I've only
been in Taiwan for one week and at least once every day someone has mentioned
some sort of cultural clash between foreign males and Taiwanese girls. To boil
the issue down it appears that some foreigners come to Taiwan and take advantage of their
status. From what I've read and heard it's sexist, racist, and misogynistic.
The first
example of blatant sexism occurred the first night I was in Taiwan. I stumbled
across an article on Facebook where an American expat writes about all the
shortcomings, failures, and problems of girls in Taiwan. He starts of his piece with a disclaimer. Despite his distaste for
Taiwanese girls his Taiwanese girlfriend is great because she’s a “foxy freak”.
The author goes on to write about how Taiwanese girls are shallow, greedy, unintelligent,
spoiled, and think too highly of themselves. At the end of his article he goes
onto suggest what should be done with Taiwanese girls. The link is below but be
warned some of the content is extremely disturbing.
http://appnews.fanswong.com/show.php?id=363925&TORO
Within four days of my arrival there was news of a Turkish student in Taiwan who was being charged with attempted sexual assault. The police discovered 29 sex-tapes of the student and various women. It is suspected that the women video-taped had no knowledge of the filming. The student has not been proven guilty and claims to be innocent. Regardless the situation is extremely concerning.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/06/21/2003565321
There is a large difference between what we read in the news and what happens to people that we know first-hand. It may have been easier to dismiss these last two examples and forget about the issue but I know people who are personally affected. I have a Taiwanese friend who has never been out to a night-club. She fears that there is too much pressure to have sex with the foreigners that she would meet. Although she loves sharing culture and practicing her English with other foreigners the thought of going out to a night-club is intimidating. I never knew that going out to a club to dance with friends, could be so difficult for someone. I've always agreed with the Men Without Hats that “You can dance if you want to” but apparently it’s not that simple.
This post is more of an overview than a deep analysis. I plan on returning to the subject in more detail. I’d love to hear feedback on people’s thoughts or experiences. Please comment or send me an email at jpane@gwmail.gwu.edu
http://appnews.fanswong.com/show.php?id=363925&TORO
Within four days of my arrival there was news of a Turkish student in Taiwan who was being charged with attempted sexual assault. The police discovered 29 sex-tapes of the student and various women. It is suspected that the women video-taped had no knowledge of the filming. The student has not been proven guilty and claims to be innocent. Regardless the situation is extremely concerning.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/06/21/2003565321
There is a large difference between what we read in the news and what happens to people that we know first-hand. It may have been easier to dismiss these last two examples and forget about the issue but I know people who are personally affected. I have a Taiwanese friend who has never been out to a night-club. She fears that there is too much pressure to have sex with the foreigners that she would meet. Although she loves sharing culture and practicing her English with other foreigners the thought of going out to a night-club is intimidating. I never knew that going out to a club to dance with friends, could be so difficult for someone. I've always agreed with the Men Without Hats that “You can dance if you want to” but apparently it’s not that simple.
This post is more of an overview than a deep analysis. I plan on returning to the subject in more detail. I’d love to hear feedback on people’s thoughts or experiences. Please comment or send me an email at jpane@gwmail.gwu.edu
