Dress and Strategic Bodily Practice: A Case Study of Women's Socio-political Negotiation in Postwar Taiwan

Abstract

This dissertation explores how women have been governed by society, and how they have negotiated to regain control in their own way, by investigating the interrelation between women, body, dress and social structures. Throughout history, bodies have been disciplined by certain social norms, emphasizing social difference and thus benefitting particular groups. Never on the favorable end of this equation, women´s bodies have traditionally been the site where such discipline is practiced. Dress is thus a common tool for enforcing order. Hence, to examine the interaction between body and dress is crucial to understanding the relationship between human and society. This thesis develops the theoretical framework of strategic bodily practice. This theory accounts for the complexities that social forces place on body and dress, and reveals the active nature of individual negotiation, which usually becomes apparent as the strategized and embodied practice of women´s dress. On the basis of these concepts, the present study focuses on seeing the body not so much as a passive societal recipient but as an animated entity. Dress is not seen merely as a set of insensate symbols, but as a living tool of mediation. The process of regulation and negotiation in society and among individuals is viewed as an ongoing dialectic process. The case study examines the interrelations between Taiwanese women´s bodies, dress, sociocultural position, and agency in the post-war era. The complex history and constantly changing social context of Taiwan make it ideal material for developing a theory of strategic bodily practice. This study uncovers how particular forms of dress were used to create a dominating ideology during different periods in the history of Taiwan. It also reveals how changes in the political and the economical situation, as well as the strategic bodily practice of Taiwanese women are reducing this power of dress.