Marriage customs that are discriminatory toward women should be laid to rest, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) said yesterday.
“I am not saying that all traditions are superstitious, but society has changed in fundamental ways,” she told a news conference on the eve of International Women’s Day.
“I call on the public to be aware of social taboos that are no longer appropriate and let them fade away,” she said.
Traditionally, girls who were born in the year of the tiger cannot be flower girls at weddings, because “female tiger” is a derogatory term for an overbearing woman, she said.
Married women are also discouraged from visiting their parents’ homes during the Lunar New Year holiday, she added.
“In celebration of International Women’s Day, we should try to rid ourselves of customs and practices that are discriminatory toward women and create a more friendly social space,” she said.
The traditional marriage customs people feel most strongly about include making brides kneel and throw fans in farewell to their parents, Zhengyang Cultural Foundation chairwoman Yang Ya-ping (楊雅評) said, citing a study conducted by the foundation.
“The obligation to perform those traditional rituals fall on women and are suggestive of a feudal ideology,” Yang said.
Culture is the product of human interaction within a given environment and is composed of social norms, Taiwan Association for Sex Education president Kao Song-ching (高松景) said.
Far from idle indulgences, traditional customs are essential components of culture and symbolically reproduce their norms, rules and system of values, Kao said.
“The binding force of customs exceed laws in the level of control it imposes over everyday life,” Kao added.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
RSS