Editorial: The transformation of women’s lives in Taiwan

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

3131 Edition

February 27-March 4, 2012

Editorial

Editorial: The transformation of women’s lives in Taiwan

Translated by Lydia Ma

During the Chen administration, nearly 20 sites across Taiwan were designated 
as landmarks highlighting the feminist movement in Taiwan, including Tamkang 
High School and Chang-Jung Girls Senior High School. Former President Chen 
Shui-bian recognized these two schools’ important place in Taiwanese history in 
2006 because they were the earliest schools for women and played an important 
role in awakening and empowering women’s consciousness in a paternalistic 
society. 

After women had access to modern education, they were able to fight oppression 
and they were liberated to run faster, jump higher, and pursue their dreams. 
Through the help of Scottish and Canadian missionaries who founded the PCT, 
women overcame labels such as “fragile” and “frivolous”. The PCT later went on 
to start various women ministries and organizations through the help of Miss 
Lily Adair. The Northern Women Missionary Society was founded on November 27, 
1922 with her help and it celebrated its 90th anniversary this year. PCT’s 
Women Ministry Committee was later founded in 1983 to help coordinate various 
ministries and create a structural organization to these ministries.            
                       

Women’s ministries became more diverse in the 1980s with the addition of women 
career counseling centers, women outreach ministries, indigenous community 
development centers, gender justice committees, and the inclusion of women in 
the decision making process. Nowadays, women are not only able to stand on 
their two feet, they are also able to hold positions of authority and be 
decision-makers.

However, women face different challenges and struggles depending on the social 
customs of their countries. In Taiwan, increasing unemployment and fierce 
competition, coupled with diminishing salaries and a culture where men rarely 
contribute to childrearing, has made raising children a significant burden for 
women. In the end, most women discover that their careers are compromised if 
they choose to get married or have children, resulting in many of them choosing 
to remain single and Taiwan becoming the country with the lowest birth rate in 
the world for the past few years. To counter this problem, many families have 
opted for foreign brides, but the majority of these foreign women are 
marginalized when they come to Taiwan because of their status and in spite of 
their determination to work hard or accomplishment at home.

Modern Taiwanese women have come a long way from being dependent beings to 
being self-sustaining members of society. Their experiences have equipped them 
to step out and reach out to these foreign, marginalized women and become their 
friend and helper. Therefore, let us learn from Jesus, who became a friend of 
marginalized women. We can be confident that once these women’s lives are 
transformed, they will be able to transform our society.

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