Wang Frank T Y, Bih Herng-Dar, Brennan David J
National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Cult Health Sex. 2009 Apr;11(3):285-96. doi: 10.1080/13691050802572711.
In Chinese culture, filial piety for a son is closely linked to his capacity to produce an heir to ensure continuity of the paternal line. For Taiwanese gay men, coming out as gay may be interpreted as a refusal to produce a male heir and thus constitutes a major conflict within their family. This study explores how gay men in Taiwan come out to their parents within this cultural context. Thirty-two men in total were interviewed. Findings demonstrate that the decision to come out was often motivated by the son's perception of his parents' attitude towards homosexuality. Respondents worked hard to prepare for coming out and to minimize the risk and the impacts of the process, their report shows that some parents go through their own process of coming out and/or hiding in the closet after their gay son's coming out. Although many parents still see homosexuality as illness, some adopt alternative discourses to reinterpret the meaning of being gay as a spiritual path to eternal enlightenment or friendship. These findings imply sites of resistance to the privileged discourse of filial piety in constituting the experiences of coming out for Taiwanese gay men and their parents.
在中国文化中，儿子的孝顺与其生育继承人以确保父系延续的能力紧密相连。对于台湾男同性恋者而言，出柜可能被视为拒绝生育男性继承人，从而在其家庭内部构成重大冲突。本研究探讨了在这种文化背景下，台湾男同性恋者如何向父母出柜。总共采访了32名男性。研究结果表明，出柜的决定往往源于儿子对父母对同性恋态度的认知。受访者努力为出柜做准备，并尽量降低这一过程的风险和影响，他们的报告显示，一些父母在儿子出柜后也经历了自己的出柜和/或隐藏的过程。尽管许多父母仍将同性恋视为疾病，但一些父母采用了其他话语来重新诠释同性恋的意义，将其视为通往永恒启迪或友谊的精神之路。这些发现意味着在构成台湾男同性恋者及其父母出柜经历的过程中，存在着对孝顺特权话语的抵制场所。
