Masculinity in Ambiguity: Constructing Taiwanese Masculine Identities Between Great Powers

Abstract

This chapter examines mental tension and conflicts at both the macro and micro levels of Taiwanese men to identify ambiguities in Taiwanese conceptualization of masculinity. On the one hand, this research gives voice to those who have been silenced in East Asian studies of men and masculinities in the English-speaking world. Thus it expands and complements our understanding of the diversity of global masculinities. On the other hand, it draws attention to the development and transformation of this ambiguous Taiwanese masculinity. The construction of masculinities in Taiwan is discussed in the context of three popular and important gender practices which are fairly unique to Taiwan: aluba, doing soldier, and flower drinking, which are respectively associated with the adolescence, early adulthood and middle adulthood of Taiwanese men. We begin with a discussion of the similarity and inconsistency between Taiwanese and other East Asian masculinities, followed by a critical reading of Louie’s wen–wu masculinity as an analytic tool for Taiwanese/Chinese masculinities. We then present three examples of the abovementioned gender practices as a sequence, and emphasize their significance by comparing them with the Western pattern. We argue that the concern of guanxi (social networking) in Taiwan is the key to go beyond the scope shaped by compulsory heterosexuality, misogyny, and homophobia. Finally, the Taiwanese case leads researchers to scrutinize how masculinity in ambiguity has been manifested in four dimensions: international, institutional, interpersonal, and developmental. We call for a more global framework of studies into socio-psychological masculinity, considering international politics and the global economy, challenging presumed national categories, and articulating macro and micro levels of masculinities, while illuminating how men’s masculine identities evolve and are self-constructed over their lives.