Embodying the invisible body politics in constructing contemporary Taiwanese lesbian identities

This dissertation is the outcome of a fourteen-month ethnographic research project with the Taiwanese lesbian community from June 1993 through July 1994, under the guidance of P. Steven Sangren. In addition to in-depth interviews with lesbians and a participant observation of their daily activities, the dissertation also analyzes mass-media products including films, novels, advertisements, newspaper articles, and TV programs, and government announcements and legal codes, as well as "grass-roots" lesbian newsletters. It deals with the following three issues: first, the linkage between nation-building and production of unconventional sexualities; second, the relationship between orthodox Chinese sex-gender ideology and the individual's acts of constructing her social and sexual identities; and, third, the ways in which lesbians act out their identities through bodily performance and the ways in which they acquire sexual pleasure. The analysis reaches the following conclusions: first, that the lifting of Taiwanese Martial Law in 1987 conditioned the formation of an alternative social space, the "T-bar" (Taiwanese lesbian bars), which allows for lesbians to engage collectively in constructing their sexual identities and sexual roles. Second, in the post-Martial Law era many new legal regulations have been made and enforced by the government to identify new types of ordinary citizens and to regulate their socio-sexual practices. These acts of government have led to different ways of representing both female nudity and lesbianism in public culture. This representational transition, in turn, reflects a transformation in the ways in which state power is manifested and exercised. Third, lesbian identities--produced through an appropriation of orthodox gender codes and strategies and of a continual participation in social and sexual activities with other members in the lesbian community--are an entirely new social category in Taiwan. Finally, there are two varied styles of conducting sex and enjoying sexual pleasure: one reflects a political need to practice North American feminism, the other derives from a disengagement of heterosexual language from physical boundaries and sensations.