei MRT were scarier than others for the
claustrophobic, crowd-shunning type or introverted-extrovert, like me. The
journey-to-the-centre-of-the-earth station near the tourist district was a
particular problem for me, as you had to climb a steep set of stairs down into
it, like entering a well. I had to use it, however, as a taxi could not be
found and I needed to buy Chinese silk qipau dresses for my daughters before my
trip home.
I was
happy to see I was one of just a handful of people moving through the station on
my way up and out of the cavernous tunnel. There’s nothing worse than being
underground AND stifled by a crowd at the same time.
Within
seconds of stepping onto the escalator, I felt a presence directly behind me. I
moved to the side so he could pass but he didn’t. Then I felt my skirt swish. I
quickly turned, just in time to see the young Taiwanese man put his cell phone
into his jacket pocket.
I took
half a dozen steps up the escalator and continued the long, slow ride up. I
looked back again, processing what had just happened. He was smiling wide at
me, having just taken a picture up my skirt with his phone camera. By the time
we reached the top of the stairs, I was absolutely burning with rage.
I whirled
around, blocking his exit from the escalator. This is easily done when you are
a foot taller and wider than your subject. I tried to communicate in English,
too angry to retrieve the few necessary Mandarin words I needed to ask him what
the FUCK he thought he was doing up my skirt.
Just then
a big black guy swaggered over. Now, black people in Taiwan are an oddity to
begin with, because they aren’t readily accepted into a traditional Asian
culture. The main city of Taipei
“Oh man,”
he drawled. “Girlfriend is mad...at...you.”
He had taken in the entire ridiculous exchange, noticed my red face and
clenched fists and stepped up to my rescue.
“Give me
the phone,” he said to the boy, who still had a stupid grin on his stupid face.
The kid handed it over and the man easily swept through the photos still on the
screen, deleting each one. He turned the phone so I could see it.
“You were
going to be on upskirt dot com!” He smiled, then shook his head. Then he did a
few things I didn’t expect,1) he spoke very sternly and animatedly in perfect
Mandarin to the boy, 2) he pocketed the expensive cell phone, despite dramatic
pleading from its owner, and 3)he tapped his imaginary cap at me, flashed a
smile and turned away. Immediately he was swallowed up in the crowd. When I
turned around the Asian kid was also gone.
Women in Taiwan
Before coming to
Taiwan, I was warned about sexual discrimination. I shrugged it off, thinking:
that is mainland China they are talking about, I’m going to Taipei - the
capital of the breakaway province, where the society is westernized and modern!
I have since received several rude awakenings.
In the first
school that hired me, I noted a strange phenomenon. When snacks were being
handed out, the male teachers were always given two or three servings.
Sometimes the female teachers didn’t even get one!
Male teachers
were never expected to do bathroom duty or floor puddle cleanup. I guess the
attitude among management is that females are much more adept at this sort of
thing.
If I climbed into
a taxi ahead of a male counterpart, my directions were ignored by the driver
until the man spoke. Ironically, in many cases, I’m the only one who knows
where we’re going!
As I walked down
the street the other day, I met a group of Asian businessmen head-on. They were
walking side by side, comfortably taking up the entire sidewalk. I had to step
into a doorway to avoid a collision. As I turned around in disbelief, I saw
them part like the Red Sea to allow a male pedestrian through their previously
impenetrable human wall. I felt like The Invisible Woman.
On a city bus or
on the subway, signs are posted to reserve seats for the elderly, pregnant and
disabled. However, on more than one occasion I have seen a shaky old woman or
an uncomfortably pregnant one lurching down the aisle, only to be ignored by
the man sitting in the seat designated just for her.
In the
kindergartens, male students exhibiting extraordinarily bad behaviour are
labeled ‘naughty’. They seem to feel they need to live up to that expectation
each day. One of my students (admittedly one of my favourites, despite myself),
Thomas, found a way to get around the ‘get finished first and win a gold star’
challenge. All the children rushed through their lunch and formed a line at the
door. When everyone was in line I took them to the washroom, where they
relieved themselves, washed their hands and brushed their teeth. A boy named
Albert decided to cut his time in half by brushing his teeth in the water that
erupted from the top of the urinal while he was peeing. Thomas took note of
Albert’s trick and turned to pee all over his classmate’s shoes, thus taking
Albert out of the competition, at least for that day. I grabbed hold of Thomas’
ear and marched him to the principal’s office for a scolding. To my surprise
and horror, Thomas was praised for his quick action and the school director
told me he might be President of Taiwan someday with initiative like that. Mind
boggling. The boys take their
discipline in stride, with big grins on their faces. Girls rarely act up in class,
as it is considered boyish behaviour.
Most
kindergartens in Taiwan prefer to hire female teachers, for their mothering
instinct, I am told. Elementary level programs prefer to employ male teachers
because the students at that age are often disrespectful to their female
teachers. I managed to talk my way into a part-time job at an elementary
school, despite being obviously female. At first I was shocked when I asked a
ten-year-old boy to take his turn at the front of the class and he responded
with a firm “NO”.
It didn’t take me
long to discover that not only will the male students not comply with basic
classroom protocol, but they will speak derogatively about the teacher in
Chinese during class, and start wrestling matches with their friends in the
middle of the classroom floor whenever the mood strikes them. When I was facing
the board, my back to the class, I could hear pile-drivers and body slams being
delivered behind me. To solve the problem, the school director will send a male
teacher to come in and regain control of the classroom. This, of course, is
perceived by the male students as a declaration of the male teacher’s authority
and a reduction of the female teacher’s influence over her class.
The schools are
raising yet another generation of young men who don’t respect women. And so the
problem is perpetuated. Many Taiwanese parents will pay their life savings to
have their daughters educated overseas, in North America. The problem is, of
course, that many of them return to their native Taiwan to discover that their
education doesn’t help them very much. It is quite common to meet a woman
working as a secretary or clerk who actually holds a degree from a respected
American university. In most cases, her education will go to waste as she will
never be given the opportunity to work at a high earning level.
The gender wage
gap in Taiwan is largely unexplainable - females are educated as well as males,
if not more. According to the Women’s Labor Rights Association of Taiwan,
traditional stereotypes are the root of the problem.
To the rest of
the world, it would appear that Taiwan is ahead of most of Asia in its
professional opportunities for women. In the last thirty years, the percentage
of female doctors, lawyers and engineers has increased significantly.
Unfortunately, their wage does not come close to that of their male
counterparts.
On the Taiwan
High Speed Rail Project, a Taiwanese woman with a Master’s Degree from the
University of Southern California holds the position of engineer. However, she
is paid considerably less than what the men with the same credentials and
experience are paid. Her comments are ignored at meetings and she is treated in
a condescending manner.
Unfortunately,
rather than graciously welcoming the expertise of these Taiwanese nationals who
have returned home to work after being educated abroad, this society refuses to
give them the respect and compensation they deserve. According to
representatives of The Women Awakening Organization of Taiwan, if there isn’t a
change of heart in the near future, it could cause a mass exodus of
professional women from Taiwan.
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