台灣人很保守嗎? Are Taiwanese Conservative?
To Be or Not To Be—General Predicament of Divorcees in Taiwan
Being a woman is not easy, yet being a divorced woman is even more difficult.
Women have been viewed merely as attachments to men in the past; they were obliged to sacrifice all to support their husbands. So any woman who dares to leave that role behind and get divorced would be poorly received; they would be marked and shamed. Nowadays, there gradually appeared some organizations that work to support and assist divorced women. Nonetheless, are Taiwanese divorcees truly liberated from prejudice? In our society, marriage has been continuously rationalized as the only set course of life. The pressure of social criticism is so heavy that most divorcees are afraid to confront the consequences once they step out of the broken marriages. For example, a single, unmarried woman can always demand the right to be happy no matter how many times she falls in love; in contrast, a single, divorced woman is deprived of all chances to restart new relationships and all their contacts with the opposite sex would be examined with a magnifying glass. This is a serious impediment for divorced women who are trying to restart their new life.
The overall image of divorced women is likewise not very favorable. The general predicament of divorced women nowadays is that once they get divorced, they are either considered unfortunate, incapable to maintain a relationship, or molded to fit the wronged, violated, and fragile images. In other words, they are branded as problematic. The amendments to the Civil Code may have improved their material life in regard to property and custody rights; still, they have to struggle against the prejudice that threatens to paralyze their efforts to become independent individuals.
The greatest crisis for divorcees nowadays is that they are deprived of their self-identity. Liberal or conservative, Taiwanese still impose rigid social values on divorced women. What we need to learn is that divorce is nothing wrong; these women are merely choosing a different mode of life, just as they once chose to get married.
To Be or Not To Be—General Predicament of Divorcees in Taiwan
Being a woman is not easy, yet being a divorced woman is even more difficult.
Women have been viewed merely as attachments to men in the past; they were obliged to sacrifice all to support their husbands. So any woman who dares to leave that role behind and get divorced would be poorly received; they would be marked and shamed. Nowadays, there gradually appeared some organizations that work to support and assist divorced women. Nonetheless, are Taiwanese divorcees truly liberated from prejudice? In our society, marriage has been continuously rationalized as the only set course of life. The pressure of social criticism is so heavy that most divorcees are afraid to confront the consequences once they step out of the broken marriages. For example, a single, unmarried woman can always demand the right to be happy no matter how many times she falls in love; in contrast, a single, divorced woman is deprived of all chances to restart new relationships and all their contacts with the opposite sex would be examined with a magnifying glass. This is a serious impediment for divorced women who are trying to restart their new life.
The overall image of divorced women is likewise not very favorable. The general predicament of divorced women nowadays is that once they get divorced, they are either considered unfortunate, incapable to maintain a relationship, or molded to fit the wronged, violated, and fragile images. In other words, they are branded as problematic. The amendments to the Civil Code may have improved their material life in regard to property and custody rights; still, they have to struggle against the prejudice that threatens to paralyze their efforts to become independent individuals.
The greatest crisis for divorcees nowadays is that they are deprived of their self-identity. Liberal or conservative, Taiwanese still impose rigid social values on divorced women. What we need to learn is that divorce is nothing wrong; these women are merely choosing a different mode of life, just as they once chose to get married.