| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立東華大學 === 族群關係與文化研究所 === 93 === Layered colonial experiences and literary discourses on the congregating of early gays and lesbians in the Hsimenting area of Taipei together make up part of the reason for the continued association of Hsimenting as social space with both youths and sexual minorities, especially lesbians and gays. This thesis investigates the complex relations between class and body expression among young Hsimen T’s and Po’s, including 1) Hsimen T/Po-lesbian’s conscious discourse concerning their appearance, intimate relations and sexual interaction; 2) the multiplicity and mobility of their “sex” and “sexuality”; 3) the ways in which T/Po-lesbian intimate relations cannot simply be reduced to copy versions of heterosexuality.
This thesis contends that Hsimen young T/Po-lesbians’ “class” must be seen as made up of and through the following three dimensions. 1) The socio-economic “class” that is formed through education, age, economic status, etc. 2) The cultural “class” reproduced even within the last decade of gay and lesbian critical discourse wherein an intellectual position leads to the subordination of Hsimen young T/Po’s and T/Po’s in general. 3) The “sex/gender system” wherein public society will exclude that “sex” that does not correspond with “gender;” in such a hierarchical system, “gender-benders” and especially young “gender-benders” are regarded as “freaks” whether or not they are of higher socio-economic status. These three concepts of “class” intermingle and interweave in the lives and discourse of Hsimen T/Po. This thesis explores how a subordinate “class” (in the above three dimensions) of Hsimen T/Po-lesbians practice and trespass the inflexible boundaries of heterosexual masculinity and feminity in their bodily appearances and their sexual interactions.
This thesis concludes that Hsimen T/Po’s body expression and practices transgress the traditionally defined dual gender frame as it blurs the binary concepts of male and female derived masculine and feminine. Hsimen T/Po-lesbians bodies and their sexual interactions together establish distinct subjective identities through important processes of dress-codes, hair-styles, breast-binding, and particular mannerisms in talking, action and sexual practice. These processes of shaping complex Hsimen young T/Po identities interweave socio-economic class and sexual pleasures, while negotiating with hegemonic social exclusionary practices through complex exchanges of social resources. Through the everyday lives and actions and perceptions of young Hsimen T/Po-lesbians, we glimpse the vitality and diversity of Taiwan’s lesbian cultures.
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