Yang Shiguang said that Tsai Ing-wen is "not qualified to talk about the next generation": Why do people always condone gender gaffes?

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On July 2, the Dalai Lama's biggest foreign gender news was that the Dalai Lama apologized for his remarks that "if the successor is a woman, I hope she looks more attractive". Coincidentally, in Taiwan, the presidential candidate Yang Shiguang launched by the New Party, attacked President Tsai Ing-wen, saying: "I am a pro-unification faction, I am a man, who is an independent faction, who is a woman. Tsai Ing-wen is not qualified to talk about the next generation, because Tsai Ing-wen does not have the next generation."

Directly attacking Tsai Ing-wen for not having children and therefore not qualified to comment on future education policies is undoubtedly a political professional question about her private life.

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We tried to take stock of several politicians who made "gender gaffes" and found that looking back at the past two years alone is too numerous to list.

On June 4, 2019, Gu Kuanmin, the elder of the independent faction, said that Tsai Ing-wen "can abdicate as the 'mother of the country' and let the young boy inherit."
On April 26, 2019, Kuomintang presidential candidate Gou Taiming said that his wife was a harem and that the harem should not interfere in politics.
On April 26, 2019, writer Wu Xianghui said on Facebook that Tsai Ing-wen is political, defined as: "a comrade who openly betrays the party's nominee, openly hooks up with party competitors, and is a complete political adulterer."
On November 17, 2018, Kuomintang Chairman Wu Dunyi insinuated that Chen Ju was a fat sow.
On September 19, 2018, New Taipei City Mayor Hou Youyi said to the female host: "Young sister, you don't look very safe."
On August 4, 2018, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu said, "Men take the world as their home, and women take their home as their home."
On August 1, 2018, Taipei Mayor Ke Wenzhe said that the click-through rate of the video "One Day Staff" exceeded 10 million clicks, and he could let the staff sister accompany him to dinner.

In addition to Taiwan, there are also many foreign media that have compiled a collection of misogynistic remarks by politicians, including This Week, on April 16, 2015, he tweeted: "If Hillary can't even satisfy her husband, how can she satisfy the whole of America? ("If Hillary Clinton can't satisfy her husband, what makes her think she can satisfy America?") On February 7, 2018, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said that against female rebels, "We will not kill you, we will only shoot your vagina."

It also shows us that there are still many politicians who lack the correct concept of gender education, regardless of party or gender.

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The political logic of misogyny: de-feminization, girlishization, and old feminization

In April 2019, we wrote "[Gender Watch] From 'Harem' to 'Politics', when will the political arena get rid of female silence and sexual shaming", discussing the two main discourse strategies of suppressing women in politics in this society, namely "female silencing" and "sexual shaming". Either suppressing women's speech or trying to attack women's physical characteristics.

Professor Yang Yuen-ying also analyzed in "Choices Without Choices: The Double Constraints of Female Politicians" that there are often three types of suppression strategies for female politicians in this society: "de-feminization", "girling" and "old feminization".

When Yang Shiguang said, "I support the unification faction, I am a man", and Gu Kuanmin said, "A person who wears a skirt cannot become the commander of the three armies", it is a kind of defeminization example - as a "good politician", you must be masculine and must be a man. As for women, they are certainly not a good leader.

Bi Muyu's article "Gender and Family Rhetoric in the Beinong Turmoil: Seeing How the Media Juvenileizes Wu Yinning" also sorts out the verbal attacks received by Wu Yinning, the former general manager of Beinong. In many media representations, she is portrayed as an ignorant young woman who tries to reinforce her weakness and incompetence, "girlishize" her, selectively ignore her professional background, and weaken her power to speak.

As for old women, in recent years, criticism of Tsai Ing-wen by opponents has been more common. Abdicating to become the mother of the country and not having a next generation is even more of a humiliation for older women, as if as they grow older, men will gradually mature, while women will only become less and less worthless. As for older women, it seems that there is only one role left, and if they cannot play the role of a loving mother and have no children, their personal value will be questioned. (Additional screening: social double standards: women at the age of 50 are called the rest of their lives, and men at 49 are called "gradually maturing")

Are gender gaffes all careless?

After many "gender gaffes" occurred, people came out to apologize, saying that it was an unintentional joke and harmless. And the incident passed like this, and people forgave it. However, such "gaffes" occur repeatedly, are they really "careless"?

Perhaps on the one hand, it is possible that this is really due to an unconscious bias. (Bonus screening: D&I Strategy Room|Are you also unconscious bias? True equality is not inclusiveness but inclusion)

But it is also possible that this is a variant of contemporary misogyny. People have a preliminary understanding of gender political correctness, know that they want gender equality, value the voices of women and sexual minorities, and know that they are making a mistake, but they do not take it seriously. Professor Wang Xiaodan of the Department of Law of National Chengchi University once wrote in the article "Farewell to Misogyny - Pondering Yourself in Emotions and Relationships":

Contemporary misogyny has not stopped because of the rise of feminism, but because of the change of media, communication and community models, popular feminism constructed by specific media, and at the same time made misogyny popular, both of which are on the train of neoliberalism and multiply each other.

When "feminism" becomes a word that everyone knows, it makes many people feel relative deprivation, as if the "freedom of discriminatory speech" enjoyed in the past has been restricted, and I could say these words directly without being punished by society, why am I being scolded today in 2019?

As a gender activist, you don't have to be discouraged by this constant skipping of needles. Wang Xiaodan pointed out that in fact, we should regard this setback as a symbol of the influence of gender issues:

Nowadays, buzzwords slandering women have begun to appear on the Internet in Taiwan, including: "Girls don't want to be soldiers are a feminist buffet" that persecutes men, "Three Treasures of the Road" that ridicule women for always destroying social order and safety, and "Bao Bao changing bags" that satirize women for only focusing on money and appearance. These phenomena may not mean that feminism has made no progress, on the contrary, on the contrary, feminism has become influential and triggered the disgrace effect of misogynistic networks.

What can we do in the face of "intentional or unintentional" gaffes?

Tsai Ing-wen chose to respond to Yang Shiguang. On the evening of July 2, she wrote on Facebook:

Today's media reported that some candidates criticized me for being "not a man" and said that I "have no next generation" and am not qualified to talk about the next generation. Since I entered politics, this kind of personal attack has never stopped. My experience is also a problem that many Taiwanese women often encounter. Maybe I haven't done enough or not good enough, so I accept the public comment and continue to work hard. However, if gender and fertility status are used as personal attacks, this is a denial of women, and it is also an effort to erase the ruling team. For the sake of Taiwan's next generation, we will continue to work hard and do it seriously.

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Women's fans have also launched the "2020 Presidential Election Outpost Women Stand Up" to collect female voters' views on ideal politics. Women's voices should never be ignored, if you care, you can speak up and let people hear you.

As people who care about gender issues, if you are anxious and don't know what to do, in addition to continuing to pay attention to the issue, you can also practice your political statements. It also lets the attacker know that the joke is not funny. These hate speeches disguised as gaffes should not happen again.