Lovers’ discourses of single women in Taiwan: writing / reading the epigram on social networking sites

• Main Authors: Chen, Wei Ping, 陳維平
• Other Authors: Ko, Yu Fen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/38964569292557116604

碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 新聞研究所 === 101 === “Being single” is often considered to be a transition stage of one’s life, which is all about isolation and frustration in Taiwan’s popular discourses. No matter why single women are single, or how their life experiences went through, “being single” becomes an alternative choice in the very process of discursive formation against the normative lifestyles — the pursuit of individualistic romantic love. Meanwhile, “single women” has been one of the most constructed social anxieties in social network media. A number of epigrammatic Facebook statuses about intimacy are widely circulated on popular SNS fan pages, such as “I am Big A” and “Showon.” By textual analysis and in-depth interviews, this thesis probes into the formation of subjectivity of single women in Taiwan, especially the interactive relationships within the lovers’ discourses, and female readers / writers and their everyday life. This thesis aims to discover: 1.) how these Facebook epigrams write about “being single;” and 2.) the ways that female readers / writers deal with the self-related lovers’ discourses. The mainstream social norms confirm that being single for a woman is a temporary status, which can be changed by her own efforts in intimate relationships. Single women therefore strive to make a dialogue between romantic love and marriage. Accordingly, this thesis concludes that 1.) whether single or not, a woman’s intimate relationships are attributed to her self-determination. Moreover, “being single” is described as an inadequate and even an abnormal option, as these Facebook epigrams have displayed. Also, single women are trapped in the dilemma between retaining their individuality and the loss of subjectivity under the evaluation of risks of love. 2.) By sharing, commenting or imitating the epigrams on Facebook, female readers / writers bring to light their voiceless desires and the struggling love. In addition, lovers’ discourses of single women are not “naïve” but cynical. The socially situated subjects refer to discursive social norms so to narrate their stories of romantic love through cultural practices by reading / writing these cynical epigrams.