台灣女性的母職圖像
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Date
2005-12-01
Authors
潘淑滿
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臺灣大學人口與性別研究中心婦女與性別研究組
Abstract
目前歐美國家對於母職經驗的探討，大都從巨視觀點出發，僅有少數研究是從微視觀點深入瞭解國家政策如何影響女性在日常生活中的母職經驗。本文運用後結構女性主義強調多元差異的觀點，對三十七位婦女進行深度訪談，說明台灣婦女如何詮釋自己的母職經驗，並深入剖析台灣女性的母職經驗及其社會意義。對大多數婦女而言，「為人妻」與「為人母」可以說是女人角色扮演的分鼓嶺。結婚是女人學習改變角色的開始，成為母親是女人角色翻轉的關鍵，子女成年後則是女人角色進入解放的階段。雖然「成為母親」是大多數女性的共同經驗，可是女性在實踐母職過程中，往往因為社會位置不同而採取不同的策略。本研究將三十七位女性的母職實踐策略歸納為三種類型：（一）犧牲主體性，卻否定母職價值；（二）放棄或擁有部分主體性，但肯定母職價值；及（三）重視主體性，對母職價值有較多反思。在父權文化之下，要打破「母親」等同於「母職」的迷思是非常艱困的工程，女性總是必須在肯定母職的前提下，調整策略找出維繫母職與女性主體的平衡點。 台灣女性對於母職的認同與西方女性相似，對女性「成為母親」持以高度肯定，也認為「母親」是母職實踐過程中不可替代的角色，而母親能否滿足孩子的需求更關缾著孩子未來的發展；然而，台灣女性在母職實踐的歷程，對於「家」、「國」的想像，卻呈現出與西方女性迥然不同的經驗。對大多數西方國家的女性而言，母性政策隱含的性別意識與相關配套措施，才是左右女性母職實踐策略選擇的主因。相較之下，台灣女性習慣性地將母職視為是女人個人的責任，忽略「國家」與「社會」的集體責任，使得「家庭結構」與「家庭支持系統」成為影響女性選擇母職實踐策略的關鍵因素。換句話說，即便生物性母親可以擺脫社會性母職的責任與約束，卻是將社會性母職的責任與重擔，轉移到「母親的母親」或是「父親的母親」磾上，根本沒有解構兩性在母職實踐的角色分工，也沒有解構「家」、「國」在母職實踐的責任分工。
Majority of European and American contemporary discussions of mothering consider the issue from the macro perspective, while only a small amount of research applies micro perspective when attempting to understand how women’s daily experiences with mothering are structured by the state. In this article, I utilize the post-structural feminist perspective to interpret thirty-seven Taiwanese women’s experiences with mothering and to investigate the social meanings of their experiences. For most women, “being a wife” and “being a mother” are the two most critical stages of their life cycle. In the process of female role’s transformation, marriage can be considered as the first turning point, becoming a mother is the next radical change, and offspring’s reaching adolescence can be viewed as the final stage, since it leads to some form of the woman’s liberation. Although “being a mother” is a common experience for women, in their daily lives, women tend to utilize different strategies of mothering. Based on the data collected in thirty-seven interviews, I categorize such strategies into three groups: first, the loss of female autonomy results in the perception of mothering as an entirely negative experience; second, the loss of female autonomy is viewed as partial, and mothering is thus regarded as positive; and finally, the emphasis on female autonomy leads to a more reflexive attitude towards mothering. The results show that unless women are able to regard mothering as a mostly positive experience, balance between female autonomy and mothering is impossible. Mothering is generally viewed as an individual responsibility, rather than a responsibility of the state. Although all our interviewers participated in the labor market prior to their marriages, their getting married resulted in a loss of their economic autonomy. I believe that these women would have made different choices, had the state offered them enough support with mothering.
Majority of European and American contemporary discussions of mothering consider the issue from the macro perspective, while only a small amount of research applies micro perspective when attempting to understand how women’s daily experiences with mothering are structured by the state. In this article, I utilize the post-structural feminist perspective to interpret thirty-seven Taiwanese women’s experiences with mothering and to investigate the social meanings of their experiences. For most women, “being a wife” and “being a mother” are the two most critical stages of their life cycle. In the process of female role’s transformation, marriage can be considered as the first turning point, becoming a mother is the next radical change, and offspring’s reaching adolescence can be viewed as the final stage, since it leads to some form of the woman’s liberation. Although “being a mother” is a common experience for women, in their daily lives, women tend to utilize different strategies of mothering. Based on the data collected in thirty-seven interviews, I categorize such strategies into three groups: first, the loss of female autonomy results in the perception of mothering as an entirely negative experience; second, the loss of female autonomy is viewed as partial, and mothering is thus regarded as positive; and finally, the emphasis on female autonomy leads to a more reflexive attitude towards mothering. The results show that unless women are able to regard mothering as a mostly positive experience, balance between female autonomy and mothering is impossible. Mothering is generally viewed as an individual responsibility, rather than a responsibility of the state. Although all our interviewers participated in the labor market prior to their marriages, their getting married resulted in a loss of their economic autonomy. I believe that these women would have made different choices, had the state offered them enough support with mothering.